The Human Emperor
chapter-700

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

"What do I want to do? Didn't I already say I came to find my friends?"

Wang Chong gave a faint smile.

Although Qin Qicheng was currently a decent martial artist, he still wasn't the Qin Qicheng of the future. Of the ten commanders of the Wushang Cavalry, he had been ranked as the last. If the current Qin Qicheng wanted to mature into that farsighted 'Lord Qi', he would probably still need some time.

And this wasn't the right time or place to converse too deeply with him.

"Let's go!"

Wang Chong waved his hand and began to proceed forward, stepping over the Wushang villagers.

If he wanted to recruit the Wushang, he had to go through the Wushang Village Chief, the 'Grandpa' that Fang Xiaoyan had spoken of.

"You dare to act so brashly in our Wushang Village! Do you really think this is your land?"

Wang Chong had barely stepped over a few Wushang villagers and was preparing to head deeper into the village when a bone-chilling voice rang out in his ear. It suddenly felt like he was walking from the scorching summer into the frigid winter, and everyone began to shiver. And then, they noticed that a massive 'stone' was dropping out of the sky, smashing toward Wang Chong.

"What is that!" a guard yelled out in surprise.

At first glance, everyone had taken it to be a massive stone, but when that stone suddenly unfurled five fingers, they realized that it wasn't a stone, but a giant stone hand.

Boom!

The stone fist smashed down, causing the earth to shake and dust to plume into the sky. In front of the stone fist, Wang Chong's robes were flapping in the wind. He was standing nearby, having managed to avoid the strike by a hair.

It's him!

Wang Chong's eyes narrowed as he looked gravely up at the sky. None of that previous sense of ease and relaxation could be seen.

At this moment, everyone could clearly see that what had appeared in front of Wang Chong was not some massive stone, but a stone giant, thirty meters high and with the appearance of a general. When they first saw it, that giant still had only one hand and one foot.

But immediately afterward, the cliffs on both sides began to rumble and crack. As if cleaved apart by axes and hatchets, large stones began to be pulled from the cliffs by some invisible energy, traveling along with countless bits of gravel toward the stone giant's right shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, a stone arm manifested out of thin air, followed by the right foot and the left ear. In a few short moments, the stone giant had fully formed.

Raising their heads, everyone could see that this was a giant with the appearance of a general. His body was equipped with stone armor, and his expression was dignified and dreadful. His height of more than thirty meters made everyone at his feet seem like insignificant ants.

Stone General!

In a flash, Wang Chong recognized this general.

'Stone General' was one of Wushang Village's most elite martial arts. It could control all stone in a radius of several hundred zhang and transform the user into a stone giant with the appearance of a general from an ancient era, the 'Stone General'.

This martial art was extremely powerful, with the Stone General created containing the strength of the Imperial Martial realm. Moreover, as long as one had abundant stone in the surroundings, the Stone General could endlessly repair itself, meaning that the person cultivating the Stone General essentially could not be defeated.

In addition, the thick stone armor meant that weapons would find it very difficult to harm the martial artist within the Stone General, one of the great advantages of the Stone General technique.

Wushang Village was surrounded by mountains and lofty peaks, so what they had in greatest supply was stones.

Thus, in this environment, the Stone General could display the full extent of its capabilities.

But this was not the only thing Wang Chong cared about. Wushang Village did not have many people capable of using the Stone General, and at a place like this, Wang Chong could only think of one person that could use it:

Huang Botian!

One of the Protectors of Wushang Village's outermost perimeter!

Before the great calamity, anyone who attempted to intrude into the heart of the village would first encounter Huang Botian. Of Wushang Village's many protectors, he had reached a superb mastery of the Stone General. He was the model of an Imperial Martial expert, and his strength was far greater than Qin Qicheng's.

He could be considered as part of the backbone of Wushang Village's strength.

When the otherworldly invaders attacked Wushang Village, he had borrowed the particular geography of the village to block five or six thousand of them, almost singlehandedly holding a defensive position. In Wushang Village, this person was very difficult to deal with.

Alas, Huang Botian ended up dying in battle during the calamity, the first of Wushang Village's core force to die.

I didn't think that I would run into this martial maniac!

Wang Chong raised his head to that imposing and powerful Stone General and squinted, no fear in his eyes.

Back then, when his own training on the martial path had not yet been complete, Fang Xiaoyan would have debates with him. She would occasionally mention this Protector uncle of hers who had reached a superb level in the Stone General, Huang Botian. Although he had astonishing strength and a vehement hatred of outsiders, deep within his heart, Huang Botian was a true man.

He had an extreme fondness for martial arts, which also served as his greatest weakness. Anyone who could resist three of his blows would be able to obtain his good graces, and if they could defeat him, Huang Botian would quickly change his attitude.

No matter where the opponent came from, whether they were righteous or evil, Huang Botian would immediately treat them as a brother, acknowledging them as a bosom comrade.

In the past, there was a Tibetan expert who was being pursued by Great Tang experts and ended up wandering into Wushang Village. In the end, he fought a pitched battle with Huang Botian, and this battle ended with Huang Botian and the Tibetan becoming friends. In the aftermath, he did everything possible to protect the Tibetan expert, even almost fighting with his fellow villagers.

In the end, the villagers were forced to let the expert go!

He had clearly known that his opponent was a Tibetan who harbored no good intentions toward the Great Tang, so that Huang Botian did this was a testament to the intensity of his addiction for martial arts.

However, although everyone in the village knew of Huang Botian's personality problems, outsiders knew nothing about it. Probably not even Fang Xiaoyan, who had so delighted in having debates with Wang Chong, could have ever imagined that he would one day fight with that Protector uncle of hers.

This will be interesting. If I stop three of his moves, I can win his favor! Wang Chong said to himself as he looked up at the Stone General. It felt like he could look through the thick layers of stone armor at that mysterious middle-aged man sizing him up from the chest of the giant.

To tell the truth, Wang Chong was also very interested in this strange martial maniac that Fang Xiaoyan had spoken of, who had ultimately ended up dying in the calamity. Many of Wushang Village's experts had died in that great calamity.

To Wang Chong, this was a great regret.

"You're rather fast, but do you think you're faster than me?"

The Stone General's voice was brimming with energy, ringing out like a gong from over Wang Chong's head. While Wang Chong was thinking, a stone whistled through the air. Huang Botian had suddenly called over a large stone and sent it hurtling at Wang Chong.

While the first boulder was still in flight, Huang Botian stomped down his foot. The earth cracked, and several more massive stones flew out of the ground and into the hand of the thirty-meter giant, after which they were fired from its palm like cannonballs.

A second stone, a third stone, a fourth…

Massive boulders were fired in quick succession at Wang Chong, winds howling in their wake. One of the stones flew past Wang Chong's head, as even Gao Feng, Nie Yan, and the other soldiers were in the scope of the stone giant's attacks.

Huang Botian's attacks were clearly not aimed at Wang Chong alone. He treated all invaders the same.

"Careful!"

The stunned guards began to scatter.

This Wushang Village was shrouded in mysteries and was shocking them more and more. They could accept those villagers who could practically fly through the craggy peaks and steep mountains, but now, an expert had appeared who could control stone, a sub-element of Earth, one of the Five Elements. The feeling this expert gave to these soldiers was no less than that of the leader of Huoshu Huicang's Five Tiger Generals, Longqinba.

Perhaps they could disregard all this if Wushang Village were some famous fort, but this was a remote and barren place, a place that they hadn't even known about until the marquis had mentioned it and brought them over.

Thus, one could easily imagine the shock that came with the casual appearance of this Imperial Martial expert.

"There's no need to worry. Let me handle this stone giant!"

When his soldiers were at their most panicked and nervous, Wang Chong's calming voice rang out in their ears. Whoosh! The boulder that had been shooting toward Gao Feng and the others was halted in the air and then curved back around, traveling at the same speed back toward the Stone General.

Buzz!

At this moment, all the Wushang villagers were flabbergasted, and even Huang Botian's Stone General trembled. It was clear that the martial maniac of Wushang Village had been perturbed by Wang Chong's move.

"Haha, if I were you, I definitely wouldn't use this move!"

Wang Chong's laughter was still hanging in the air as the second, third, and fourth boulders spun around in the air. With a wave of Wang Chong's finger, they all began to shoot at astonishing speeds toward the Stone General.

None of these boulders Huang Botian had thrown had been able to pose any real threat to Wang Chong.

"Damn it!"

Infuriated, Huang Botian punched and smashed the stones that Wang Chong had sent back. Not in all his time in Wushang Village had he encountered a situation like this.

"I truly underestimated you! It seems like a minor technique like this is useless against you. But you really shouldn't have challenged me like this. I've stood guard around here for so long, and never has anyone dared to act recklessly in front of me! Now, pay the price!"

WIth that resounding voice still echoing in the air, the earth began to rumble. The massive figure of the Stone General bent down and plunged five fingers into the earth. With a vigorous pull, the Stone General extracted a massive stone spear from the earth, fifty-some meters long and as thick as a large bowl.