The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 491 Immolation

With their minds filled with lust, Di Ran and Di Ye readied themselves to feast on the beauty of the Sacred Maiden Su Wei’er.

Unbeknownst to them, outside the gaols stood a man whose anger could melt even rocks into molten lava. The Flaming Qilin boiled with rage when he heard their plan to defile his sweetheart and he stormed in before anyone could stop him. He rushed inside with Di Danqing still in his clutches, and he tossed him like a javelin.

The Flaming Qilin’s sudden entry into the gaols caught the brothers off-guard, more so, when they saw a man hurtling through the air towards them. In unison, they channeled their powers and each fired a powerful blast of energy.

Bang!

The blasts caught Di Danqing squarely, eliciting a huge fountain of blood and shredded sinews.

Even so, Di Danqing managed to survive. Such was the extraordinary endurance of Immortal-level champions, although that did little to quell the pain and rage as Di Danqing stared at the brothers with venom in his glare.

The brothers were shocked themselves. With eyes as wide as saucers, they stood there, petrified to find that the man flying towards them was none other than Di Danqing.

“The time for your reckoning is at hand, you filthy scoundrels,” the Flaming Qilin growled as tendrils of flames began to spout all over him before eventually engulfing him – a walking fiery inferno that charged at Di Ran and Di Ye.

The brothers only just recovered from the shock of discovering Di Danqing when the Flaming Qilin left them stupefied. How could they have escaped?!

Di Ran threw his head back and let loose a bestial howl to warn Di Yanjing.

“Save your breath,” said Chu Xun, stepping in with Gao Mohan and the rest following behind. He had conjured a magical enchantment before coming inside to prevent any noise from getting out.

Di Ran and Di Ye shared a quick look. If they wanted to live, they would have to fight their way out.

But the Flaming Qilin was already upon them with scorching jets of flame firing from his fists as if he wanted to roast them both alive.

Di Ran and Di Ye frantically channeled their Internal Breaths. They needed to work together to defeat the Flaming Qilin first.

Gao Mohan and the others readied themselves to leap into the fray, but Chu Xun’s arm shot up. Chu Xun understood the Flaming Qilin’s temper. In his current state, this was a score he would want to settle alone.

Boom!

Waves of flames swept across the floors of the dungeon cells, accompanied by the intermittent clamors of battle as Di Ran grunted when his fists collided with the Flaming Qilin’s. The searing flames were gnawing his skin raw.

Di Ye took a leap backward and brandished his bow which he expeditiously nocked a pair of arrows on its string and fired them at breakneck speeds at the Flaming Qilin.

With fists radiating heat as hot as the red-hot magma in volcanoes, the Flaming Qilin smacked at the incoming projectiles with an angered snarl. The shafts snapped into halves before the heat reduced them into ashes.

Meanwhile, Di Ran had withdrawn to a distance to fire another three two-meter-long arrows with his bow too.

“Nothing will save you from me today,” the Flaming Qilin roared with raging tongues of flames flaring off his back in resonance to his fury. He opened his mouth and a jet of flames hotter than the surface of the Sun spewed out and disintegrated the arrows before streaking straight towards Di Ran.

Aghast, Di Ran ducked for dear life, but not without the flames singeing an entire side of him.

Amid sickening sizzles and crackles, Di Ran howled with agony as the acrid stench of his burning flesh spread across every cell. Almost half his body had been badly burned.

The strength of the Elves lied in their prowess in archery. Di Ran and Di Ye both wielded powers of greater levels than that of Di Danqing, but not much. Coupled with the fact that the narrow space of the gaols was hardly the ideal environment for bows and arrows, the pair of presbyters found themselves at a disadvantage against the Flaming Qilin.

Rumble!

The Flaming Qilin conjured a huge fireball that blazed like a miniature sun that gave off enough heat to melt rocks and hurled it at Di Ye.

The fireball screamed towards Di Ye, leaving a trail of molten stones in its wake. Di Ye yelped a terrified scream as he frantically drew his bow and fired three arrows at the fireball. The arrows managed to rip through the fireball, reducing its size into half, but the other half struck Di Ye precisely, erupting into a splendid blossom of fire.

Rumble!

The explosion threw Di Ye off his feet and he careened away, his hair frayed and disheveled like a mop amid the dangling tatters of his robes now torn into rags while tendrils of steam peeled from his smoldering and fizzling skin.

But that was not the end; the Flaming Qilin lunged before Di Ye even hit ground, eager to end his life once and for all.

But Di Ran knew what he was up to. He sprang to his feet and threw himself into the Flaming Qilin’s way to save his brother.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” the Flaming Qilin roared with all the ferocity he could muster, opening his jaws wide to fire another gusher of lava into the poor Elf, blasting him away.

The Flaming Qilin lunged at the fallen Di Ye, his hand balled into a fist where he gathered a huge, condensed burst of flame and he blasted Di Ye’s head open, the vaporizing heat leaving nothing at all.

“BROTHER!” Di Yan shrieked maniacally. In a frenzied madness, he charged at the Flaming Qilin.

The Flaming Qilin stomped hard into the ground, launching himself at Di Ran as the earth crumbled beneath the force of his propulsion.

Rumble!

Both men smashed into each other and the impact of their collision sent a tremor that rocked the cells.

The Flaming Qilin wrapped his arms in a crushing bear hug around Di Ran and he channeled his powers to set himself ablaze and the fire swiftly overwhelmed them both.

“ARRGGHH!” Di Ran howled in wanton agony, writhing and convulsing to break free while he futilely struck the Qilin’s back again and again, to no avail.

Steeled by his resolve, the Flaming Qilin endured the beating, keeping his grip firm and tight despite the retaliations of his enemy as he kept the fire raging on and on.

Slowly, Di Ran’s shrieks and screams slowly died down and the force of his blows waned until he could finally move no more.

Sizzle!

The carcass of Di Ran burst into a deluge of ashes. Not even his bones remained.

Gao Mohan and the others stared with bewildered looks on their faces, while deep inside, they grimaced at how deranged that was.

But that was hardly the end; the Flaming Qilin spun around and fired a jet of flames at the headless carcass of Di Ye. The immolation swiftly burned the body into blackened soot.

Even Chu Xun was unsettled by the Flaming Qilin’s brutal ways. He flashed the Qilin a thumbs-up and said, “I like your temper, although your ways are a tad obtuse and boorish.”

“You’re obtuse and boorish,” the Flaming Qilin shot an annoyed glare at Chu Xun and said, “just because you’re slinging fancy words doesn’t mean I don’t understand what ‘obtuse and boorish’ means.”

Chu Xun giggled and shook his head. The Flaming Qilin would be a thorn in the side for any enemies in the future. No one likes a maddened enemy crazy enough to charge into battle with reckless abandon while disregarding his own safety.

Chu Xun pointed at the keys lying on the ground. That prompted the Flaming Qilin to dove for them, swooped them up before he rushed to unlock the cells.

Chu Xun peered at the ashes that were once Di Ran and Di Ye and sighed wearily.

“What’s wrong, Chu?” asked Gao Mohan. For one moment, it seemed like Chu Xun was feeling sorry for the two presbyters and that puzzled him.

Chu Xun pointed a finger at the Flaming Qilin who was busying himself with freeing the captives, including his sweetheart Su Wei’er, and grumbled, “That fool had destroyed even the Storage Rings of the two Elves just now.”

Everyone stared at Chu Xun, rolling their eyes at him. Even after everything, Chu Xun was still very much Chu Xun – the same scoundrel whose palate for anything valuable and rare has not yet waned.

“Devil, come here, quick!” the Flaming Qilin waved at him furiously.

Chu Xun knew what he wanted. He tossed to him the vial of antidote he took from Di Danqing earlier and the Flaming Qilin gave the pills to Su Wei’er, Su Lianyi, and Yan Xin.

Only after an hour, all three of them finally regained their powers.

“Thank you so much, Chu Xun!” That was the first thing that came out of Su We’er’s mouth the moment she reopened her eyes.

Su Lianyi and Yan Xin stared strangely at her before their heads swiveled in unison towards Chu Xun. “Has she fallen in love with Chu Xun?! She should be thanking the Flaming Qilin first for freeing us all!”

But they were not the only ones; even Gao Mohan and the others were flabbergasted by the Sacred Maiden’s bizarre behavior.

More so, the Flaming Qilin. He had been expecting to win Su Wei’er’s favor, only for the Sacred Maiden to first thank Chu Xun. Feeling cheated, he glared scathingly at Chu Xun as if he was spoiling for a fight.

“Thank you, Flaming Qilin!” At long last did Su Wei’er finally conveyed her thanks to him.

But that hardly restored the smile back to the Flaming Qilin’s face. Despite his best efforts to look happy and relieved, deep down inside, he wondered if the nightmare he had been dreading finally arrived.