The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 283 If Only That Fool Listened

Chu Xun groaned with exasperation. For his age, Yue Fandie nevertheless retained his penchant for fun and thrill that hardly befit his maturity.

Towering gleefully over Li Kun, Yue Fandie demanded, “Do you surrender?”

Li Kun writhed his mangled body, his eyes flaring with anger, pain, and grudge as he sneered mockingly. “Such deceit. Hardly a fitting display of one with your stature, Lord of the Sanctuary of Tetrarchy.”

Yue Fandie turned irate and spat, “All warfare is based on deception, fool. We set the bait to lure you in, then we had you thinking you were the one setting the trap. So all that’s left to do is only springing the trap to catch the mackerel—you.”

“Yue Fandie,” Li Kun croaked hoarsely, his face contorted horribly, “You honestly believe you’re the smartest person in the world, do you?!”

A strange foreboding premonition crept into Chu Xun. His hand raised instantly and he fired a blast that slammed into Li Kun’s chest and the latter coughed up more blood, further soaking the black fabric of his hood and mask.

With cold fury, Chu Xun fired another blast—a salvo of Hong Meng Immortal Qi—at Li Kun to kill him at once.

Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere, shielding Li Kun from the blast. With a heavy swing of his arm, he launched a volley of energy of his own, blasting away Chu Xun’s attack while staggering a couple of steps backwards by the force.

Yue Fandie gasped, why had he not noticed another man with such strength amongst their number before?!

“Who are you!” he bellowed.

“Who do you think I am?” responded the stranger quietly in a totally coarse voice.

“The true Li Kun,” Chu Xun muttered dryly.

“What?!” sputtered Yue Fandie, completely shocked.

The stranger giggled wickedly in his rough voice, his eyes studying Chu Xun with interest, “I suppose that should be expected of you, the Devil. You really are as perceptive as rumored. Very good.”

His frosty glance panned around to fall on Yue Fandie. “Still thinking your ruse’s a success?”

Incensed to the point that his face grew a full flush of scarlet, Yue Fandie could hardly believe that his meticulously thought-up ruse had been seen through right from the get-go. “You’re a cruel one, which I’d give you. How dare you use one of your men to act as a double for you. Weren’t you worried about his safety?”

“Hehehehe...” Li Kun laughed insidiously. “They are my minions, and by life or by death, they will carry out my bidding.”

“Load of bullcrap,” Yue Fandie scowled, “Your men can be justified in giving their lives up for you, but not in such senseless manners.”

“He should be honored that he was allowed to pose as my double. And by exposing your ruse, I suppose he should understand that he has served his purpose to its fullest.”

“Gods, you’re a monster! You’ve forced your man to his death!” yelled Yue Fandie angrily.

“Everyone has his own purposes and it is their destiny to fulfill them. As did my man, and now he’s of no longer any use to me,” hissed the true Li Kun darkly. He raised his foot and stomped hard.

Crack!

Li Kun’s foot came down squarely on his fallen lieutenant’s neck, breaking it instantly with a sickening crack. His eyes were wide with terror as he died, unable to believe that such fate was the reward of his loyalty.

Yue Fandie was left startled beyond words at how cruel and barbaric Li Kun was.

“Broken Souls Cult...” he breathed, “You really are a bunch of monsters who would even feed on one of your own without a moment’s thought.”

“With both his arms gone, he’d be nothing but a misery to himself. In fact, he has you two to thank for ending up in such a fate.” Li Kun chuckled wickedly.

“You incurable monster. I’ll never let you walk out of here alive, Li Kun!” Yue Fandie glowered, his intent to slaughter Li Kun here and now evidently apparent.

“Master Yue,” Li Kun giggled evilly and said, “You seem to be prone to lapses in your old age. What a pity with such might you wield. Yes, lives will be lost today, but I daresay mine won’t be one of them.”

Just as he finished, four of his men tore off their hoods, revealing their true faces.

“Long Feiyang of the Tianlong Fort, pleased to make your acquaintances, Master Yue and Chu the Devil,” said a sickly-pale man in white robes.

At his side, a man wearing a sardonic grin chortled, “Wan Xuan of the Sifang Sword Sect.”

A bald monk with a vicious scar on his shiny, round head, lumbering at more than two meters tall, wearing a necklace of Buddhist beads each as large as a man’s fist, rubbed his head and grinned vilely. “Zhang Jin’gang of the Prelature of Buddhas.”

And the final man, a stocky but lanky person whose looks resembled more an ape than a man, screeched with his sharp white teeth showing, “Chui Tianyou from the Glen of Venomous Butterflies.”

As each man unveiled their identity, Yue Fandie tensed uneasily at the fact that these four men were hardly ordinary members, but instead the leaders of their orders or organization.

“How is this compared to your ruse, Master Yue?” Li Kun sniggered smugly. “I wonder who the mackerel is now?”

Yue Fandie sought to put up a defiant face, but deep inside him, despair seeped like a leak into him. Each of their foes was incredible warriors of long and notorious renown, and he might be very close to reaching Eight-grade, but that did not make him one anyway.

“The hunter has now become the hunted, eh?” Long Feiyang chuckled.

“Did you honestly believe that I would come without any arrangements of my own, Master Yue?” Li Kun sneered.

“Is that despair I smell reeking off you, Yue Fandie?” Wan Xuan taunted.

Grimly, Yue Fandie whispered furtively, “I’ll hold them back, Brother. Run. Take my sons with you and go as far as you can.”

“Run?!” Zhang Jin’gang bellowed as loud as a tolling bell, “No one will be doing any running today.”

“Since when we’re talking about running?” Chu Xun spoke with unnerving placidity, breaking his silence for the first time.

All five pairs of eyes rested on Chu Xun, each with curiosity and incredulity.

“It is no secret that you possess extraordinary means, Devil. But I would like to see if your parlor tricks would save you this time,” scoffed Li Kun.

“Save ourselves? Why should I, when I can just as easily kill you all?” Chu Xun muttered dryly.

“Enough talking. It is rumored that the Devil has the toughness and endurance as the strongest steel. I’ll test if you are as strong as they say,” Zhang Jin’gang guffaw proudly, “None of you are to interfere.”

“Very well, Master Zhang,” quipped Long Feiyang, “Be my guest.”

“Come here, Devil. Let’s see how good you are,” challenged Zhang Jin’gang.

Rumble!

His bare chest glowed in a bronze-golden luster with a layer of golden runes shimmering over his skin like holograms.

The Vairocana Pith, a closely-guarded secret technique of the Prelature of Buddhas order.

With cold regard to his foe, Chu Xun’s body burst with golden spurts of rays escaping every pore of his skin and he lunged, with echoing roars of dragons accompanying a punch as swift as wind.

The first of the Azure Dragon’s Nine Transformations Techniques.

Boom!

The fist landed squarely on Zhang Jin’gang’s chest.

Rumble!

Several golden runes hovering on Zhang Jin’gang’s chest wavered like a candle about to extinguish before they disappeared, and the leader of the Prelature of Buddhas had to wobble several meters before he could finally regain steadiness.

He looked at the ground, aghast with horror at the cracks on the ground that he had caused when he reeled backwards.

“How did it feel?” Chu Xun jibed.

An unrelenting Zhang Jin’gang charged up his powers, his aura burgeoning rapidly into a storm of winds. “Haven’t you had enough for lunch?” bellowed the monk, “That was merely a scratch! I’ve only used not more than three-tenths of my powers!”

“Really?”

Chu Xun disappeared before his voice ebbed away, appearing right before the monk and delivering another fist into him.

The second of the Azure Dragon’s Nine Transformations Techniques.

Boom!

More golden runes burst and disappeared with the blow and Zhang Jin’gang was sent flying, although he managed to land on his both feet, but not without plowing a pair of long and deep trenches on the ground. By the time he finally came to a stop, almost half of him was buried in the ground and his eyes were bloodshot with rage and disgrace.

“How does it feel this time?” Chu Xun asked again sardonically.

“What a weakling you are,” Zhang Jin’gang scoffed defiantly, “That was nothing; I’ve merely used five-tenths of my full strength.”

Li Kun and his allies looked on strangely.

Everyone were all among the most powerful and strongest warriors of the land and all of them could very well see that Zhang Jin’gang was only putting up a belligerent facade; Chu Xun’s attacks had injured him greatly.

With a cryptic grin, Chu Xun said, “How about another one, in that case?”

Zhang Jin’gang managed a sly smile. “I’m not stupid, Chu Xun. Let’s be fair, you had your turn. It should be mine to deliver a punch now.”

“Very well,” said Chu Xun, crossing his hands behind his back with hardly any intend of defending himself.

The lumbering giant of a monk broke into a wide beam. He swung his arms, flexing them and charged. With each step he took, the ground trembled.

“You fool,” Zhang Jin’gang smiled wickedly, “Just watch how I’ll blow you to smithereens with only one blow.”

Storming up to Chu Xun with the speed and intensity of a bull, he focused every iota of his Internal Breath into his fist almost the size of a broad serving bowl and drove his fist into Chu Xun’s chest.

Bang!

The fist hit Chu Xun with the force of a thunderclap, making everyone around felt as if their hearts had skipped a beat.

Only, Chu Xun hardly moved an inch, his expression as calm as ever.

Yet Zhang Jin’gang wobbled several steps backwards, his right hand trembling uncontrollably. In fact, only he knew what was happening, with almost his entire upper-body throbbing wildly with numbness and pain.

“Monster?! There’s no way he’s human!” Zhang Jin’gang shuddered, feeling dread and panic. The punch he just unleashed was enough to spear through a steel plate several centimeters thick, yet it failed to force Chu Xun to move even one step.

“Is it my turn now?” Chu Xun said. In truth, he was quite surprised; Zhang Jin’gang’s body-tempering technique turned out to be rather remarkable and it allowed him to be one of the best warriors in his grade.

What he failed to realize was Chu Xun’s body had been imbued with the endurance of the Ancestral Dragon’s bones, and he had mastered the full discipline of the Azure Dragon’s Nine Transformations Techniques, in addition to bathing in dragon’s blood before.

A terror-stricken Zhang Jin’gang however was sinking into despair. He had not expected Chu Xun to be so powerful; the two punches he endured almost had him vomiting blood. Never had he been daunted by anyone of similar grade, and for the first time, he felt so frightened that he wishes to withdraw and escape.

“You should take a break now, Master Zhang, since you’ve your fill of fun. We should get down to business,” said Long Feiyang suddenly.

Chu Xun peered at Long Feiyang and goaded, “Seems as if you’re expecting him to lose? Well, let him stand down that, if that’s what you think. Can’t let him take a defeat or he’ll lose face, eh?”

“Wait, that’s not what I mean, Master Zhang,” Long Feiyang gasped hastily.

“Then what are you trying to say?” Chu Xun teased, wearing an innocent facade, then with a looking of dawning comprehension, he prodded again, “Ah! I know! You’re afraid that he’d die!”

“Nonsense! My Vairocana Pith is invincible! There’s no way I’d lose! COME! It’s just a punch, why should I be afraid of you!?” Zhang Jin’gang bellowed boldly, his eyes livid and wide.

Long Feiyang cast an icy glare at Chu Xun and persuaded hurriedly, “Wait, Master Zhang, that was not what I meant.”

“Shut your trap! I’ll deal with the Devil, then I’ll show you how powerful my Vairocana Pith is! Only then you’ll know how great it is!” seethed Zhang Jin’gang grudgingly.

He spun around to face Chu Xun and roared, “Come on!”

Chu Xun simpered. With a step that magically morphed into one incredibly long stride, he reached right before Zhang Jin’gang and unleashed a punch so forceful that winds churned up behind.

The fourth of the Azure Dragon’s Nine Transformations Techniques.

Bang! Crack!

His fist rocketed into Zhang Jin’gang’s chest like a furious pound on a drum and with that sickening noise, everyone saw with their own eyes how his chest caved in with grievous hemorrhaging and fractures inside.

With a terrible howl, he careened backwards wildly like a rag doll. Chu Xun tore off after him, eager to put him down once and for all, and launched another barrage of fists into him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

With each blow from his fist, came a painful and agonizing shriek of pain from the monk like a sledgehammer breaking down his bones all over him.

Boom!

Finally, when Chu Xun was done, the hulking monk crashed to the ground more than a thousand meters away, a miserable, pallid pulp of broken bones and bloodied flesh squirming and twisting grotesquely. He would be nothing more than a veritable vegetable for the rest of his life.

Everything happened so fast that there was not even any chance for Li Kun and his allies to save him.

They peered solemnly with silence. Somewhere here at the crux of apprehension and comprehension, the sight of Zhang Jin’gang’s pitiable state told them how powerful was Chu Xun’s physical toughness and endurance. If only that fool listened.

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