The Human Emperor

“Haaah…”

Master Guangcheng could only sigh in response to Little Nightmare’s question, a complicated tone to his voice.

“Some matters are in the past, and the truth is no longer important. The matter of Little Grass can no longer be altered, which is one of my greatest regrets.”

As Master Guangcheng spoke, there was deep sorrow on his face.

Master Guangcheng was the Yellow Emperor’s teacher, and even after a long time, there still existed a deep affection between them, which was obvious even to a bystander like Wang Chong.

Wang Chong got straight to the point. “Senior, what is the Celestial Palace? How can I undo the Celestial Palace and break Heaven’s plan?”

Master Guangcheng slightly frowned. It was clearly rather impolite for Wang Chong to interrupt his conversation with Little Nightmare, but Wang Chong seemed unperturbed, and he met Master Guangcheng’s gaze without backing down.

“The Celestial Palace’s range of influence will grow larger and larger, and soon, Heaven will become extremely strong and more difficult to deal with. We don’t have much time left!”

Wang Chong didn’t have much time!

His mother, little sister, older brothers, and all members of the Wang Family Residence were in a coma, and in a few more days, their souls would completely disperse.

More and more people in the capital were appearing dull and unfocused, even forgetting who they were or where they lived.

Wang Chong could tell that the Celestial Palace had entered a new phase, and it wouldn’t be long before everyone in the capital was just a toy for Heaven.

Master Guangcheng looked at Little Nightmare’s projection for a few moments before finally speaking, his hard and aloof face softening somewhat.

“For Little Nightmare’s sake, I’ll tell you a few things.”

This was not done out of deference for Wang Chong, but for Little Nightmare. After all, Wang Chong had shown kindness to Little Nightmare, so Master Guangcheng could not treat him like a complete stranger.

Buzz!

Before Wang Chong could react, a light green finger reached out and touched the center of Wang Chong’s forehead. Despite Wang Chong’s cultivation, he was completely unable to avoid it.

“Senior, this is…”

Wang Chong was astonished.

Master Guangcheng did not respond. As Wang Chong spoke, boom! The world around him seemed to collapse, and a moment later, Wang Chong realized that he was looking at the capital.

But he was looking at the capital from what appeared to be in the air.

“There is one thing that you’re right about. You truly do not have much time left. In truth, no matter what you do, it is already too late.”

Master Guangcheng’s indifferent voice was like an ancient well as it rang out.

Wang Chong’s brows locked together, but just when he was about to ask, he saw something different.

Golden light!

Golden light as viscous as water was flowing out from the center of the capital, spreading out like the roots of a tree to every corner of the city.

Wang Chong was initially confused, wondering what Master Guangcheng was showing him, but a moment later, he noticed that the golden light was seeping into the countless denizens of the capital, and these people had unfocused gazes. He instantly understood what was going on.

“This is the Celestial Palace’s power?!” Wang Chong hesitantly said, his mind shaken.

“Mm!”

Master Guangcheng again spoke, his voice still aloof and emotionless.

“It is precisely because of this golden light that Heaven can so easily control the memories of others and wipe out the existence of any other person. Heaven’s power already covers seventy percent of the capital and has even crept into the rest of the Central Plains.

“There is no changing this. The Celestial Palace has already entered its last phase and cannot be destroyed. Prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario!”

Master Guangcheng’s words made Wang Chong’s heart sink to rock bottom.

“Impossible! There has to be a way!”

Wang Chong’s body trembled as he shouted in disbelief.

“The Celestial Palace is Heaven’s personal ritual tool. There was no stopping it once he activated it. In another ten days, the entire capital will become an offering, and everyone living in the city will be absorbed to become the power of the Celestial Palace.”

“What!?”

Even Little Nightmare was shocked by this. The capital was the center of the continent, and it had people from other countries living in it as well. It currently had a population of several million.

Master Guangcheng was saying that Heaven had activated the Celestial Palace in the capital not merely to deal with Wang Chong, but also to slaughter the several million inhabitants of the capital, to make them a sacrificial offering!

“There are some things that we cannot change.”

Master Guangcheng paused for a few moments before slowly revealing Heaven’s secrets.

“This isn’t the first time Heaven has activated the Celestial Palace. Every few epochs, Heaven will activate the Celestial Palace. This is the sixth time.

“The Celestial Palace provides an enormous amount of energy to Heaven, and it is one of the primary reasons he has been able to live through so many disasters and survive through the ages. No matter how severe the injuries he has sustained, Heaven can only be heavily injured or sealed, not killed.

“If the Celestial Palace did not need to undergo an extremely long period of preparation before it could be used again, it would have been used even more frequently than now!”

Bang!

Wang Chong’s heart was thrown into turmoil. Not even Luo Supreme had known these things that Master Guangcheng had divulged.

Wang Chong had never expected the truth to be like this.

“Whether you are willing to accept it or not, Heaven has seized complete control over the situation. In ten days, this place will be rendered lifeless. It is already too late!” Master Guangcheng sternly said.

“What if we have all of them escape before then?” Little Nightmare anxiously said.

Even it had not expected this sort of result.

“They can’t escape. The Celestial Palace has already locked onto their souls and partially fused with them. If they flee the capital, that will only hasten their deaths, just like with his mother!”

Master Guangcheng glanced at Wang Chong.

Man and beast were silent, their faces paling.

The Wang Family Residence contained around three hundred people. They had not shown any abnormalities at first, and it was only after Wang Chong had brought them out of the capital that their conditions had begun to worsen.

“And have you not realized it? People can only enter the capital now, not leave!” Master Guangcheng sternly said.

Several million people lived in the capital, and they consumed an astonishing amount of resources each day. If all of them could only enter and not leave, food alone would become a huge problem. But the Great Tang had extremely well-developed infrastructure, and there was an abundant supply of food and vegetables. Moreover, there were also fruit and vegetable gardens within the city. This had somewhat concealed the problem for now.

“No, there has to be a way. Senior was the Yellow Emperor’s teacher, a sage that all the people of the Central Plains revere. Can Senior really just watch as all of this transpires? Senior possesses prodigious strength and knows Heaven and the Celestial Palace like the back of your hand. Please, Senior, for the sake of the people of the world, assist this junior!”

Wang Chong lowered his head and respectfully bowed.

Although this man before him had remained in hiding all this time, and Wang Chong could tell that he was restraining his energy, the mere fact that he was the teacher of the Yellow Emperor was enough to make Wang Chong certain that he possessed astounding strength, perhaps even close to Heaven’s level.

Moreover, he seemed to know all of Heaven’s secrets, secrets that even Luo Supreme did not know. He could not be a weakling.

Master Guangcheng said nothing, but his eyes gleamed.

“Teacher, Master is Little Grass’s appointed successor. He knew one thousand years ago that Master would appear. Little Grass has already passed, so you must help Master!

“Little Nightmare doesn’t want what happened to Little Grass to repeat itself with Master!” Little Nightmare tearfully pleaded.

“Haaah…”

Master Guangcheng let out a long sigh. He had been radiating an unfriendly aura this entire time, but he could not harden his heart to Little Nightmare, who had lost both its master and its physical body.

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to help, but that I cannot! Even if I wanted to help you against Heaven, I don’t have the strength.”

“How could this be?!”

“Senior, what do you mean by this?”

Wang Chong was flabbergasted, sitting straight up. This was an answer he had never anticipated.

“Teacher, you…”

Little Nightmare was also astonished and became nervous.

Master Guangcheng revealed the unexpected truth. “This is my curse, one that I have been under for more than one thousand years. My body is brimming with power, but there is no way of using it. For me, the mortal realm is like a passing cloud, and I am incapable of interfering with it.

“Thus, for all these years, I have only been able to borrow the bodies of the mausoleum caretakers to walk the world for a bit and then return. And this is a freedom I may enjoy only once a year!

“This place is my cell. Not even I imagined that you would be able to get through all the barriers and get here.”

“！！！”

“!!!”

Wang Chong stared speechlessly at Master Guangcheng.

A cell?

Wang Chong had been under the impression that this man was in seclusion, but it turned out that he was a prisoner.

“Senior, is there a way to help Senior out? If there is a way, please tell this one, and Wang Chong will do everything in his power to help Senior break out!” Wang Chong earnestly said.

“It is no wonder you were able to break through the trial left by Kong Zhongni.”

(TN: Kong Zhongni was the name by which Confucius was commonly known, Kong being his surname and Zhongni being his courtesy name.)

Master Guangcheng appeared surprised by Wang Chong’s words, and his gaze was no longer as sharp and cold when he looked at Wang Chong.

“But it is too late. When I lost my physical body more than one thousand years ago, I lost any chance of breaking out.”