The Human Emperor

“Get in touch with Academic Lu, the great clans, and all the members of the martial arts world! I need you to gather information on the Divine Martial realm! In addition, use my token to find all the divine doctors of the martial arts world and find any medicines and treatment methods related to the Divine Martial realm!” Wang Chong solemnly ordered without turning his head.

“Divine Martial realm?”

Old Eagle raised his head and looked at Wang Chong.

“No questions. Just do as you’re ordered,” Wang Chong sternly said.

It was better that as few people knew about the problems with the Sage Emperor as possible. Leaking too much before he found any useful information would not be good.

“Yes!” Old Eagle quickly replied, and left.

I hope that I can find some useful clues! Wang Chong commented to himself as he raised his head and sighed.

Lu Ting was skilled in deciphering ancient texts, and he had earlier been the one who had identified the Bird Seal Script. He also had the aid of the great clans in searching for ancient texts. But even so, Wang Chong wasn’t very confident.

The Sage Emperor was the revered Son of Heaven, and had far more resources than he did. The Sage Emperor must have mobilized significant resources after his failure to reach the Divine Martial realm. If it had been so easy to deal with the consequences of failing to reach the Divine Martial realm, the Sage Emperor would have already done it.

And in terms of martial arts, the Sage Emperor was much stronger than he was.

I just have to try whatever I can! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

……

As Wang Chong was trying every way possible to find a method to treat the Sage Emperor’s illness, within the Imperial Palace, a majestic figure was seated on his throne. The five-clawed dragon robe he wore was a clear marker of his status: the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven, the reigning Sage Emperor.

The doors to Taiji Palace were sealed. Only the Sage Emperor and Gao Lishi were present.

“How is it?”

The Sage Emperor’s eyes were half-closed as his deep voice resounded through the hall.

Eunuch Gao bowed and sternly said, “It’s rather bad. Those incidents have already stirred up major arguments between the court officials, and many people have submitted memorials inquiring on the subject, even the King of Foreign Lands. But overall, it is still controllable, with no mass panic.”

But despite his words, he still subtly shot the Sage Emperor a worried glance.

“Heheh, is this not what the two of us predicted would happen?”

The Sage Emperor seemed completely unperturbed.

“But… ” Eunuch Gao hesitated before finally asking, “Is there really nothing that can be done?”

An eerie silence ensued, the Sage Emperor falling silent.

The atmosphere was suffocating.

“Haaah…”

The Sage Emperor shook his head.

“You already know the answer, yes?”

Gao Lishi’s expression instantly dimmed.

“Right, you said that Wang Chong also submitted a memorial?” the Sage Emperor asked with a smile.

“Yes. From what I understand, quite a few court officials went to find him. However, as Your Majesty ordered, all these memorials have been retained in the palace and left unanswered. We have simply issued a general announcement that Your Majesty is doing fine!” Gao Lishi deferentially said.

“Your Majesty, the King of Foreign Lands is extremely sharp. We can’t hide this matter from him for very long!”

“Heh, let him be. He’ll find out eventually!” the Sage Emperor softly said, his expression unconcerned. In fact, he even seemed to be praising Wang Chong.

“But…”

Gao Lishi hesitated.

“There is no need to worry. When that day truly comes, We will explain it to him personally.”

The Sage Emperor waved his hand and stopped Gao Lishi.

The latter fell silent and said no more.

A bell softly chimed. It was almost inaudible, but when Gao Lishi heard the sound, he stood up and looked toward the throne.

“Your Majesty, the time has come!” Gao Lishi said.

The Sage Emperor softly nodded.

Gao Lishi left and came back with a brown medicine jar.

It was an unremarkable medicine jar, but it pulsed with rich waves of spiritual energy, and the steam rising from it carried thick medicinal aromas.

If the officials of court had seen this, they would have been stunned. This medicine was clearly prepared for the Sage Emperor. In other words, the worries of the court had not been baseless. It was just that no one except Gao Lishi and the Sage Emperor knew the truth.

Gao Lishi was handling everything personally, allowing no outsiders.

The hall was quiet as Gao Lishi took out a medicine bowl, into which he poured a thick brownish-black liquid that obviously carried an extremely bitter taste.

Unlike other medicines, when Gao Lishi poured it into the bowl, it faintly rippled with Psychic Energy.

“Your Majesty!”

Gao Lishi ascended the steps, got down on one knee, and offered the brown medicine bowl to the Sage Emperor.

The Sage Emperor smoothly took the bowl, a long-practiced action showing that he had done this many times already.

The bowl was slowly raised, but just when the Sage Emperor was about to drink its contents down…

Without any warning, the brown medicine bowl shattered into pieces.

“Old slave, you dare!”

A furious roar echoed through the hall.

The mood instantly tensed.

Stellar Energy surged around the raised platform. Gao Lishi could sense that the empire’s supreme ruler had experienced a shocking transformation. Even his voice was different.

“Your Majesty!”

Gao Lishi trembled as he prostrated, his face going pale.

Waves of energy surged through the palace like furious waves, wrapping around Gao Lishi in layer after layer. And amidst this energy was a faint killing intent, a concealed blade.

But all of this killing intent and Stellar Energy would get several feet from Gao Lishi before drawing back, as if he was surrounded by some invisible barrier.

After a long, long time…

Like the receding tide, the energy and killing intent vanished. The tension suddenly relaxed, and the hall once more fell silent.

“You’re dismissed!”

After a long while, the figure on the dragon throne leaned back. The Sage Emperor half-closed his eyes, fatigue in his voice.

Gao Lishi glanced up in great concern. He wanted to say something, but after a few moments, he simply grunted and retreated from the hall.

This was not the first time such a thing had happened. He knew how to deal with it.

But Gao Lishi was worried that His Majesty… was apparently getting worse and worse.

Gao Lishi quickly left.

The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. As the seconds dripped by, the only sound was the faint breathing of the Sage Emperor.

Suddenly, the doors were pushed by some invisible force, opening a crack.

The Sage Emperor slightly frowned and raised his head to look at the door.

There was no activity at all outside the hall.

But a moment later, with the crisp jangle of a bell, a seemingly ordinary and unremarkable palace maid came in, carrying a silver plate laden with glazed fruits and pastries.

The palace maid had her head bowed so that her face could not be seen.

The Sage Emperor’s eyes twitched upon seeing this woman, but he said nothing.

“Your Majesty, the Palace Larder had me send over some pastries,” the palace maid said in a trembling voice, and even her body was shaking.

“‘Heaven’, after so many years, must you still try and play petty tricks like this in front of Us? Do you really think you can trick me?” the Sage Emperor coldly said, his majestic voice infused with an intimidating power that seemed to see through all.

The mood in the hall instantly turned strange.

The trembling palace maid in front of the doors to Taiji Palace suddenly calmed down.

“Heh, truly, the Great Tang’s ‘Divine Son of Heaven’. In the last several thousand years, you are the only person to have forced ‘Us’ to this level!”

The palace maid finally raised her head to meet the Sage Emperor’s gaze.

In stark contrast to her status, her eyes shone with a light more blinding than the sun, almost impossible to directly stare at.

And just like the Sage Emperor, ‘she’ referred to herself using the royal We!

But a moment later, that intimidating light vanished. The palace maid softly smiled in derision.

“Alas, in the end, a human cannot defeat ‘Heaven’. In this battle with Us, you still lost!”

The Sage Emperor leaned back against the dragon throne and coolly said, “We have never lost, much less to you. The game between us is not over. It is still too early to speak of victory!”

Wang Chong would have undoubtedly been shaken by this scene.

The palace maid in front of the Sage Emperor was clearly the supreme leader behind the men in black, the one who had commanded True Lord Yellow Dragon to participate in the Rebellion of the Three Princes: ‘Heaven’!

The mood in the hall became even more bizarre.

True Lord Yellow Dragon had lived for thousands of years, even longer, and as his superior, ‘Heaven’ had a lifespan that no one would dare to estimate.