The Human Emperor

Rumble! Not long after the Hierophant had given his order, the earth began to rumble and dust began to churn. Three hundred thousand Arab cavalry who had been waiting in the rear surged out in a flood of steel, brandishing their scimitars as they charged toward the front line.

As these three hundred thousand soldiers entered the fray, the battle intensified, and endless waves of Arabs battered at the Tang front line.

“Send another three hundred thousand!”

Khatabah continued to observe the battle, and just a few moments later, he waved his hand, sending in another wave of Arab cavalry. And a few moments after that, he sent in a third wave. While this wave was smaller, it was still around one hundred thousand soldiers.

The pressure on the Great Tang continued to rise.

“Release! Release! Release!”

Behind the left flank, Su Hanshan continued to issue his orders.

On this battlefield, besides Wang Chong and the other five Great Generals, Su Hanshan probably had the greatest effectiveness. Though he only commanded a single army, he needed to remain apprised of the situation across the entire battlefield so that he could provide the necessary support.

Su Hanshan’s ballista army had already killed countless Arabs, accounting for the vast majority of the Arab losses.

For this battle, Wang Chong had opened up the Qixi Armory and handed over all the ballistae and ballista bolts to Su Hanshan.

He had already consumed more than half the ballista bolts, but the Arabs seemed limitless.

Not even Su Hanshan had imagined that despite the abundant preparations, the mountains of ballista bolts, he would still be running short on ammo.

“These bastards!”

As Su Hanshan glanced at the Arabian banners with their crescent moons, his face turned savage, and there was a cruel glint in his eyes.

This was the first time he had been forced into such dire straits, but no matter how many Arab cavalry there were, as long as he still stood, he would not let them pass.

“Release!”

With this order, Su Hanshan swung his sword, and the ballistae thundered in response, countless bolts sweeping through the air.

Countless screams pierced through the air, the dirge of death!

“I’ve done all I can. The outcome of this battle will depend on the rest of you!”

Su Hanshan glanced toward the center, where Arabia’s ‘God’s Ordained Cavalry’ battled the ‘Nine Dragon Army’.

The center was where the main force of the army was. The ballista army could only provide support, not decide the outcome.

In the center, the battle was intensifying, with both armies sustaining losses at every moment. Halo resonated against halo and weapon clashed against weapon, mixing together with the squelch of blades plunging into flesh and blood flowing out.

It was a battle much more arduous than anyone had envisioned!

The Nine Dragon Blood War Banner was one of the most powerful ritual artifacts from Taizong’s era, a supreme treasure produced in an era of war and chaos. It existed purely for war, and it required gathering together nine elite armies. These nine armies combined and empowered by the Nine Dragon Blood War Banner created one of the finest fighting forces on the continent.

With nine halos, any soldier of the Nine Dragon Army could cleave apart an Arab rider together with his horse.

But this time, the Great Tang was facing the most legendary force in all of Arabia, the God’s Ordained Cavalry.

These two supreme armies had met their match, and for a moment, it was difficult to determine which was superior.

Before this battle, neither army had ever imagined that they would find a foe that was just as powerful as they were.

“Kiiill!”

War cries resounded through the sky as the two armies continued their fierce melee.

Meanwhile, Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun, and Saleh continued their stalemate.

“Hahaha, Tang, you can’t hold for much longer! We still have a massive army behind us! I’d like to see how long your Great Tang’s army of six hundred thousand can last!”

Saleh brazenly laughed as his two large scimitars whistled through the air with what seemed like lives of their own, slicing up everything in their path.

These two scimitars were dark and heavy, and their edges glistened with a purple light. Whenever Zhangchou Jianqiong’s or An Sishun’s Stellar Energy clashed against them, they would create an explosion.

It was obvious that these scimitars were forged of some special metal and had the ability to pierce through Stellar Energy. Moreover, these scimitars had no handles and followed unpredictable trajectories. Together with Saleh’s formidable cultivation, they were difficult to defend against. With these two unique weapons, Saleh managed to remain on par with his foes despite being outnumbered two-to-one.

Zhangchou Jianqiong said nothing, continuing to throw heavy blows at Saleh. But on the side, An Sishun spoke.

“It’s too early to say that! This battle isn’t over, and your side doesn’t have the upper hand! Don’t speak of victory just yet!”

Surprisingly, An Sishun spoke in Arabic. Though he spoke rather stiffly, he had enough grasp of the language to convey his meaning.

“You know how to speak our tongue?”

Saleh was clearly rather surprised, and so was Zhangchou Jianqiong.

Geography made it so that some Turks would understand Arabic, but it was truly surprising that An Sishun knew how to speak Arabic. He had never heard about An Sishun possessing this skill.

“An Sishun, don’t waste time speaking with him! Kill this western barbarian! Do these invading scoundrels really think that the Great Tang is one of the puny kingdoms of the west? As they dared to come to the east, they need to leave at least half their people behind!”

Zhangchou Jianqiong suddenly roared, swinging his sword at Saleh.

A tiger’s roar resounded through the air, and behind Zhangchou Jianqiong, a massive white tiger manifested.

This white tiger rapidly solidified, slamming into the barrier of Stellar Energy around Saleh like a meteorite.

Upon receiving this powerful strike, Saleh’s barrier dimmed, causing him to immediately shut his mouth and focus on the battle.

Zhangchou Jianqiong coldly grunted and continued his assault.

Saleh was incredibly strong, undoubtedly one of the strongest generals in the Arab army. His two scimitars were particularly hard to deal with, and Zhangchou Jianqiong and An Sishun together were just barely managing to stay even.

But no matter how strong Saleh was, they simply needed to avoid his scimitars and grind away at his Stellar Energy to defeat him.

An Sishun understood, taking up Zhangchou Jianqiong’s tactics and avoiding the scimitars to strike directly at Saleh’s Stellar Energy.

A storm stirred up around the three as they once more entered into an intense battle.

Meanwhile, across the battlefield, as the Tang battled against the Arabs, more and more Arab Governors, Deputy Governors, and generals were entering the fray, increasing the pressure on the Great Tang.

Suddenly, a muscular black and brown steed with a glossy mane stepped forward, its one hoof seeming to weigh ten thousand jun. Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi was finally about to move out.

Everyone instantly focused on Wang Zhongsi, with Tongluo Great General Abusi showing a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“It’s time for me to move out!” Wang Zhongsi declared, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, almost like he was talking to himself. But the domineering tone in his voice left Abusi deeply shaken.

Suddenly, Abusi’s eyes flashed in understanding.

Abusi did not interact with Wang Zhongsi very much. Even when Wang Zhongsi retired to the Eastern Palace, Abusi had only exchanged a few words with him. But even so, Abusi had to admit that the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian was far stronger than he was.

Pacifying the Eastern and Western Turks, pushing into the Tibetan Plateau, occupying the royal palace of Ü-Tsang… Wang Zhongsi had far too many legendary feats under his belt. And during the war of the southwest, when the Ü-Tsang Empire was threatening Big Dipper City, Wang Zhongsi had gone out alone to resolve the crisis.

Alas, despite the two serving under the same ruler, Abusi had only heard of these things and had never witnessed Wang Zhongsi’s power himself, much less his tactics and strategies!

Abusi had to admit that he was rather excited to see the strongest Great General of his era in action.

But Wang Zhongsi had no attention to spare for Abusi. His gaze was fixed on the battlefield, taking in every development.

While Zhangchou Jianqiong and An Sishun were engrossed in their battle with Saleh, they had failed to notice at least seven Governors and Deputy Governors converging on their location.

In their current situation, the pair had no strength to deal with these additional combatants. And if something happened to those two, the Nine Dragon Army would collapse with them.

“Guan Xuanhai, Fu Fangyi, assemble the army!”

His voice was deep and firm, imbued with a daring and courage that seized and entranced the soul.