The Immortal Emperor Returns C273 – The Sanctuary of Tetrarchy!

Glittering golden curves followed the gargantuan hulk of the moving mountain as it plodded slowly.

Eight humungous spider legs the size of skyscrapers or high-reaching towers supported the monstrous girth of the spider that was the mountain itself as the behemothic insect lumbered heavily away.

It was a sight that made the surrounding peaks tremble and the warriors petrified by awe and fear.

Gradually, it began picking up pace, moving more quickly until its silhouette slowly melted into the distance, disappearing amongst the other mountains nearby.

It took great effort until Chu Xun could finally recover from his trance, and he gasped quietly at this revelation.

Whatever it was, the gigantic golden spider was, beyond any doubt, an incredible and dangerous existence. It must have been long asleep under the Earth's crust, and the anomalies occurring everywhere must have caused a tectonic shift that unearthed it. Soundly asleep at first, Chu Xun's battle against the Broken Souls Cult must have roused it from its slumber and angered it.

One question, however, boggled his mind. The giant spider could definitely kill him just now. Why did it spare him?

Was it because of the tail bone of the Ancestral Dragon? Being majestic mythical beasts, dragons possess a preeminence that no other beasts – or even strange monstrosities like the huge spider – could ever hope to defy. The Ancestral Dragon might have met its demise a long, long time ago, but its relics still retain much of its former aura of greatness.

With the giant spider gone, so went the mountain and all that remained was a barren and desolate clearing in the middle of nowhere.

The horde of warriors finally recovered, jerking themselves back to the present, their faces all pale and their teeth chattering with anxiety.

“Thank you so much for saving us, Immortal Chu. We'll remember this.”

“Damn those Cultists! I swear I'll never speak any kind word to them or any of their ilk!”

“If you would one day seek to destroy the Broken Souls Cult once and for all, Immortal Chu, let me be of service.”

The warriors cursed and griped about the Broken Souls Cult to the best of their voice.

Waving dismissively at their pledges, Chu Xun vanished.

He put no stock in their pledges; these people would never dare to defy the Broken Souls Cult in full force. Saving them was only an act of mercy, an urge of compassion that compelled him to believe that these people did not deserve death.

Chu Xun returned to the army garrison.

Yan Chong and the others came up to greet him, all of them wearing exuberant smiles, all except for Yu Cheng, who looked rather miserable; Lei Bao must have given him a good walloping.

As an aftermath of the fierce battle, the Martial Tao Forum blazed with heated discussions, and someone had even uploaded the footage of what happened.

And through this way, Yan Chong and the others had watched how Chu Xun emerged victoriously.

Chu Xun browsed through the Forum and found nothing about the colossal golden spider. But that was only understandable; even he himself was dazed at that time, more so for every other witness around. No one could possibly record anything.

Sentiments in the Martial Tao Forum were rather one-sided. Almost every thread condemned and lambasted the Cult, the Sifang Sword Sect, and the Tianlong Fort for their evil and treachery.

Nevertheless, the threads in the forum were all posted under pseudonyms; no one really dared to openly criticize the Cult.

Jiu You snuggled close to him, her little nose sniffing inquisitively. Then she frowned. “I smell the stink of wild beasts on you.”

For one moment, Chu Xun was speechless. He chuckled and replied, “Well, I did encounter a very terrifying wild beast. No, wait, I suppose I can call that a monster.”

Chu Xun recounted to her about his encounter with the monstrous golden spider.

The tale left Yan Chong and the others astounded beyond words. A humungous golden spider with a girth that rivaled even mountains and hills! One would have thought Chu Xun was telling them a fairy tale story.

The bloody wounds – all of them he suffered from the golden shafts hitting him – mottling his clothes were enough proof to make them believe him.

“I heard that a black dragon almost several dozen meters long was seen somewhere due West. The fire-breathing serpent was said to have butchered almost hundreds of thousands in one city. I wonder if its appearance could be related to this monster spider,” said Yan Chong.

“A black dragon?” Lei Bao scowled. “I saw its picture. That's only some serpent with wings.”

Chu Xun said nothing. After a moment's worth of pondering, he said, “At any rate, many oddities abound the Earth now that anomalies are occurring everywhere. I daresay we've only seen the tip of the iceberg and there could be more dangerous beasts or troubles out there. Our most pressing agenda now is to quickly increase our power.”

Yan Chong and the others all nodded in assent. No matter what, strength and power were the only things that mattered.

Chu Xun remembered the Storage Ring that he took from Bo Ping earlier. He fished it out and peered inside, and what he found inside filled him with glee.

As it turned out, Bo Ping's Storage Ring really was a veritable treasure trove; Chu Xun found two sacred relics inside: a red long-bladed sword and a huge silvery steel-gray war hammer.

In addition, there were also many spiritual herbs, spiritual elixirs, spiritual flowers, and rare fruits inside.

It was a good harvest, after all, mused Chu Xun. If only he could find a furnace which he could use to concoct high-grade Level-improving Pills – that way, everyone could increase their levels of magical cultivation.

Everyone could not have been happier when they heard that Chu Xun could help them increase their power.

“But we'll first need a furnace. Without pills and a high enough grade, it will be useless,” Chu Xun pointed out.

“What does it look like, Master?” asked Lei Bao, scratching his head.

That question stumbled Chu Xun that he did not know how to explain. Furnaces all come in different shapes and sizes; there was no uniform design to them.

“Furnaces, eh...” murmured Yu Cheng.

“Wait. Have you seen one before?” asked Chu Xun at once.

Yu Cheng shook his head. He took out his cell phone and looked for something, and then he showed it to Chu Xun. “Does this look like one?”

Yu Cheng might be the Lord of Healing, but he possessed no knowledge in concocting elixirs or pills; hence even he could not recognize a furnace.

Chu Xun took the phone and peered at the image. His eyes twinkled. That's right, he gasped. That was indeed a furnace in the picture – and an exquisite instrument at that too, fully and ornately carved with motifs of engravings of the Four Celestial Beasts: the Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Red Phoenix, and the Xuanwu Black Tortoise.

“Where can I find this furnace?” asked Chu Xun.

“The Sanctuary of Tetrachy,” said Yu Cheng.

“What?! The Sanctuary of Tetrachy?!” Yan Chong gasped with fright.

Chu Xun gazed at him, wearing a dubious look.

“The name of the Sanctuary of Tetrachy has existed for at least ten years, and they reign supreme around the northwestern regions of the Yellow River. When the anomalies began occurring, the regions there were ravaged by floods, causing more brigands and marauders to operate in the area and more wild beasts to rampage around. Even the local magistrates could do nothing to stop them. Then came one man – an agent of the Sanctuary of Tetrachy. In one single night, he killed hundreds of marauders and outlaws and drove away the wild beasts into the deep mountains and restored peace and order to the people. He was well-loved and adored by the people there.”

“I heard of this too,” quipped Winsome Widow, “The Sanctuary dispatched only one man. One man armed only with one long-bladed sword killed so many people, spilling blood all over everywhere. He became known as the Knight of the Blood across the Martial Tao world.”

Knight of the Blood?

To have oneself be attributed as “bloody” and a “knight,” Chu Xun found it mildly intriguing.

“He sounds rather like you,” remarked Jiu You suddenly.

“How so?” asked a surprised Chu Xun.

“Have you forgotten how you earned your moniker of 'the Devil'?” commented Jiu You dryly, tilting her head playfully.

Chu Xun chuckled. He became known as the “Devil” ever since he massacred every one of the Demon King Sect more than a decade ago.

“These are no simple folk, Master,” said Winsome Widow, “I suggest we look for somewhere else for furnaces.”

“Agreed,” said Yu Cheng, “I saved a student of the Sanctuary last year, and they invited me to come as a guest.” He paused a beat, “It was then when I saw this furnace – sitting right in the middle of a great hall, being venerated and worshipped with the never-ending supply of incenses and offerings, and eternally kept under close watch. It must really be important to them.”

It was then when he sniffed the whiff of herbs and medicine coming from the furnace, and out of curiosity, he took a picture of it.

Chu Xun fell into silent ponder.

Furnaces were rarest of the rare. The last time he found one – not without great and strenuous effort – it turned out to be one of terrible quality. He had barely used it once before it exploded into pieces.

After some moments' thought, Chu Xun finally said, “All of you shall first go back to the capital city.”

“Master, you still intend to go to the Sanctuary, don't you?” asked Yan Chong.

Chu Xun nodded faintly. Furnaces could come as rare as a needle in a haystack, and his encounter with that behemothic golden spider had given him great pressure for him to increase his power more quickly.

Then he felt a tug on his sleeve – Jiu You, who was determined to come with him no matter what, was clutching to him.

Yan Chong and the others were also giving him heated stares, apparently having the same thoughts as well.

“Let me come with you at least, Master,” said Yu Cheng, “I saved one of their people before. That might help.”

Chu Xun nodded. Yu Cheng might be right after all.

“Let me come too, Master,” added Winsome Widow, “There are times when a lady can be more useful than men.”

Chu Xun nodded again, conceding that there were moments when a woman's words could work wonders.

Lei Bao quipped hastily, “Master... I-I-I can help protect you.”

That made everyone stared at him for seconds before they burst into fits of guffaws.

Even Chu Xun could hardly suppress a wry smile at that remark.

“To protect him? The way I see it, you are the one who needs to be protected,” Winsome Widow jibed.

“All right,” interjected Chu Xun finally, “Yan Chong and Lei Bao will return to the capital city. Some of you have to look after the Palace.”

“Understood!”

Sharing quick looks, Yan Chong and Lei Bao answered rather glumly.

The next day, Chu Xun said his goodbyes to Pan Zihao.

Yan Chong and Lei Bao returned to the capital city.

He and Jiu You and the others would pay a visit to the Sanctuary of Tetrachy.

After a few hours, Chu Xun and his companions stepped out of the Arrival gate of the Lanzhou Airport.

Chu Xun observed and said, “This place looks definitely safer than most places.”

One could argue that Lanzhou was a city built out of a mountain, sitting right in the middle of a ring of them. After the anomalies, the tectonic shifts made the mountain peaks looming over the city look more imposing. The forest nearby the city for centuries became thicker and denser, and the green sprawling outside stretched far and wide into the horizon.

Life went on as usual in Lanzhou with passersby strolling casually around and no ferocious beasts rampaging around, whether in the air or on the ground. Still, the resident warriors were nevertheless quite reserved and vigilant.

“This place falls within the authority of the Sanctuary, which had given three orders to the warriors here,” said Yu Cheng.

“What are these orders?” asked Winsome Widow.

“First, no battle pets are allowed inside the city. Death will come to whoever breaks this rule. Second, warriors are not to lay their hands on the common folk. Like before, the death penalty to whoever breaks this rule too. Third, warriors are to safeguard the people during an attack by wild beasts no matter how strong, or how low or high their magical cultivations are. The safety of the people comes first. Any deserters who flee shall be hunted down and sentenced to death.”

“Wow, can't say I really like those rules.” Winsome Widow commented.

“They've taken a leaf out of Chu Xun's book,” added Jiu You.

Chu Xun chuckled to himself. The prosperity and peace in this city were not built in one day. His prohibition of battle pets within the city of Gujiang was only imposed just a few months. Evidently, the Sanctuary had been keeping the peace in this city long before he did. If anything, it would instead seem like he was the one taking a leaf out of their book.

“My curiosity about the Sanctuary grows more and more, I must say.” Chu Xun remarked.

“I implore you, Master.” Yu Cheng, who was panicked, cautioned him. “The Sanctuary is not your usual ragtag group of warriors. We need to be delicate and subtle with them.”

Chu Xun gave him a strange look and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Did you not mean to decimate the Sanctuary?” asked Yu Cheng in a hushed voice.

“When did I say that?” Chu Xun scowled with surprise.

Yu Cheng broke into a smile. “Well, my bad, then.”

Chu Xun could find no words to respond.

“Well, your reputation doesn't precede you for nothing, Master,” Yu Cheng muttered, his voice falling quieter with each word, “I don't think there's anyone across the entire domain of Martial Tao would hope for you to feel 'curious about them.'”

Chu Xun heard every syllable and every word and grimaced. “Is my reputation really so bad?”

If only Yu Cheng could hear the question now swirling in Chu Xun's mind. He would reply, “As if you even need to ask. Look at the monikers you now have – Chu the Devil, the Terrible, and all that. Pick anyone; anyone is good enough to strike fear into the hearts of people.”

They came upon a spot filled with a huge crowd screaming off their heads.

Chu Xun saw a tall flag post, upon which was a banner fluttering in the wind with a large “Lei” word – as in, 'Dueling' – on it.

“Lei”? A duel?

Chu Xun remembered the common tradition of engagement through battles he witnessed many times during his foray into the foreign dimension, although he never expected to see one here.

“What are they doing?” asked Winsome Widow.

“This is a dueling arena set up by the Sanctuary. Warriors fight up there; the winner will get a spiritual herb,” explained Yu Cheng.

“What about the losers?”

“They get slapped with a small penalty – a community service, of sorts. They are to watch the gates leading out of the city and make sure no wild beast gets past. After one month, they'd be free.”

Chu Xun simpered lightly. What an interesting way! He mused as his curiosity about the Sanctuary waxed even more.

Chapter end