The Human Emperor
chapter-1043

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Chong suddenly felt greatly relieved. The letter had been sent from the Bureau of Military Personnel in the names of King Song and Zhangchou Jianqiong. Zhao Fengchen’s Xuanwu Army that Wang Chong had mobilized through his uncle-in-law Li Lin had already set off toward Qixi. The border Protector-Generals Geshu Han and Zhang Shougui had also dispatched their soldiers toward the northwest.

Everything was on the right track. Coupled with the Divine Prison Army dispatched by his little uncle Wang Mi, there were now nearly thirty thousand soldiers headed toward Qixi, all of them the most elite soldiers that could be mustered. Their weapons and armor were still lacking to the Wushang Cavalry’s Wootz Steel swords and Meteoric Metal armor, but in terms of fighting power, they were not one bit inferior.

This was where Wang Chong had placed his greatest hopes for this battle.

“Senior Su has also agreed to train four thousand soldiers for me. Only that place remains to borrow soldiers from.”

Wang Chong muttered to himself as his mind thought back to the legends of the Ultimate Martial Army.

Zhao Fengchen’s Xuanwu Army, his little uncle’s Divine Prison Army, Geshu Han’s Divine Martial Army, and even An Sishun’s Dragon Stallion Army were only a single loop in the chain of Wang Chong’s plan. The most crucial part was the Ultimate Martial Army.

The soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army were incredible soldiers, far surpassing ordinary elites in every aspect, including power, defense, speed, and agility. More importantly, they could harness the strength of their comrades to employ a formation. This formation would link everyone in its range together, not only boosting their strength but also using the formation’s power to distribute the attacks received by any one soldier across the entire army. This made it so that each person’s injuries were minimized.

In this aspect, it was actually extremely similar to Dayan Mangban’s Great Bon Formation. The Ultimate Martial Army’s formation was different in that once the formation was activated, it could continuously absorb the worldly Origin Energy in a radius of one hundred li. This Origin Energy would flow into the array and increase the rate at which the soldiers within recovered their Stellar Energy.

Any army that had the assistance of the Ultimate Martial Army would receive an enormous boost in strength, and would also be able to fight for much longer periods.

Several hundred years ago in Taizong’s era, this Ultimate Martial Army had been one of the most dazzling elite forces under Taizong’s command. But as time passed, the harshness of the Ultimate Martial Army’s training caused this legendary army to fade from the Great Tang.

But Wang Chong knew that the legacy of the Ultimate Martial Army survived within the capital. There weren’t many of these soldiers—two to three thousand. They could be considered the last of the Ultimate Martial Army’s bloodline in this world.

If Wang Chong wanted to exhibit the maximum potential of the Xuanwu Army, Divine Prison Army, Divine Martial Army, and Dragon Stallion Army, he needed the help of the Ultimate Martial Army.

It seems I’ll have to trouble that venerable senior, Wang Chong inwardly muttered. As an image of that figure floated to the surface of his mind, a rare hint of respect appeared in his eyes.

The capital was home to many great clans, and one of them was the house of the Duke of E. Its ancestor was one of the founding ministers of the Great Tang, and the house had persisted for three generations. However, in the era of the Sage Emperor, the clan had gradually declined, losing the luster of its forefathers. The clan itself lacked any outstanding talents and was very low-key in its conduct, so almost no one in the capital paid it any attention.

But Wang Chong knew that this clan was far more powerful than most imagined. A true venerable senior lived within the estate of the Duke of E. This venerable senior had lived through four Emperors and was almost of the same generation as Su Zhengchen. However, just like Su Zhengchen, he had retired into seclusion long ago and the outside world believed him to be dead.

Under the guidance of that venerable senior, the Duke of E’s Estate had spent nearly one hundred years on a single task: searching the world for excellent children to be trained in the ways of the Ultimate Martial Army so that its lineage would continue to survive.

But the requirements for the Ultimate Martial Army were far too high and the training was extremely difficult. Thus, up until now, the Duke of E’s Estate had only managed to train two to three thousand such soldiers. Moreover, the Duke of E’s estate had never shown this army to anyone, nor did it ever lend it out. In normal circumstances, it would essentially be impossible to borrow the strength of this powerful army.

Yet Wang Chong also knew that this was not because the Duke of E was harsh or stingy, but because the estate was thinking of what was the best for the world. It hoped that this force would be used for the sake of the country and not for the sake of those with selfish intentions. To guard against the private goals and ambitions of others, the Duke of E’s estate preferred to keep this army hidden.

“Xue Qianjun, bring me a brush and paper,” Wang Chong said without turning his head.

“Yes, Lord Marquis!”

A few moments later, an eagle soared into the skies, carrying to the capital a map of Talas and Wang Chong’s handwritten letter.

……

In the southwestern part of the Imperial City of the Great Tang’s capital, an ancient estate loomed, shaded by a lush canopy of trees. Four golden words had been painted over the gate.

‘Duke of E Residence’!

The Duke of E Residence was far from the only noble clan to have had a brilliant ancestor but gradually declined with the generations. The gradual decline of the house had caused the current generation of the Duke of E Residence to move the estate to the most remote area in the southwestern part of the city, completely withdrawing from the area where the dukes and other great clans made their homes. In the capital, this seemed very unusual and abrupt.

Flap flap!

An eagle descended into the Duke of E Residence. Before it had even landed in that calm and relaxed estate, a figure that had been hiding in a corner suddenly shot out, snatching the eagle from the air and gently landing back on the ground.

“Patriarch, a letter!”

This hidden expert of the Duke of E Residence entered the reception hall and bowed as he offered the letter with both hands.

A man of about forty or fifty with a beard parted three ways and a ruddy expression raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“What’s this? Our Duke of E Residence has no relationship with the noble clans of the capital. Why would we receive a letter by bird? Are you sure that it was sent to the right place?” the middle-aged man sternly asked.

“Patriarch, it’s correct. It was truly addressed to our Duke of E Residence,” the hidden expert respectfully replied.

The middle-aged man hesitated a moment before finally taking the letter from this guard.

“This is… a letter from Talas! How?!”

When he saw the address on the letter, his body trembled and his pupils constricted into pinpricks.

“Impossible!”

The man reeled with shock as great waves raged in his mind. He had also heard about the matter of Talas, but the Duke of E Residence had always been very inconspicuous, rarely interacting with the other great clans of the capital. He could not understand how the Duke of E Residence had managed to get connected to this matter.

The man quickly opened the letter and began to read it. Once he finished, his breathing became heavy and his entire aura seemed in turmoil. As he gripped the letter and the map of Talas that had been included, the middle-aged man fell into deep thought.

“Father, how did the Young Marquis know of our Yuchi Clan’s Ultimate Martial Army!?”

A voice suddenly interrupted the middle-aged man’s contemplative stupor. Turning his head, he saw that a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two had come up behind him and had apparently read the contents of the letter in his hand.

“Fen-er, why are you here?”

The middle-aged man nervously crumpled the letter into a ball.

“What Ultimate Martial Army? Don’t speak nonsense! Our Yuchi Clan has never had any Ultimate Martial Army!”

The middle-aged man swept his sleeves as he got out of his chair and swiftly strode into the inner estate.

Yuchi Fen instantly became anxious, standing in front of his father and spreading his arms apart. “But Father, the matter of Talas has caused such a stir that even Duke Jiu and the Grand Preceptor stepped forward, and even the Sage Emperor opened his golden mouth. Isn’t this exactly the time for our Yuchi Clan to repay the Great Tang? And soldiers are trained for a thousand days to be used in a single moment. Our Yuchi Clan has trained the Ultimate Martial Army generation after generation. Was it not precisely for a day like this? Otherwise, what are we doing all this arduous training for?”

“Bastard thing! Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? The Yuchi Clan’s Ultimate Martial Army has never been used for private gain. If you want to stand above your own peers, rely on your own strength! The Ultimate Martial Army is not some tool to aid you in advancing your career. If we defy the laws of the ancestors, we might end up pushing my entire Yuchi Clan into extinction!”

The Yuchi Patriarch’s eyes widened in rage as he harshly rebuked his son.

“But Father, I only want to carry on the glorious deeds of our Yuchi Clan’s ancestors. Is this wrong as well? Do you also wish for our Yuchi Clan to remain obscure like this forever?!” To the patriarch’s surprise, Yuchi Fen gave no ground, his eyes widening in resolve.

Thump!

Yuchi Fen had barely finished speaking when a hefty slap sent his body spinning to the floor.

“Beast! Did you forget what happened thirty-some years ago? Your little uncle thought the same as you. In order to revitalize the Yuchi Clan, he secretly took some of the Ultimate Martial Army’s soldiers and swore allegiance to the First Prince to resist the Third Prince. But no one had expected that the apparently weakest and most incapable Third Prince would be the one to ascend to the throne and become the Sage Emperor. This nearly brought a great calamity down upon our Yuchi Clan. If not for that incident, our Yuchi Clan would have never moved the estate to this remote area and cut off all relations with the other noble clans!”

The Yuchi Patriarch’s expression was ashen as he gazed at Yuchi Fen, hating the fact that his son was still so immature.

Yuchi Fen instantly felt stifled, and he was momentarily unable to find any retort to his father’s words.

Yuchi Fen’s little uncle was Yuchi Yun, one of the rare geniuses in the last nearly one hundred years of the Yuchi Clan’s history. Back then, he had secretly deceived the patriarch and defied the laws set down by the ancestor. He entered the War of the Princes with the thought of assisting the new Emperor onto the throne, but in the end, he achieved the opposite result. Not only had the Yuchi Clan not regained its former glory, its decline had intensified.