The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 494 Silencing Doubters

Di Yanjing aimed a two-meter-long shaft at Su Wei’er with a smug and malicious grin on his face as he drew his bow to its fullest.

“Go down to the underworld to keep my brother company!”

Whoosh!

His fingers relaxed and the shaft tore right of out his fingers, screaming through the air like a shooting star streaking across the sky.

But aside from being pale with horror, no one could do anything to save her.

Swoosh!

Chu Xun appeared right beside Su Wei’er all of a sudden. With just a simple swat with his hand, he snapped the arrow shaft into splinters.

“Careful, Devil! The swine is incredible!” roared the Flaming Qilin.

Wow, he’s concerned about my wellbeing?! Chu Xun could not quite believe his ears.

But the answer came quickly enough; the Qilin screamed again, “Don’t die! If you do, so are the rest of us!”

Chu Xun snorted with exasperation. I knew it! There’s no way that stupid beast will start worrying about anyone else!

Di Yanjing glared at Chu Xun with grudge and fury blazing in his eyes. “This is all your meddling, Devil! You’ll pay for this!”

Even so, Di Yanjing remained very much wary of Chu Xun, knowing how he had just defeated the fragment of the Fifth Fiend Lord’s soul.

“You’ll have to do better than that to kill me,” Chu Xun said pensively. He has had no shortage of enemies wishing his death, and the addition of Di Yanjing into their number hardly mattered much to him.

Swoosh!

Three more arrows came screaming dangerously towards Chu Xun.

“Do you seriously think this is enough to kill me? Are you a fool?” teased Chu Xun. He summoned his powers and his fists glowed purple with Hong Meng Immortal Qi. With three successive clanks, he easily slapped at all three arrows, discharging enough power to blow them all into scraps of metal.

Di Yanjing’s pupils contracted with astonishment. He took out another deadly-looking arrow shaft – this one emerald-green like venom, and with length barely a meter long.

“Careful, Chu Xun! That’s an Enchanted Shaft!” warned Su Wei’er and Su Lianyi in unison.

An Enchanted Shaft?!

Chu Xun stared at the arrow with a piercing glance. That both Su Wei’er and Su Lianyi looked so terrified to see that arrow must mean that the arrow was dangerous.

Di Yanjing pulled his bowstring to its full draw and released it. The arrow tore out of his grasp but unlike other arrows, it made no sound at all!

And that was hardly the rest of it, as Chu Xun reeled with shock, the arrow vanished mid-flight!

Knowing better than to be careless, Chu Xun quickly projected his Divine Sense and imbued his fists with enough Hong Meng Immortal Qi that his knuckles glittered like rock-hard diamonds.

Boom!

He swung his fists as soon as his senses picked up something, catching the arrowhead squarely as he discharged his powers furiously.

What Enchanted Shaft?! A bombastic name for something so ordinary?! Chu Xun mused. But before he could breathe easily, a sudden surge of energy burst forth with the force of a dam.

All Chu Xun managed to do was to grunt and the force slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and careening him into a tree with enough force to snap it in half.

Swoosh!

As soon as he hit ground, Chu Xun darted forward like a bullet.

Bang!

A huge hole burst open on where he was just standing in a huge detonation of earth and gravel.

Chu Xun came to a pause. Then something made his expression changed and he vanished, speeding around at full speed.

Bang!

This spot too was blown open by the arrow in a huge explosion.

What on earth?! Chu Xun thought. A fire-and-forget arrow that never stops coming for me?!

Again and again, every time when Chu Xun paused, he would have to escape again and the spot where he stood before would be hit by the magical arrow.

Not only it was quick and silent, but the arrow was also invisible and sure. It was only with the help of his Divine Sense that Chu Xun managed to remain unperforated yet.

“What in the world is that?!” the Flaming Qilin and the others all stared with jaws hanging with disbelief.

“That is an arrow made from the timber of the Divine Tree. There are two such arrows. One is in the keeping of Her Grace the Queen, while the other, here in the keeping of Di Yanjing,” explained Su Wei’er visibly worried for Chu Xun. Once released, the arrow targets the aura of its mark and it would not rest until its target is dead.

“What can we do to defeat it?” asked Gao Mohan.

Su Wei’er shook her head. She had never heard of anyone defeating the Enchanted Shaft before.

“Careful, Chu! There hasn’t been anyone yet to defeat this arrow!” cried Gao Mohan to Chu Xun.

Yet to defeat this arrow?! Chu Xun nearly snorted. Nothing is undefeatable.

Hum!

Reincarnation Lines materialized around him in the thousands, coiling and flailing gently in the air like countless little serpents. They lunged at the incoming Enchanted Shaft and the innumerable tendrils constricted firmly around its length, holding it still in mid-air.

Hum!

Suspended in midair as if Time itself had stopped, the Enchanted Shaft trembled in its futile attempt to get free with slivers of green illumination peeking out through any slits.

“No one had ever defeated it eh?” Chu Xun said to himself aloud as one who has always derived thrill and gratification to disprove the impossible and silence any doubters.

“And you think that’s enough to stop the Enchanted Shaft?” Di Yanjing remarked suddenly with a gleeful sneer.

Sharp words of retort nearly slipped out Chu Xun’s lips when he heard a loud crack and every single strand of the countless Reincarnation Lines that restrained the Enchanted Shaft snapped. In another flash of green, the Shaft vanished once more.

Without even a beat of hesitation, Chu Xun fired two bolts from his fists.

Bang! Bang!

Two deafening eruptions came almost immediately, followed by a huge wave of rushing winds.

Chu Xun fell backward, crashing to the ground several hundred meters away and the ground sank into a gaping crater beneath him.

That was hardly the end. As soon as Chu Xun got up, the Enchanted Shaft never stopped its relentless pursuit of him, making craters with dogged alacrity every now and then.

“Look how I will strangle them to death with my bare hands,” Di Yanjing said, shuffling towards a nearby Flaming Qilin with a manic and devious grin.

A poor Chu Xun, hounded incessantly by the Enchanted Shaft, bellowed indignantly, “Just you wait, Di Yanjing. Laugh all you want now, but watch closely! I’ll defeat your bloody arrow!”

Di Yanjing paused in his steps to stare at Chu Xun.

The Devil brandished his golden staff. The weapon, formerly forged from the very bones of the Ancestral Dragon, shone brightly in gold and purple.

Di Yanjing peered at it, astonished, but only for one brief second before he burst out with laughter, “Surely you’re not relying on that battered old stick of yours?!”

Chu Xun ignored the jeers. Activating the staff’s power, he swung it viciously at the space before him.

Bang!

A huge fountain of golden sparks sprayed everywhere as something green and long flew away, spinning wildly. It was the Enchanted Shaft.

Di Yanjing could not quite believe his eyes. The corners of his lips twitched with doubt and apprehension apparent on his face.

“How’s that possible…” Su Lianyi murmured blankly.

“Nothing’s impossible for him. He’s the Devil – the Devil who will make the impossible possible,” Gao Mohan smiled with a whiff of pride before he winced with pain.

The Enchanted Shaft turned invisible once more.

Chu Xun held the end of his staff firmly and swung it as hard as he could like a golf club.

CLANK!

The Enchanted Shaft reappeared, careening away once more. This time, its greenish glow had weakened.

An astounded Di Yanjing frantically withdrew his Enchanted Shaft.

But Chu Xun was not in the mood of letting it go. With ungodly speed, he caught up to the fleeing Shaft and batted the Shaft away before whirling his staff around to whack at Di Yanjing.

The Great Elder was hardly pleased with Chu Xun swinging his staff his way; channeling every ounce of Internal Breath he could, he fired a blast at Chu Xun.

Rumble!

Chu Xun’s first swing easily split the wave of Internal Breath raging at him, before he dove headlong through the parting tide of dissipating energy and charged at Di Yanjing, catching him unawares with another follow-up bludgeon into him.

Kacha!

With the sickening crunch of bones breaking, Di Yanjing was sent flying in a long peal of agonizing screams. His broken right arm flailed aimlessly in the most grotesque manner as he flew and crashed into a tree, breaking its trunk in half.

Chu Xun swiftly conjured another spell using his mind.

Demon-slain Finger — Shaking the Sky by the Fourth Finger!

A thick and hoary aura swept over the battlegrounds in an instant and everyone looked up amidst the staggering presence bearing down on Earth now quivering as a massive monolith came crashing down from the skies, slamming into Di Yanjing with a deafening explosion that kicked up dust and wind storms.

Before the dust even settled, Chu Xun rained down another Demon-slaughtering Palm attack by firing a giant palm-shaped energy bolt at his quarry.

Boom!

The ground shook and the summits all swayed and wobbled around them as the fight kicked up dust and earth and even gravel into the air.

Chu Xun could care less about Di Yanjing. The Enchanted Shaft was speeding towards him.

He activated his staff’s power and clubbed hard at the Shaft again.

What happened next really was ludicrous; what was a chase by a killer arrow turned into Chu Xun’s one-sided pursuit of the magical arrow. Whenever he caught up to it, he would pummel on the arrow with rabid fervor like a blacksmith pummeling on a piece of iron.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The interminable and rambunctious cacophony went on ad nauseam that everyone was beginning to feel their ears ringing.

Yet an unrelenting Chu Xun peeled after the fleeing Shaft with his staff with the doggedness of a bloodhound, not willing to give it any chance for respite.

Chu Xun’s bludgeoning had robbed much of the Enchanted Shaft’s greenish glow.

Clank!

Chu Xun gave the Shaft another bat, sending it flying away into the depths of the jungle.

He sped after it like an apparition, tucking away his staff quickly before he caught the Shaft and held it firmly in his fingers.

The Shaft trembled violently with what remaining glow still flashing. But it was too weakened, and so was its glow, and Chu Xun could easily restrain it with his bare hands.

With his Divine Sense, Chu Xun founded the magical mark Di Yanjing had left.

He destroyed the mark and the Shaft stopped its futile resistance, staying as still as a statue.

He looked around to make sure no one was looking and stowed the Shaft away.

Then he tidied his clothes, took out his golden staff before he dashed back to rejoin the others.

But when he got back, he was welcomed by a strange sight.

A shrub with a trunk as thick as a little child’s arm had coiled a long winding branch around the Flaming Qilin and the wounded, healing them with its rich natural powers.

Chu Xun looked around. Di Yanjing was gone. Utterly gone save for a puddle of blood and several scraps of fabric at where he was. The Divine Tree must have come and made short work of him.

Feigning innocence, Chu Xun strode to the pool of blood. “That’s what you get for your treachery, Di Yanjing. You were the Great Elder of the Elves. A position of great repute, prestige, and power. And after what you’ve done, you’ve caused enough damage to this blessed utopia… Such a shame…”

As he sighed, he bent down to grab a fistful of soil while doing his best to look somber and gloomy as if he was genuinely feeling sorry for Di Yanjing. But no one saw how he had quietly tucked away a Storage Ring that was hidden in the soil.

Chu Xun grinned to himself, satisfied, as he dusted the dirt off his hands before turning back to the others. He grumbled to the Tree, “You should have kept him first. He knows information that makes him more useful alive than dead.”

“Where’s the Enchanted Shaft?” the Tree cut him off, radiating a soft greenish glow as it communicated telepathically.

“Gone. Destroyed,” said Chu Xun placidly.

“Never. The Enchanted Shafts are made using the hardest timber from my own trunk. Divine Relics won’t even lay a scratch on it.”

“You overestimate yourself. Well, the Shaft’s destroyed anyway. As to how, that’s a secret,” said Chu Xun.

The Divine Tree fell silent for one beat. “We should talk one day,” said the Tree.

Chu Xun felt a chill running up his spine. It really was awkward with the Tree speaking to him first in a female voice and then in a male voice.

But that did not dissuade Chu Xun from agreeing to a talk. There were questions that he needed answers to.

“What about the Fifth Fiend Lord inside you?”

“Destroyed,” responded the Tree simply.

Chu Xun nodded. The Tree must have destroyed the Fiend Lord’s soul inside it before coming here.

The conversation ended there as the Divine Tree went back to focus on healing the others.

Chu Xun sat down to recuperate and meditate as well.