The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The battlefield was known to be hell on earth, a meat grinder for soldiers. Even though the soldiers could freely breathe and were currently uninjured, no one knew if they would come back alive from the next battlefield.

Everyone had grown accustomed to the battlefield being cold, cruel, and arduous, so it was easy to understand what they felt when they saw the Tang happily feasting away.

In the alliance camp, a Youzhou scout kneeled and respectfully said, “Master, the Tang in the steel fortress show no signs of stopping their celebration.”

Thud! A plump palm slammed against a table, causing even the ground beneath it to tremble.

“Bastard! This is already the seventh day! What is that bastard thinking?!”

An Lushan’s beard trembled as he raged.

One day, two days, three days… the Great Tang’s celebration seemed to have no end. Even though he knew that Wang Chong didn’t have good intentions, An Lushan had to admit that the activity to their south had already begun to affect his army’s morale.

While An Lushan raged, Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen, and Tian Chengsi frowned.

They understood Wang Chong’s intentions, but they didn’t know what to do.

They had already discussed whether or not they could imitate the Great Tang and hold their own feast, but Gao Shang had quickly rejected the idea.

The reason the alliance had been able to remain so calm and free of quarrels was that they were independent of each other and respected each other. Other than when they fought, they basically kept to themselves.

If they wanted to feast as the Tang did, who would provide the food for the feast?

Goguryeo didn’t raise much livestock, so they would have to depend on the Eastern Turks and Khitans, but would the Eastern Turks and Khitans be willing?

Moreover, the countries had different eating customs, so if this matter were done poorly, it would fail to calm the army’s morale and also stir up conflict between the countries, doing the opposite of what they hoped.

At this moment, a familiar voice said, “Heh, just a few small matters. Is there any need for Lord Protector-General to be concerned?

Everyone turned to the speaker. The tent flap was raised, and a familiar figure wearing a black robe entered the tent.

“The Divine Works Elder?”

Everyone was rather surprised to see this visitor.

“Elder, welcome!”

An Lushan quickly got up, brought his hands together, and bowed, his expression extremely courteous.

“Cui Qianyou, order some men to warm up some wine and bring it over.”

“Heheh, that’s not necessary, as I’m just passing by. Just get me a seat,” the Divine Works Elder said lightly, waving his hand.

He was quite satisfied with An Lushan’s attitude.

In truth, he hadn’t been very friendly to An Lushan when he first arrived at Youzhou. The man was a mere mortal, someone that was being used by the organization. But over these last few days, An Lushan had gone on a charm offensive, giving him all sorts of gifts.

Ever since Genesis Supreme’s descent, An Lushan had been more courteous to him than even to Genesis Supreme.

The Divine Works Elder normally didn’t receive much attention in the organization, almost not existing. An Lushan’s efforts immediately pushed his self-respect to the very maximum.

The Divine Works Elder raised his head and proudly said, “It’s just some ants celebrating before their deaths, so why should Lord Protector-General be concerned? Once Lord Protector-General rules the world and becomes its master, you will realize that this Wang Chong is nothing at all.”

An Lushan bowed and respectfully said, “I will take Elder’s auspicious words to heart. If there really is such a day, Elder will undoubtedly have played a major role. An Lushan will not forget Elder’s efforts.”

The mighty Protector-General of Youzhou, the supreme commander of the alliance, was being so meek to the Divine Works Elder, even flattering him. If outsiders saw this, they would find it very hard to believe their eyes.

But Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen were totally unperturbed, as if they had seen nothing at all.

The two of them were no stranger to An Lushan’s way of doing things. This was how An Lushan had treated Zhang Shougui long ago.

They knew their master was someone who did not strike unless he was sure of success. For him to suddenly fawn like this meant that he was seeking something.

“Then I won’t be polite. Once Lord Protector-General conquers the world, you may fulfill this promise you made to this old man.”

The Divine Works Elder stroked his beard, a look of pride on his face.

An Lushan quickly exchanged glances with his subordinates, all of them with understanding smiles on their lips.

An old monster like the Divine Works Elder who had lived for ages and possessed so much knowledge was basically a moving treasury.

They had believed that it would be very difficult to make friends with this old monster, but to their surprise, this man had a very strong desire for power—not the authority wielded by a schemer behind the shadows, but power that everyone could see.

Yes, the Divine Works Elder wanted authority over a dynasty.

An Lushan had promised him that once he conquered the world, he would establish a world dynasty where the Divine Works Elder would be the Minister of Works.

In addition, the Divine Works Elder had demanded authority above the Prime Minister. He did not need to attend court, but he could kill as he pleased, and not even An Lushan would be able to order him around.

An Lushan had agreed to everything. For An Lushan, this sort of person was a rare commodity that he needed to corner.

If he could recruit the Divine Works Elder to remain at his side, it would be a great aid to him in the future. More importantly, they could use the Divine Works Elder to find out secrets of the Celestial God Organization.

Genesis Supreme and his ilk were far too powerful. An Lushan had not started his revolt so that he could be a puppet Emperor.

“Naturally. What An Lushan has promised, An Lushan will do. To attend on Elder is An Lushan’s honor,” An Lushan said, his expression brimming with ‘sincerity’.

The Divine Works Elder gave a satisfied nod, extremely happy with An Lushan’s attitude.

The Divine Works Elder sat where An Lushan had been sitting, sipped from the tea on the table, and casually said, “Didn’t you ask me how Venerable Genesis Supreme was so certain that he could break the walls of the steel fortress? Venerable Genesis Supreme was present at the time, so I couldn’t speak, but telling you now will be of no harm.

“I don’t know where that boy in the south learned how to build this kind of steel fortress, but so long as the inscriptions and formations he learned were based on what we passed down, we will definitely have a way to deal with it.”

The Divine Works Elder didn’t keep up the suspense. He extended a shriveled hand out of his sleeve and opened his palm, revealing a flattened metal tip.

“What is this?”

Everyone was flabbergasted by the object in the Divine Works Elder’s hand.

Was the Divine Works Elder saying that this thing could destroy the steel fortress to the south?

“This Divine Craft Arrow is something from a lost civilization. I thought that the organization had melted all of them, but I still managed to find one. Venerable Genesis Supreme has decided to act in a few days precisely because he has gone to fetch more of these Divine Craft Arrows,” the Divine Works Elder proudly said. He looked at the flattened metal tip in his hand like it was some unique treasure.

An Lushan glanced at the unremarkable Divine Craft Arrow and dubiously said, “This thing can break the walls?”

“Heh, don’t look down on it. This specially crafted bolt is the sharpest thing in the world, even more formidable than the Tang ballista bolts. This bolt has a special inscription that can pierce through all the defensive inscriptions and formations in the world. It can even easily pierce through the Great Tang’s formidable fortress.

“The only pity is that the method for producing this bolt has been lost, so each bolt used is lost forever. They are extremely valuable.”

The Divine Works Elder lovingly fondled the bolt as he spoke.

“Once the battle begins, we simply need to fire the bolts into the wall, and taking the city will be much easier. In front of this bolt, the Tang fortress is nothing at all.”

“So this was the case!”

An Lushan looked at the bolt in the Divine Works Elder’s hand and frowned.

“Heheh, don’t believe me?”

The Divine Works Elder grinned. He took the bolt and lightly scraped it across the metal table in front of him, instantly gouging out a scar more than half an inch deep in the refined iron.

Everyone was stunned by this.

An Lushan always gave himself the finest things. While this iron table seemed ordinary, it was actually incredibly dense. Even precious swords would barely leave a mark on it.

But a casual scrape from the Divine Works Elder’s bolt had such an enormous effect. One could easily tell how sharp it was.

“It truly isn’t bad. With these things, taking the city will be much easier.”

An Lushan took the bolt from the Divine Works Elder’s hand, examined it for a while, and then nodded.

HIs judgement was correct. The Divine Works Elder truly did possess many fine things.

“But Venerable Genesis Supreme cannot be so certain merely because of these Divine Craft Arrows, yes?” An Lushan sternly said.

While this bolt was very good, it still wasn’t enough. An Lushan had been with Genesis Supreme for some time and had some understanding of him.

The Tang were not weak, particularly their commander that these people called the ‘Child of Destruction’. Genesis Supreme had to have something else that he was relying on.

“Haha, of course. Venerable Genesis Supreme’s methods are not something people like you can imagine. While this Great Tang seems extremely powerful to you, in our eyes, it is just an ordinary dynasty,” the Divine Works Elder smugly replied.

An Lushan and his generals were stunned. They exchanged glances but said nothing more.

An empire that could contend against all the other countries was just an ordinary dynasty to the Divine Works Elder. If so, then how strong was a true dynasty in their eyes?