The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

So it was him!

Wang Chong clenched his fists, his killing intent swelling. Whether it was for the Great Tang or the thirty thousand soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate army, Wang Chong had to eliminate Dayan Mangban. And it was at precisely this moment that he heard that familiar voice ringing in his mind.

【Impromptu Mission: 'The Threat to Qixi'!】

【The star of an enemy general is slowly rising over the plateau, appearing in the skies of Qixi. This is a general star that exists purely for slaughter and death. A loathing and a desire to destroy all things shrouds his heart. Only war can soothe his cravings, can make him feel joy and excitement. This is a threat to the empire, and even more a threat to Qixi!】

【User has three months to destroy this general star of death. Otherwise, Qixi will be the first sacrifice to fall under his iron hooves. Mission completion will be rewarded with 400 points of Destiny Energy. Failure will result in a penalty of 2000 points of Destiny Energy.】

【This mission is not optional and cannot be abandoned!】

【The three months begin now!】

……

Wang Chong momentarily froze upon hearing the voice. He had never expected the Stone of Destiny to issue a mission targeted at Dayan Mangban. Moreover, unlike other missions, this mission would not result in his death, but failure would result in a deduction of Destiny Energy as a penalty.

Moreover, the penalty for failure was five times the reward!

This also meant that in rewards and penalties, the Stone of Destiny favored heavy penalties so as to compel him to complete the mission. In addition, he was given only three months for this mission!

It doesn't matter how much time is given or how much Destiny Energy will be deducted, because I'll be personally killing him!

The thoughts quickly flitted out of his mind, and Wang Chong's right hand reached for his sword. Clang! His Wootz Steel sword was unsheathed, glimmering with cold and dazzling starlight.

Wang Chong straightened his body, his eyes locking onto the nearby Dayan Mangban as a will to fight exploded out.

The White Braves outside the city were no longer important. As long as he could kill Dayan Mangban, the battle would come to an end.

"Hahaha, interesting! You're actually challenging me!"

A crazed laughter rang out over the City of Steel. In the darkness, Dayan Mangban's eyes shone with an odd light as he took measure of the sword in Wang Chong's hand. Black and red spear in hand, long hair blowing in the wind, he seemed in the darkness like a dreadful demon god.

"…You've already attracted my interest. I had originally come to end you because the Tsenpo ordered me to, but now, I've changed my mind. Even without the Tsenpo's order, I still must kill you! Hahaha, an interesting prey. Don't disappoint me!"

Dayan Mangban's lips slowly curled into a cruel smile.

At this moment, everyone nearby couldn't help but feel a deep chill in their hearts. But before anyone could react, Dayan Mangban was lunging forward in attack.

Rumble!

There was a heaven-shaking boom as Dayan Mangban's spear jumped like a carp, quickly thrusting at Wang Chong. So fierce were the winds stirred by the thrust of this spear that the wall began to clatter as if unable to endure its might.

And in a radius of twenty zhang from where Dayan Mangban's spear stabbed down, all the stairs, steel railings, wooden boards, steel bars, and even the crane were twisted apart, their fragments showering down like a rain of pear blossoms.

But even though Dayan Mangban was fast, Wang Chong was even faster. The moment Dayan Mangban had struck, Wang Chong's body had swayed, and he took off into the air, avoiding Dayan Mangban's blow by a hair.

But Dayan Mangban had sensed this. His eyes squinting and his back to Wang Chong, he immediately thrust his spear behind him.

Rumble! Wherever Dayan Mangban's spear struck, massive waves of energy would push out even the air, leaving a true vacuum.

This tyrannical spear could even crush the steel walls, let alone the human body.

In a flash of cold light, Wang Chong's Wootz Steel sword moved with deceptive speed, striking the tip of Dayan Mangban's spear. The clash of spear and sword caused shockwaves that knocked over a ten-meter-tall crane several dozen meters away and sent the wooden crates scattered around it toppling over in disarray.

Nearby, the soldiers and White Braves caught up in the battle between this pair had no time to react before they were whisked off their feet by the furious winds and slammed against the outermost steel walls.

Wang Chong had a much faster reaction. Though he was sent flying through the air like a kite with a broken string, after several zhang, all the energy of the impact vanished. Wang Chong flipped in the air and gently floated down to another wall ten-some zhang away.

From how he landed, it could be seen that Wang Chong had actually come away unharmed from the exchange.

"What sort of martial art is this?!"

Dayan Mangban had originally intended to pursue, but when he saw this sight, his pupils constricted and he immediately stopped. In that exchange of blows, he had clearly sensed that this Great Tang youth was weaker than him.

But for some reason, when they had clashed, more than half of the energy he had used had been somehow absorbed.

Wang Chong did not answer. He stood with one foot on an erect bannister on the steel wall, no emotion visible on his face. In that clash, he had already gotten a rough sense of Dayan Mangban's level.

As one of Ü-Tsang's future most outstanding generals, Dayan Mangban had a fierce and tyrannical strength, and was brimming with a purely destructive energy. But he was still a far cry from the terrifying levels of the Dayan Mangban from his last life.

Brigadier General level!

This was the current level of Dayan Mangban's strength.

He was still not as powerful as traditional Imperial Great Generals of Ü-Tsang like Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje, but the gap wasn't that great.

Those casual thrusts of his spear contained an extremely compressed energy that would only explode upon collision. There was no question that Dayan Mangban was a superb master of controlling his strength.

In the past, if he had encountered him, his death would have been certain. However, now that his master the Demonic Emperor Old Man had passed onto him the supreme evil art, the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, he was capable of fighting against any expert as long as they were not Great Generals like Dusong Mangpoje. This included Brigadier Generals like Dayan Mangban.

"Dayan Mangban?" Wang Chong said.

"Mm?"

Dayan Mangban paused, his eyes narrowing. Initially surprised, his astonishment quickly morphed into a smile.

"Interesting—you even know my name!"

This operation was getting more and more interesting. This prey should have never been to the northwest before, but only a single exchange had been enough for the prey to recognize him. Dayan Mangban found this feeling quite interesting.

"Then I'm right!"

Wang Chong nodded, his theories affirmed.

"Dayan Mangban, it seems like your Ü-Tsang will never learn. Last time, you lusted for the southwest, so I had my men spread a little something across the plateau to give all of you a little lesson. I didn't think that all of you would be so foolish this time as to intentionally provoke me.

"Did you know? Because of tonight's operation, Ü-Tsang will have to completely withdraw from the Western Regions, and as a light punishment, the Great Tang armies will march onto the edge of the plateau and make it a new territory of the Great General. This is the price you will have to pay for tonight's operation!" Wang Chong indifferently said, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, yet imbued with a persuasive strength.

Buzz!

Dayan Mangban immediately paled.

If this were anyone else, Dayan Mangban would have snorted in reply. But this was Wang Chong. No one in the Western Regions, perhaps in the world, would dare to treat his words as idle threats.

Although he was just a teenager, this youth's 'wisdom' was forged from the blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and countless officers. These were not simply bold words or prideful boasting.

Although Dayan Mangban didn't view this youngest son of the Wang Clan with much regard, that was purely from the perspective of martial arts. In terms of military strategy, however, this person could defeat Huoshu Huicang and Dalun Ruozan, and not even Dayan Mangban would dare to underestimate him in this regard.

"Haha, no matter what you say, you should save it for if you survive!"

Dayan Mangban's lips quickly curled back into that cruel and amused smile. Whatever Wang Chong was threatening him with was a matter for the future, but he had to die tonight.

Boom!

The moment Dayan Mangban spoke, the air began to resound with a metallic clattering. Halos of Thorns began to emerge from his body, forming circles of light on the ground.

Unlike other halos, Dayan Mangban's halos exuded a white light, not a black light, and had a faintly golden luster. If one looked carefully, one could even see the blurry image of a golden crown.

Buoyed by these halos, Dayan Mangban's killing intent soared. He was still like a demon god that had crawled out from the underworld, but there was also a tinge of the divine, of majesty. He had become like an Asura1.

"A King's Halo!"

Upon seeing this golden halo, Wang Chong's face flickered in surprise. When one cultivated to a certain level of the Saint Martial realm and obtained a certain level of understanding in the martial arts one practiced, one's halos would begin to display signs not seen in other halos.

The first sign was that the external halo would deepen in color and transform into the divine and majestic gold. In addition, the image of a crown would manifest in the halo, symbolizing the fact that a Saint Martial expert was a 'King of Warriors'.

Not all Saint Martial experts could possess this, as it required one to reach a certain level of maturity. Wang Chong had not imagined that Dayan Mangban would have reached this level.

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1. Asuras are divine beings in Hinduism and Buddhism and are symbols of vice and evil. They are said to be in a state of constant war with the Devas, a more benevolent race of gods.