The Immortal Emperor Returns C256 – Enraged

None of the defenders of the Rock Sect could believe that Yu Cheng would choose to defect and in mere split-seconds, he had murdered Wu Busi in cold blood.

“Yu Cheng, you sniveling swine,” Yan Yi growled, his eyes flushed red with anger, “I'll kill you for this...” He would have hurled himself at the Lord of Healing, but he was held back by his own injuries that would immediately kill him if he were to move and coughing up more blood was the most he could do.

Every one of the Tianwu Sect and the Rock Sect all bellowed and yelled angrily at Yu Cheng.

“Yu Cheng, you treacherous cur! I'll kill you for this, I swear!” roared Lei Bao too.

Swish!

Jiu You's eyes burned with infuriation herself. She swung her silvery spear, whipping it like a true serpent of quicksilver that came alive, snapping its tip around with trails of glitters closely behind, that for a moment, the two Human Kings began to feel overwhelmed by her rekindled fervor and they had to withdraw.

Swoosh!

That gave the opening that Jiu You had been waiting for, and she charged again with her spear, this time for Yu Cheng.

“Stop her!” yelled the elderly Human King with his short dagger, slightly embarrassed that Jiu You was able to shake them loose despite their greater numerical advantage.

More than ten Human Kings threw themselves at Jiu You, eager to strike her down immediately.

All of a sudden, the “dead” Wu Busi sprang up! With an unexpected puff, he threw a handful of powder into the air, all of them engulfing the Human Kings in a storm of white particles.

None of them had anticipated this, causing the dozen or so Human Kings to all breathe in the white powder. It worked almost immediately, and they nearly buckled and fainted.

A hint of suspicion flashed across Jiu You's little, but hardened face, but she quickly realized what happened and she thrust her spear.

Puff!

The silvery tip of her weapon glinted like the fangs of a serpent and it lanced through the throats of two Human Kings in one stroke, skewering them whole. The spear gave off a shudder, and blew both heads into bits.

Bang!

A crystalline glint flashed prominently, and a huge crystal pestle smashed into the head of another Human King, causing a geyser of fresh blood spraying into the air.

Gurgle!

Jiu You's silver spear glinted proudly again in the midst of the chaos. With its sparkling tail closely behind its tip, it swished around in a whirl of destruction, beheading two Human Kings in one stroke again.

Yu Cheng swung his pestle back and forth, pummeling at every enemy that came into his line of sight and crushing the head of another while he was at it.

Everything happened in mere seconds that hardly anyone could react.

“Yu Cheng, you thieving mongrel...” snarled the Second-grade Human King with a short dagger, incensed at himself for falling for Yu Cheng's ruse. He leaped into the air, delivering a powerful bolt of Sword Qi as he swooped down at him.

The Lord of Healing's face fell. There was no way he could defend himself nor evade cleanly from an all-out attack from a Second-grade Human King with a Sacred Relic.

At that fateful moment, Jiu You spun around, abandoning the chance of slaying more Human Kings, and she lanced her spear into the Sword Qi bolt, dispelling its magical energy into harmless dregs that scintillated in unison with the rippling tail of the pointed tip of her spear.

The elderly Human King who maimed Lei Bao and took his sword breaker flung out an arm, churning up a gust of wind that blew away the white powder.

“GET UP ON YOUR FEET, YOU USELESS WRETCHES!” he bellowed at the others, his voice so powerful that the earth rumbled.

The other Human Kings shook themselves away and got up, only to find the corpses of their comrades strewn around them and they traced their steps backwards warily.

The pair of elderly Second-grade Human Kings could not have been more infuriated. A total of fifteen Human Kings had been mobilized for this mission, a force which should have made it easy enough to destroy an order as small as the Rock Sect. Yet until now, they were the ones piling up casualties instead of their quarry.

“I will remember this, Yu Cheng. I will have your hide made into an oil lamp that I will use for the rest of my lifetime,” the old Human King pointed his dagger at the Lord of Healing, grimacing bitterly. They would never have been in such a miserable state of not for his ruse.

“Come on, what makes you think your offer is interesting enough to entice me?” scowled Yu Cheng at him.

“Very well... Very well... You are the Lord of Healing. He who is most skilled in concocting medicine. I wonder if you are able to concoct anything after this to assuage the guilt of regret?” hissed the elderly man suddenly. With a shrill ring of his dagger, he lunged at Yu Cheng.

With a snort, Jiu You threw herself in the way. She swung her spear at him and they exchanged vicious blows at each other, locked in a fierce battle that the earth shook beneath their feet.

“Let see how many you are able to rescue, You Jiu,” said the Human King with Lei Bao's sword breaker. He raised it up and stormed at Lei Bao.

With his heavy injuries, Lei Bao could not stand up and defend himself. But even without his wounds, he was no match against a Second-grade Human King, and with Jiu You being kept occupied, he could only stare blankly at the sword breaker bearing down on him.

“I'LL KILL YOU!” Jiu You's battle cried reached as high as the skies, and she let go of her spear, allowing it to shoot at the back of the elderly Human King now looming over Lei Bao.

The Human King felt his back tingling with a strange sensation, and he instantly realized what it was. He swung his sword breaker back around and a huge explosion ensued from the destructive clash which force tossed him back several tens of meters. He stumbled several steps backwards, and the ground almost broke under his feet; a testament to the great shock he just sustained.

Puff!

Drops of blood flew everywhere. A sword sliced a gash more than ten centimeters long on her shoulder, causing her small, little frame to fall.

Despite her invincibility in battle, Jiu You was not yet a Second-grade Human King, and her capabilities plummeted greatly without her silver spear at hand. At the nick of time, she sacrificed her own safety to save Lei Bao and this allowed her foe to wound her, and if not for her demonic constitution, her entire arm would have already been severed.

With Jiu You subdued for now, the elderly Human King renewed his focus on Yu Cheng, his glare malicious and cruel. “I did tell you that I will skin you alive and make you into a lamp, did I?” he growled menacingly.

Yu Cheng felt his hair standing on ends, his skin tensed like a taut bowstring as he sensed a Sword Qi bolt coming any moment.

“ARGHHH...”

A sudden scream like a howling swine carved through the clamor of the battle in the compound—a cry that could easily make any spine shudder with a chill.

Closing in on Yu Cheng, the elderly Human King stopped short in his paces when his senses throbbed violently and his eyes went wide. But it was too late; a purple bolt of energy—energy of pure destruction—streaked through the air, coming at him like an arrow.

He felt a chill sweeping over him and his limbs grew numb. The blade of his dagger glowed with dark light and he swung it furiously at the purple bolt of energy.

Boom!

A devastating explosion ensued, its force churning up a miniature storm that uprooted trees and kicked up layers of earth. For a moment, the storm blotted out even the sunlight. The old man careened off at the force of a shock wave that followed, and he nearly lost grip of his own weapon.

A shadow flitted among the falling sand and gravel around him like an apparition, deadly and yet ghostly. The newcomer caught up to the elderly Human King swiftly with his fist raised, and he smote hard without mercy, with unnatural winds accompanying his stroke.

The old man raised his dagger, hoping to parry away the attack, but the fist struck squarely on its blade, and a huge blast of purple energy burst like a tidal wave.

Puff!

An invisible force slammed into the elderly Human King and he vomited a mouthful of blood, his dagger finally knocked loose. The old man was sent crashing into a building and it collapsed over him, burying him under a heap of rubble and debris.

It was Chu Xun, as enraged and furious as anyone had ever seen. He had arrived in the nick of time and had prevented a total massacre!

Swoosh!

He waved and magically summoned the short dagger into his hand, and he vanished from where he stood, bolting after the remaining intruder Human Kings.

Anxious and desperate, the Human Kings yelled a raucous but futile battle cry, their Inner Breaths rising, terribly and remarkably, to the maximum at the sight of their single most deadliest enemy.

With the short dagger glowing a dim and dark radiance, Chu Xun swung it, delivering a powerful bolt of energy.

Puff!

The energy bolt sliced off the head of a Human King; the head flew up and burst into a confetti of blood and gray matter.

Woosh!

Another Human King fell with a scream, dying instantly with his corpse being bisected into half.

Puff! Puff...!

A flurry of Sword Qi bolts filled the air like a nest full of bees, and Human Kings fell like flies, and more heads plopped to the ground, spilling more blood everywhere.

In just mere moments, what remained of the contingent of intruders sent by the Cult were all massacred by Chu Xun.

He stood alone amidst the corpse-strewn compound, looking every part a demonic god of war now walking the face of the earth, striking fear and awe into all that beheld the sight of him.

Petrified and panicked, the Second-grade Human King who was about to butcher Lei Bao could hardly move an inch. Yet before he could return to his senses, Chu Xun sent a bolt of energy with his fist and caved in his chest.

“Gods in Heaven, Chu Xun... Any later, and all of us would have been dead meat,” said Yu Cheng, heaving a sigh of relief before he scurried off to help the others.

Chu Xun was nevertheless glad too himself on the inside; glad to see that he was not too late. He spun on his heels and noticed the Second-grade Human King whose chest was caved in still breathing, and lackadaisically swung his short dagger.

“M-M-Mercy...” the once-haughty and imperious Human King could hardly finish uttering a word, when Chu Xun's Sword Qi obliterated what remained of him, spraying his blood and gray matter on the ground.

Bang!

With a deafening eruption, the Second-grade Human King buried under a heap of rubble extricated himself from the mess, looking miserably disheveled with his tattered clothes bloodstained and frayed.

Before he knew what happened, a shadow flitted past his sight, charging straight at him.

“Ch-Chu...”

Like his colleague, the other Second-grade Human King, he barely uttered anything when his heart was impaled by the blade of his own short dagger, before another volley of Sword Qi from the dagger obliterated his heart.

Puff!

Then his head flew, spurting a jet of blood reaching several meters tall like a fountain.

His face hardened as stone, Chu Xun slaughtered his foes like chickens, giving hardly any chance for useless prattle.

A cold grey light backdropped the end of the night's battle. Dawn has arrived, and a chilly morning breeze swept through the compound scattered with corpses and cadavers, whisking away the stench of blood and flesh.

Chu Xun went to Jiu You and examined her wound. The gash on her shoulder was very bad that he could almost see her bones.

“I'm sorry for being late,” he whispered apologetically.

Jiu You grinned. Like a little cat seeing its master, her little face wrinkled and puckered into mincing grimace.

Chu Xun injected a squirt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into her to help her heal and stuffed a magical fruit into her hands.

Her little face broke into a wide smile when she saw the fruit, and she opened wide her mouth and took a loud crunching bite into it.

With both the Hong Meng Immortal Qi and the magical fruit, Jiu You's wounds recover at an amazing rate.

“God, Yu Cheng! Be gentle! Aww...” Lei Bao shrieked with pain. His entire arm was fractured, and Yu Cheng tried to heal him.

“Just be quiet,” snapped the Lord of Healing. With his healing magic, he could reform Lei Bao's fractures without slicing open his flesh.

“It's goddamned painful! Just let me howl for all I care! Gods, this is like how Hua Tuo healed Guan Yu's poisoned wound... Arggghh!”

“Damn, you're doing this on purpose! This must be it! Dammit, Yu Cheng you...” howled Lei Bao, hardly ever stopping, “By the way, Yu Cheng, that was some decent playacting there just now? I really thought you've betrayed us! You should tell us earlier about your plans! Look at me, wasted so much blood on your account! Do you have anything to replenish more blood? AWWW!”

Yu Heng scowled at him, putting in more strength as he worked that Lei Bao wailed and bawled endlessly.

“You imbecile. Telling you the plan beforehand will only wreck it,” said Yu Cheng derisively, “There're many ways to replenish your lost blood. Eating pig livers and red jujubes, and drinking brown sugar tea help too. Women do that all the time during their monthly discharges.”

“Women what?! You damned physician... You're playing a joke on me, aren't you?!”

Chu Xun came near to look at him and laughed when he saw their shenanigans.

“My Lord!” called Lei Bao with a silly grin on his face when he saw Chu Xun.

Chu Xun produced a magical fruit and gave it to him. “Eat this.”

“Th-This is... This is for me?!” gasped Lei Bao with disbelief as his trembling hands received the fruit, his eyes betraying a hungry longing.

But his reaction was only all too normal. Magical fruits were not apples or peaches one could easily pluck off a tree, but they are magical produces of nature that came in very, very rare amounts.

“Don't you want this? Or should I just give this to others?” teased Chu Xun.

“Why, thank you, my Lord... Thank you my Lord,” stuttered Lei Bao immediately, hastily drawing the fruit to his chest, beaming so broadly that his mustache shook when he spoke.

Gleeful, Lei Bao could have not been any more pleased that he chose to follow Chu Xun. Not only he was gifted with a Sacred Relic of his own, but he could also even eat magical fruits to increase his powers. His mind drifted with more thoughts of more benefits he would enjoy following Chu Xun, momentarily forgetting that he was so near to dying just moments before.

Chu Xun strolled over to Yan Yi and injected a spurt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into him as well. Once he recovered better, he gave him a magical fruit too.

He reacted even more strongly compared to Lei Bao; his face flushed completely red and his entire self trembling, teetering on the brink of tears.

Wu Busi looked so envious that he nearly drooled. The sweet aroma of the magical fruit wafted around when Chu Xun took out the fruits and the scent of it was enough to make one salivate. For a brief moment, Wu Busi had a sorry thought, “If only I've gotten myself injured... I might get one too...”

Only, Chu Xun came to him wearing a benign smile and said, “Master Wu. A long time ago, you defended my parents, and today, you helped Jiu You and my companions in battle. I will never forget this kindness.”

He squeezed a magical fruit into his hands, saying, “Please take this as a show of appreciation. Eating this will help in increasing your power.”

Stunned, it took Wu Busi great strength to even move his finger before he could take the fruit and he muttered his thanks profusely.

Chu Xun shook his head gently. A magical fruit was nothing to him in return for the help that Wu Busi had given him.

Suddenly, the air quivered around them, and a rich aura of spiritual energy began concentrating on one focal point.

Every set of eyes turned and look at Yan Yi, the focal point of the swirling mass of spiritual energy, and saw him shrouded in a swath of white light. A bright coat of white brilliance that engulfed him before he consumed them all.

Yan Yi was going to break through his limit.

Chu Xun immediately performed several hand seals and conjured an enchantment: the Five Ghosts Transportation Formation. This would allow every iota of spiritual energy in the vicinity of 2,500 meters to be drawn in on this area.

Chapter end