The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 284 Fooled Again

Zhang Jin’gang, Chief of the Prelature of Buddhas and a Seventh-grade Human King specializing in Hard Cross Techniques and had never once been defeated by anyone similar to or lower than his grade.

Yet, on this day, he was defeated. In spite of his might and prowess, he was ignominiously defeated by Chu Xun.

The surrealistic sensation that accompanied the sight of his drubbing made everyone’s—Li Kun and his allies—heart raced and pounded feverishly with fear.

Still, they managed to remain stoic enough to refrain from turning around and flee like beaten dogs. Part of Zhang Jin’gang’s downfall was his own undoing; his pride and hubris had got in the way before he could unleash his full strength on his foe.

“Quaint, Chu Xun. Very quaint indeed,” Li Kun muttered with feigned admiration.

But there was no denying how unbelievably incredible was Chu Xun’s physical toughness.

“Would you like a go too?” asked the Devil.

“I’m afraid I’m not Zhang Jin’gang, Chu Xun,” sneered Li Kun, indicating that he would not fall for the same ruse to fight Chu Xun in single combat.

Long Feiyang, Wan Xuan, and Chui Tianyou stepped forward together, standing abreast with their presences powerful enough to make the air freeze.

Yue Fandie shifted uneasily. He might be very close to becoming an Eighth-grade Human King, but even defeat any one of these foes would take at least hundreds or even thousands of rounds. All four of them attacking together would most undoubtedly become a one-sided slaughter.

“Long have we shared the hatred with each other, Chu Xun. Let’s finish this once and for all,” hissed Li Kun, before casting a glance at Yue Fandie, “And you, Master Yue. You could have enjoyed a carefree and fruitful life, yet you chose to align yourself with the Devil. I suppose that you have only yourself to blame for whatever happens today.”

Yue Fandie chuckled with ice. “And if I’m not being friends with Chu Xun, you expect me to collude with scum like you?”

“Well... Let’s see if you can maintain your so-called ‘just and upright stance’ even when Death is upon you.” Li Kun grinned wickedly, his eyes flashing with malice.

“Gentlemen, let us finish this now: slaughter Chu Xun, the Devil, and let him be an example to the world,” pronounced Li Kun.

“KILL THEM!”

The battle cry reverberated off the hard rockfaces of the cliffs, spreading out of the canyon.

Li Kun and Long Feiyang lunged at Chu Xun.

Wan Xuan and Chui Tianyou charged at Yue Fandie.

“Be careful, eh, Big Brother?” Chu Xun’s voice came ringing into Yue Fandie’s ears before he vanished, hurling a fist at his enemies.

Boom!

Energy bolts forged of Immortal Qi in the image of fists rained into the air as Chu Xun faced off against two enemies.

Meanwhile, Yue Fandie found himself engaged by the other two men.

Energy shafts—all of them in images of fists or palms—hurtled into the air; some weaving past each other while others collided and ended up in terrible explosions that shocked and rocked the entire canyon.

“I’ll have your head today, Chu the Devil! With your head on a spike, the rest of the world shall understand the fate of any fool who dares defy the Broken Souls Cult!”

Screaming, Li Kun swooped down on Chu Xun like an eagle, firing an energy bolt shaped like his palm at Chu Xun’s head.

Channeling his Immortal Qi into his arms, Chu Xun swung his fists, one after another in quick succession. The first uppercut disintegrated Li Kun’s missile while the other returned an energy bolt at the leader of the Cult.

Realizing his chance, Long Feiyang aimed a mighty roundhouse sidekick at Chu Xun’s midsection with such force that the air popped and crackled.

Chu Xun spun around, returning the same favor at his enemy with just as much speed and power to counter the blow.

Then, he quickly fired a pair of energy bolts from his fists at Long Feiyang for good measure.

Long Feiyang thrust his palms again and again. Spurts of energy blasts shot out of his palms and collided with Chu Xun’s bolts, the ensuing string of explosions hurtling him more than 100 meters away.

Chu Xun wheeled around and bore down on Li Kun again. With another powerful punch, he forced the leader of the Broken Souls Cult backwards, and suddenly, his jaws opened wide and a purplish blast of Immortal Qi jetted out of his mouth and slammed right into Li Kun’s chest, blowing him off his feet.

Shocked by that unorthodox manner of attack, Long Feiyang sped up to Chu Xun, conjuring a dragon with his Internal Breath and sicked it at Chu Xun, roaring with the force that quivered the air as it drew near.

A brilliant iridescent glow wrapped around Chu Xun and he thrust his fist at the dragon, conjuring another dragon of his own—his one purplish in color. Chu Xun’s dragon, thrashing its claws through the air, rent Long Feiyang’s conjuration to shreds and dove right at him.

Long Feiyang threw himself aside, avoiding the energy blast bearing the semblance of a dragon that missed him and smashed into a cliffside wall, creating a large hole in it.

Li Kun breathed heavily, struggling to get back on his feet despite the ache on his chest. The energy blast that came out of Chu Xun’s mouth took him by surprise, almost causing him the grave internal injuries. As he flailed his arms, the menacing silhouette of a praying mantis more than a dozen meters tall appeared behind him, swinging its scythe to mirror his movements as he attacked.

Swoosh!

A scythe-like energy wave swept at Chu Xun, slicing at everything in its path.

Noticing this, Chu Xun’s hand came up with a snort and he fired another blast of Immortal Qi that nullified the scythe-like energy wave.

On the other hand, Yue Fandie’s battle against his two foes appeared to be no less horrid too with energy bolts scooting here and there in the air with explosions breaking out endlessly around him.

With only a one-grade difference between their powers and Yue Fandie’s, Wan Xuan and Chui Tianyou worked well in tandem to force Yue Fandie on the defensive.

Chu Xun sped across the space with the speed of a lightning bolt and tore after Wan Xuan, delivering a full punch trailing with sparkling dregs of his Immortal Qi once the chief of the Sifang Sword Sect was within his sights.

That took Wan Xuan by surprise. He did not expect that Li Kun and Long Feiyang would fail to hold Chu Xun at bay, and he frantically mounted up a defense at the new threat.

Boom!

Chu Xun’s fist pummeled into Wan Xuan despite the latter shielding himself, the sheer force of the attack destroyed all rocks and stones within meters to tiny bits while blowing Wan Xuan to one thousand meters away. He looked up, lurching with disbelief at the comprehension of the power Chu Xun just unleashed upon him.

“You need to hold Yue Fandie alone, Master Chui! Let us deal with Chu Xun first, then we’ll come back for you!” Li Kun snarled.

“Don’t worry. Leave this old senile to me,” Chui Tianyou hooted.

“As if the likes of you are enough to hold me off,” Yue Fandie growled furiously. He might be forced to defend himself when he was outnumbered. But now with only Chui Tianyou alone to deal with, Yue Fandie charged up his Internal Breath and hammered the Master of the Glen of Venomous Butterflies, wresting back the initiative.

“Quick, together!” Lu Kun rallied and launched a bolt of Internal Breath at Chu Xun.

Wan Xuan and Long Feiyang took the cue and unleashed every iota of power as Seventh-grade Human Kings. Their collective might of Internal Breath rolled towards Chu Xun with the destructiveness of a tidal wave, trampling upon every tree and rock, reducing them into dust.

“As if you scum can defeat me.” Chu Xun snorted. His robes fluttered in the unnatural wind whisking in the storm of roiling auras as his own waxed and thrived rapidly, rising so quickly that it began to dwarf even the combined presence of his three foes.

He expertly weaved several hand seals and jabbed a finger into the air, tapping three times in succession. Three tornados, each blowing and screaming wildly with purplish dragons circling precipitately inside, appeared, each measuring at least tens of meters in height as they hurtled towards all three of his foes.

Boom! Boom!

The tornadoes pounced on the three, ripping what energy bolts they fired to mere harmless dregs of magical energy that amounted to nothing more than bright displays of fireworks and innocuous explosions and bursts that shook the earth and left cracks on the ground.

Out of nowhere, Chu Xun’s figure materialized right before Wan Xuan, and without any warning, he attacked, delivering a punch with the force and explosiveness of a thunderclap.

Caught unawares, a shimmering wall of energy erected right before Wan Xuan—a seven-layered protective aura he managed to conjure at the nick of time.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yet, it proved futile before Chu Xun’s formidable might. All seven layers of the protective aura crumbled, forcefully shattered by Chu Xun’s unyielding salvo of energy bolts before he bore down on Wan Xuan himself, driving another simple but yet brutal punch into his chest.

Boom!

The blow immediately blew a hole in Wan Xuan’s clothes before his ribs groaned sharply. With blood pouring through his opened mouth, he barreled into the granite walls of the cliff in the gorge with a sickening explosion.

Chun Xun gave chase, speeding ahead like a bullet.

Without any hesitation, Li Kun and Long Feiyang bolted from their positions to intercept Chu Xun. They needed to stop him from killing Wan Xuan.

Yet an abstruse grin appeared on Chu Xun’s face. He wheeled around and instead streaked after Li Kun.

He shot across the field like a wraith, his fists tunneling into his quarry with lightning-quick speed.

Boom!

The uppercut rocketed into Li Kun’s lower jaw, and the latter’s mouth immediately burst with blood and broken teeth. In the midst of the gory mess, a little pebble no bigger than a fingernail shot out, glowing with a pale, hazy sheen.

Chu Xun’s quick eyes caught the pebble and he grabbed it. With a gentle squeeze, the pebble shattered and emitted a strong, putrid stench.

“Pill of Demonic Phantasm.”

Chu Xun gasped quietly with shock. How could such a thing be here?! He looked up and saw Li Kun crashing backwards. Sensing Li Kun’s aura shrinking rapidly, Chu Xun’s spiritual senses immediately realized: Li Kun’s level of magical cultivation had plummeted to Sixth-grade!

Chu Xun bolted like a bullet at Chui Tianyou now locked in a fierce battle against Yue Fandie. Appearing right before him, he unleashed a terrible fist into the man and sent him crashing backwards, spewing blood as he flew too.

Chu Xun gave chase, following up with a blast of Immortal Qi into Chui Tianyou’s abdomen and the latter spewed out more blood, including a little obsidian-like pebble.

Chu Xun magically summoned the pebble into his grasp and squeezed it. It broke into pieces.

He peered at Chui Tianyou again. His powers took a nose dive as well, falling back down to Sixth-grade.

“What’s going on, Brother?” asked Yue Fandie, noticing how Li Kun and Chui Tianyou were all losing their powers.

“It’s all because of this infernal pill,” breathed Chu Xun.

Yue Fandie’s forehead creased at the stench of the broken pebble.

“It’s called the Pill of Demonic Phantasm. It temporarily enhances the powers of its users,” muttered Chu Xun, visibly irate, “We’ve been fooled.”

Yue Fandie stared at Chu Xun, aghast. “Wait. You’re saying that they’re all fakes?”

“All of them—Li Kun, Long Feiyang, and the others. All of them are fakes,” confirmed Chu Xun, nodding.

“Wicked scum. That’s twice we’ve been fooled!” Yue Fandie glowered.

There was ice in Chu Xun’s eyes. “First, there was an imposter, which we discovered, only for another fake Li Kun and a few other men to pose as the real Li Kun and his fellow vermins with the help of this—” Chu Xun displayed the Pill of Demonic Phantasm, “... to make us believe that they are the real ones, when in truth, they are fakes as well.”

“Treacherous sons of dogs...” Yue Fandie cursed.

Chu Xun looked back at the fallen imposter. “Speak. Where’s the real Li Kun?”

“Cough... cough...” the imposter Li Kun spewed out blood and froth, “Impressive, Devil. You’ve seen through everything after all...”

“Damn you, you sons of dogs!” Yan Fandie blared, so angry that he rushed to the imposter and kicked him around like a rolling barrel.

“You might not be the real Li Kun, but with your strength, you must be one of the top echelons in your order. We’ll just have to contend with killing you lot for now. That should be enough to crack a dent,” hissed Chu Xun with a murderous countenance.

Annoyed, helpless, dissatisfied, and exasperation—these made up the motley of emotions buzzing in his mind. He had to admit, these scums were really too cunning and crafty.

Swoosh!

The imposter Long Feiyang skedaddled as quickly as lightning for the exit, eager to flee towards the mouth of the gorge. With the rest of the imposters either maimed or heavily wounded, running was all that filled his mind.

“And where do you think you’re going?!” Yue Fandie shouted, about to give chase, but Chu Xun stopped him. Instead, the latter made several hand seals and tapped into the sky, the spot where his finger reached rippled magically in the air.

Rumble!

The air trembled. Then, out of nowhere, bright sparkling screens of light shot into the sky, joining together to form a barrier that encased and surrounded the whole canyon.

Long Feiyang did not notice the barrier enchantment rising up; he was just too fast. He crashed headlong into it, and bounced back like a ball, feeling every part of him aching with anguish.

Panicking, he shot a blast of Internal Breath at the barrier of light. But to his startle, the jet of Internal Blast bounced off the wall of light only to come back at him. Fortunately for his quick reflexes, he managed to avoid being hit by his own blast.

Yue Fandie was awestruck after seeing everything from afar. “Long I’ve heard about your prowess in using barrier enchantments, Brother,” he murmured, “At last, I manage to steal a glimpse of your skill today.”

“The Ninth Heaven Burning Formation. It was meant for the real Li Kun and his band of merry friends. Yet all we have is just a bunch of imposters,” breathed Chu Xun, exasperated.

“Fine by me. We’d have plenty of opportunities anyway,” said Yue Fandie, even though he looked equally crestfallen himself. All their planning and preparations, all for nothing and this was the only way he could seek consolation.

There was nothing they could do at such junctures.

Anger and malice blazed in Chu Xun’s eyes. With another hand seal, he tapped into the air again and he said with a soft yell, “Rise!”

Boom!

Thousands of flaming columns broke out of the ground and shot into the air, each with the semblance of dragons swinging their claws furiously, the rapidly-skyrocketing heat warping the air inside the barrier.