The Human Emperor
chapter-1565

Chapter 1565: The Origin Immortal Chief’s Choice!

“The palace and its people exist together and die together. From the moment I became a guardian of the palace, it became my mission to guard this place. This place is my final destination. I only followed so I could safely escort the young patriarch out. My duty is complete. Young Patriarch, go; complete your mission. Carry out the wish shared between you and the Immortal Lord!”

With that relieved smile on her face, the Origin Immortal Lord turned around and headed back underground without hesitation.

“Chief!”

Wang Chong paled in shock, and he immediately tried to chase.

But the Origin Immortal Chief had apparently expected this. Wang Chong had barely gotten several dozen feet when the rock walls suddenly began to collapse, starting close by and then continuing deeper into the earth.

“How could this be?!”

Wang Chong was stunned. He immediately slashed with his sword, sending a grandiose bolt of milky-white Sword Qi blasting into the rock. It furiously tried to bore through the collapsed rock in an attempt to open up a passage and save the Origin Immortal Chief.

“Give it up!”

A palm reached out and held back Wang Chong. Righteous Alliance Lord Song Yuanyi had walked over to stop Wang Chong.

“This is her own choice, so let her do as she pleases. The earth is not stable here, and if you try and stop her, you might bring about an unexpected consequence. It’s better to just let her go!”

Song Yuanyi was abnormally calm, his voice tinged with a wisdom that had grown indifferent to the passions of life.

Partings in both life and death were as normal as could be for members of the martial arts world. Most importantly, this was the Origin Immortal Chief’s choice. She had chosen to live and die together with the collapsed Origin Immortal Palace. She knew what she was doing. The best way to respect someone was to respect their choices.

Wang Chong said nothing. He naturally understood the reasoning, but deep down, how could he possibly accept it?

Rumble! Another series of collapses could be heard down below, and they seemed to be getting closer and closer. Song Yuanyi paled at this sound and pulled on Wang Chong.

“This place is starting to collapse! Come on! If we don’t go now, we won’t be leaving at all!”

The Origin Immortal Chief’s destruction of the passage behind her had finally triggered a chain reaction, a large-scale collapse. In truth, Song Yuanyi couldn’t be sure if this hadn’t been her intention, a means of forcing them to go.

Bang! A rock came down and slammed in front of their feet, instantly creating a spider web of cracks on the ground. Wang Chong took one last glance backward before finally giving a reluctant sigh.

“Goodbye, Chief!”

Turning around, Wang Chong followed Song Yuanyi and headed toward the surface.

The passage got brighter and brighter, the air cleaner and cleaner. Finally, they heard a large ruckus from above, like a large number of people were present.

“No! No matter what, we have to find the alliance lord! Split up into teams! Zhou Chang, take a group and search that way. Chen Hao, you search over there.”

“Young Miss, relax. No matter what, we will find the alliance lord!”

The voices didn’t sound very far from the pair.

“There’s no need! I’m over here!”

The moment he heard these voices, Song Yuanyi shot ahead, shooting toward the surface.

Those voices clearly belonged to members of the Righteous Alliance.

Wang Chong fell back for a moment, but after a moment’s thought, he rushed to join him.

But after traveling a little distance, still five or six hundred meters from the surface, Wang Chong suddenly heard a weak, almost inaudible, voice.

“Mm?”

Wang Chong’s brow creased and his feet came to a stop.

“What’s going on?”

Wang Chong was baffled. There were only five or six hundred meters from the surface, so there was no reason for anyone to stick around. In truth, he and Song Yuanyi had been the last group.

Swish!

Wang Chong immediately began to head toward the sound, which gradually grew more distinct.

“Young Master, you have to hold on! I’ll definitely find a way to save you!”

Wang Chong could hear someone crying out between sobs. He didn’t recognize the voice at first, but then he shivered in understanding.

Sword Dragon!

Wang Chong had never imagined that he would hear the voice of Young Master Qingyang’s guard here.

Young Master Qingyang and Sword Dragon were inseparable. While Young Master Qingyang was known far and wide in the martial arts world, his guard also had a considerable reputation.

But Wang Chong had a bad feeling upon hearing Sword Dragon’s voice.

“Sword Dragon!” Wang Chong loudly called out.

After a few moments of silence, a bellow came in response, tinged with panic and fear.

“Young Master Wang! Is it Young Master Wang? I’m here!”

It was Sword Dragon’s voice.

Wang Chong had no more doubts. There were many branching passages here, but Wang Chong was able to follow the sound. At a depth of around one thousand meters, Wang Chong found Sword Dragon.

But what Wang Chong saw made his heart go cold.

In this side passage, Sword Dragon was kneeling on the side, his clothes in tatters and his body faring little better. With a single glance, Wang Chong could see that his right leg was a bloody mass of flesh.

Next to Sword Dragon, a massive rock had fallen from above, and not even Wang Chong could determine just how large it was.

Just the part that was exposed to him was ten-some meters long.

At the base of the rock, Wang Chong saw that a small depression had been dug out, and from it, Wang Chong could see a protruding arm and half a sleeve.

The sleeve had been entirely drenched in blood.

“Lord Marquis, help me! No matter what, you have to help me! Young Master is down there. We accidentally entered a side passage, and when we were coming out, we didn’t think that it would suddenly collapse… Young Master, Young Master was behind me… he pushed me out…”

Sword Dragon immediately clung to Wang Chong like a drowning man grabbing hold of a rescue rope.

Wang Chong had met Sword Dragon several times, and each time, Sword Dragon had been bursting with energy and fighting intent, someone who would never submit or yield.

But now, this seven-foot-tall man was stricken by grief and despair.

Immense pain and self-reproach had caused his lips to tremble, and he couldn’t even speak properly.

As he looked at that the arm poking out from under the rock, Wang Chong’s heart sank.

“That’s… Young Master Qingyang!” Wang Chong cautiously said, and when he saw Sword Dragon painfully nod, his expression turned gloomy. Young Master Qingyang could use very little martial arts, and based on the weight of this rock, he was probably…

As if knowing what Wang Chong was thinking, Sword Dragon tearfully implored, “Lord Marquis! The young master isn’t dead! I was speaking with him just now! Hurry and save him! Save him…”

No one else except Wang Chong could help him at this time.

“Sword Dragon, don’t panic. Relax! I will definitely help you save Young Master Qingyang!” Wang Chong comforted.

Although he had only met with Young Master Qingyang a few times and there had been the matter of the fake and real Young Master Qingyangs, Wang Chong felt no hostility toward the youth. On the contrary, from their interactions, Wang Chong had developed a very good opinion of him.

Calming himself down, Wang Chong turned his attention to the boulder.

“Eh?”

When he first saw this massive boulder, Wang Chong had believed that the chances for Young Master Qingyang’s survival were incredibly slim. His words just now had been more of an attempt to soothe Sword Dragon. But now that he looked carefully, he noticed that the person under the rock still had a faint pulse, though the loss of blood and the impact from the rock had probably made them fall unconscious.

“How could this be!?”

Wang Chong immediately sent a burst of Psychic Energy forward and quickly found out the reason.

It turned out that while this boulder was heavy, its surface was very uneven and covered with natural depressions. Young Master Qingyang happened to be under one of these depressions.

This was how Young Master Qingyang had avoided the fate of being instantly crushed to death.

But while this depression was enough to keep him alive temporarily, it had also pinned him to the ground. Given how weak Young Master Qingyang was, he needed to be saved soon. If he remained there for too long, he would die.

Bang!

Wang Chong placed his hands on the stone, sent Stellar Energy surging into the boulder, and then tried to raise it up.

But it took only a second for Wang Chong to realize that this method was not feasible.

No good! This boulder weighs more than a hundred thousand tons, and Young Master Qingyang is in a depression right now. Carelessly shifting the rock might kill him on the spot.

Wang Chong’s brow furrowed.

If the person under the rock had been at the Saint Martial realm or even the Imperial Martial realm, it wouldn’t have been as much of a problem. But Young Master Qingyang was simply too weak, restricting the scale of any action. The debris from exploding rock or a sudden increase in pressure would instantly lead to Young Master Qingyang’s death.

This instantly closed off many potential solutions.