The Human Emperor

“Heaven!”

Wang Chong trembled, for he had already guessed the answer.

At the most intense point of the battle, a red light had suddenly dropped from the skies. That terrifying energy had instantly defeated Wang Chong’s two Divine Embryos, Su Zhengchen, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, the Wushang Village Chief… All of them had been overwhelmed by that power.

The gap between the two sides was just too great. Even at the end, none of them had even been able to see the originator of that red light, not even Little Nightmare.

In other words, they had been defeated before they could even see Heaven’s true face.

The Wushang Village Chief, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, and Su Zhengchen had all been swept up by that red light and had disappeared without a trace.

As for Divine Embryos 2 and 3, they had sensed something wrong. Divine Embryo 3 had used Ice-Sealed World to seal more than half the capital in ice, buying the two Divine Embryos enough time to successfully flee the capital.

In the end, besides Divine Embryos 2 and 3 and a small number of people, everyone had been taken hostage by Heaven.

The answer he had received from Little Nightmare’s memories left Wang Chong’s heart heavy.

It was good news that Divine Embryos 2 and 3 had managed to escape, albeit wounded, but the Demonic Emperor Old Man and Wushang Village Chief had both been taken hostage by Heaven. This was a heavy stone weighing on his heart.

In his short trip to Sindhu, far too much had happened in the capital. To say that the heavens had changed would not be excessive.

Wang Chong had never imagined this possible.

In Wang Chong’s clash with the Celestial God Organization and Heaven, there was no doubt that Heaven had the upper hand with his hostages.

Master, Village Chief, Senior Su, I’ll definitely save you! Wang Chong said to himself.

After a long while, Wang Chong asked, “Little Nightmare, why didn’t you run with them instead of returning underground?”

The ambush from Heaven and Essence Supreme had caught Wang Chong off guard.

If Little Nightmare hadn’t charged out and detonated its soul and physical body, Wang Chong would have never been able to so easily escape from Heaven.

One could say that Little Nightmare had used its life to open a path for Wang Chong.

After a few moments of silence, Little Nightmare said, “I was the last to arrive at the battlefield. At the time, Heaven’s attention was on Divine Embryos 2 and 3, not on me. Moreover, Nightmare Beasts have a skill for mental concealment known as ‘Traceless Nightmare’. It can constrict all of one’s Psychic Energy into a ball that leaks out no energy. Even Heaven would be hard-pressed to find me.”

Wang Chong nodded. The Nightmare Beasts were an extremely unique species, which was already obvious through the Destiny Tempering. A normal human’s soul would have never been able to survive a self-detonation, but the unique traits of a Nightmare Beast had allowed it to survive.

Heaven was extremely powerful, and it would have been very difficult to escape his senses, but this was not true when it came to the mental existences that were Nightmare Beasts.

Little Nightmare truly did have the ability to pull this off.

“At the time, I was also about to leave the capital, but something I saw at the end made me change my mind,” Little Nightmare sternly said.

“Once those people had succeeded, they did not take Master’s parents or the other people of the Wang family hostage. On the contrary, they put many of the people back, and they even restored the Wang Family Residence and the King of Foreign Lands Residence so that they looked the same as before. It was as if nothing had happened. I knew at that moment that they were plotting something big.

“It was incredibly likely that they were targeting Master.”

Little Nightmare voiced its conclusions.

“The capital is far from Sindhu, so even if I wanted to find Master, I might not do so in time. Thus, I decided to stay beneath the Wang Family Residence, restraining all of my energy, and wait for Master to come back.”

Little Nightmare didn’t say what happened after that, as there was no need.

Once it was done, Wang Chong was both moved and ashamed.

Little Nightmare’s loyalty to him was unquestionable. Alas, it would take a long time for it to recover its strength.

“Little Nightmare, thank you,” Wang Chong sincerely said to the soul in his hand. “Don’t worry. No matter what, I’ll help you recover.”

After a moment’s pause, Wang Chong asked, “Right, you recognize Heaven?”

Wang Chong recalled the immense hatred Little Nightmare had unleashed before its self-detonation.

“Yes, he’s the chief culprit behind Little Grass’s murder!” Little Nightmare said, making no effort to conceal its hatred for Heaven. “Even if another several thousand years passed, even if I became ash, I would never forget his aura!”

“Little Grass?”

Wang Chong’s eyes widened. This was not the first time he had heard the Nightmare Beast mention this name.

It was a very ordinary name, but Wang Chong knew that the Nightmare Beast was referring to an illustrious figure in the history of the Central Plains: Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan!

“You’re saying that Heaven assassinated Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan?”

Though he had his guesses, Wang Chong was still stunned by this revelation from the Nightmare Beast.

Regardless of what parallel dimension or spacetime one resided in, it was recounted in the annals of history that the Yellow Emperor’s end was that he had risen to the heavens atop a dragon while his officials and consorts watched, becoming the first Celestial Emperor in the history of the Central Plains.

Though there was no telling whether this story was true, it was a beautiful fantasy. Moreover, as a renowned sovereign that had ruled over the entire realm, Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan should have at least enjoyed a quiet retirement and passed away in his sleep.

But according to Little Nightmare’s narrative, this was far from the case.

Wang Chong frowned and asked, “Weren’t you sealed by Little Grass beneath the earth? Little Grass should have been alive when you last saw him, so how can you be so sure that Heaven killed him?”

“It’s not that simple. Those people opposing Little Grass back then were sent by Heaven. That so-called Chiyou was actually Heaven’s subordinate!” Little Nightmare’s voice trembled in anger.

“What?!”

Wang Chong’s face paled at this news.

That Chiyou that Xuanyuan had vied for the world against had actually been connected to Heaven! Wang Chong had never imagined this.

This was world-shaking news.

“Moreover, while I was sealed by Little Grass beneath the earth and forbidden from reaching the surface, I still shared a mental connection with Little Grass. Not long after I was sealed underground, this connection was suddenly cut. And right before it was cut, I received a final message from Little Grass through our soul link.”

Little Nightmare’s voice, bursting with hatred, resounded in his ears.

“He knew that I would definitely do all I could to break out, so he left me that message.

“He told me that his foe was very, very strong, someone that I had no hope of beating. And he said everything he did had been in his foe’s calculations, and that he had already been defeated in this era and been stripped of the ability to fight back. He told me that I had to endure no matter what, that I could not try to avenge him or break out.

“In his message, he told me that after a long while, someone with a similar aura to him would appear before me, and that this person would be my second master. He wanted me to follow that person and help them as if I was helping him. That person that would appear in the future would be the key, the one that would avenge him and bring an end to it all!” Little Nightmare sternly said.

This was the first time the Nightmare Beast had divulged this old story. It brought one back to that ancient era and made one’s heart inexplicably throb in sorrow.

What stunned Wang Chong even more was that this was the first time the Nightmare Beast had told this story to Wang Chong.

He suddenly understood why Little Nightmare had obeyed the Origin Immortal Lord for so many years, and why it was so annoyed deep under the earth. It was not merely because of the Origin Immortal Lord’s prophecy or those millennia of loneliness.

Deep down in its heart, it had been constantly thinking about avenging Little Grass.

“So, the moment Heaven appeared, you recognized him,” Wang Chong said with a sigh.

“Not just that, I felt the aura of Little Grass on him. He has something that belonged to Little Grass, something that Little Grass would have never given to anyone,” the Nightmare Beast said with bitter hatred.

Wang Chong said nothing, and though his face was calm, his heart was in turmoil.

Why would Heaven have Xuanyuan’s energy on him?

Had that revered sovereign of the ages really died at Heaven’s hand?

And why did Little Nightmare insist on calling the Yellow Emperor ‘Little Grass’?

From what Wang Chong knew, the name ‘Little Grass’ did not match the naming standards of that era.

This long-gone period of history contained many secrets that were unknown to both Wang Chong and the world at large.

After some thought, Wang Chong had an idea and opened his hands. “Little Nightmare, you said that you sensed an energy similar to Little Grass’s on my body. Was it this?”

Bright points of Stellar Energy began to form themselves into an image, and soon, a projection of the Stone of Destiny appeared.

The Stone of Destiny had long ago merged with Wang Chong’s body and soul. Even if Wang Chong couldn’t remove it, he could replicate its shape and luster, at the same time transferring some of the Stone of Destiny’s power and aura into the projection.

At least on the outside, the projection looked identical to the Stone of Destiny.

Once he was done, Wang Chong stared at Little Nightmare, looking out for any ripples in its soul.

Wang Chong already had some theories on those matters of the past, including the Little Grass the Nightmare Beast spoke of, but he never had any evidence to verify them. This seemed like his best chance.