The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 285 The Flight of Tianlong Fort

The dragons of fire zoomed up to the sky, swiping their claws at the air as they gained height expeditiously, their flames lighting up the sky like fire and brimstone.

The fierce light illuminated the horrified looks on the imposters, their faces burnished with a scarlet sheen that only accentuated their fears.

Flicking a finger, Chu Xun shot a little spurt of purple ray at the only enemy still uninjured: the imposter Long Feiyang.

It functioned as a homing beacon; several hundred dragons wheeled back down and swooped down to attack the imposter.

With horror flooding the imposter’s eyes, he flailed his arms, firing a ceaseless barrage of Internal Breath shafts at each dragon that drew near, destroying them as quickly as he could.

For minutes, he fired and fired blasts of Internal Breath, defeating one dragon of fire after another, his forehead now strewn with sweat and his power slowly dwindling.

From afar, Chu Xun watched with cold satisfaction, his lips twisting into a smile.

Whoosh!

More flaming jets streaked across the sky, all of them shaped like dragons. There were thousands of them and the imposter began to realize that he had only destroyed barely hundreds of them, and as if to prove his attempts futile, the remainder of the dragons of fire bore down on him with destruction and carnage.

The imposter continued swinging his arms desperately to maintain his impenetrable defenses, reducing more dragons of fire into harmless but brilliant sparks and cinders.

His breathing gradually raced and he panted more rapidly, his chest heaving and puffing like a pair of bellows. Much of his Internal Breath had been spent and his movements were turning sluggish with fatigue.

Boom!

But there were just too many dragons, and he was being overrun by the sheer overwhelming number; one of the dragons found an opening and slammed into his chest, leaving his skin blackened and charred.

That was enough to bring him down; the rest of the dragons swarmed him like a pack of voracious wolves, smashing into him and turning him into a huge bonfire.

Finally, Chu Xun lifted his hand and the remainder of the dragons scattered and scampered off, roaring triumphantly as they took into the air.

What flames remained slowly receded and the smolder reduced.

What the other imposters of Li Kun and his cohorts saw almost left them in such a fit that they nearly went insane.

A horrible crater—a pit scorched black, sat in the wake of the short-lived inferno. The imposter was gone. Utterly gone and everyone knew why: he had been utterly reduced into soot and dust.

Yue Fandie, equally dumbstruck himself, found himself speechless. Never did he expect this enchantment to be so destructive and powerful.

There were also the other Human Kings the Cult mobilized for this operation, and all of them were Second- and Third-grade Human Kings. Too weak to help in any way during the melee before and now, they could only huddle together in fright.

Chu Xun made another hand seal. Countless columns of flames shot up into the air, all of them shaped in the form of dragons.

With such great numbers they filled the sky and the imposters shivered with fear in the sight of the tens of thousands of dragons bearing down on them.

Chu Xun shot a small spurt of purplish ray at the dozen or so Human Kings standing together.

Immediately, thousands of dragons of fire smashed into them like a waterfall of fire, devouring the helpless Human Kings whole.

Chu Xun’s gaze panned around and rested on the imposter Wan Xuan.

Petrified by panic, the imposter felt as if all of him and even his insides were trembling, and it was all because of Chu Xun’s brutal ways of dealing with his foes.

“P-P-Please... M-M-Mercy... I, I, I swear you my allegiance...”

Whoosh!

Dozens of flaming dragons rushed down and gorged on him, incinerating him into dust and ashes.

Next, Chui Tianyou’s turn.

The imposter, a small and scrawny man, curled into a ball, writhing and shaking like a leaf.

All are equal in the face of Death, Human Kings included.

The dragons of flames threw themselves at him and feasted on his flesh with futile resistance.

The last was Zhang Jin’gang, whom Chu Xun had crippled earlier, and now, whom the dragons of flames immediately burned into crisp with hardly any struggle at all.

All that remained was the imposter Li Kun.

He looked half-mad and his gaze distant.

“Where is the real Li Kun?” demanded Chu Xun.

“I, I, I don’t know... P-P-Please... Spare me... P-P-Please...” So frightened he was, he could hardly string words into proper sentences.

“Tell me where the real Li Kun is and I might spare you,” said Chu Xun.

“I, I, I really don’t know... Honest... No, no one knows where the Leader is... His whereabouts has always been uncertain...”

Boom!

Waves of conflagration roiled across the sand and the raspy voice of the fake Li Kun was gone, drowned by the crackling of his corpse being roasted.

Yue Fandie was watching everything quietly, gnashing his teeth in silent contemplation. As savage as how they described him, he mused. Chu Xun dispensed death with tremendous alacrity, leaving zero room for bargaining or parley. No, not even parley might guarantee a chance to live, actually, he realized.

For once, he felt relieved of having Chu Xun as a friend instead of a foe. Woe would betide anyone who dared defy one as brutal as the Devil. Crossing him would be a most irrational decision indeed.

With every ounce of blood being vaporized, the air smelled nothing of its stench at all. In fact, one would not have thought a fierce battle had just been waged here, if not for the smoldering craters and crevices that littered everywhere.

Chu Xun raised his hand and dispelled his magic, the flaming columns of dragons and the barrier enchantment immediately vanished.

The battle had finally come to an end with the imposters all utterly destroyed with not even their remains left.

In truth, another battle was underway when Chu Xun and Yue Fandie were fighting inside the canyon.

When the imposter Li Kun was entering the canyon, he left five of his men behind to watch the entrance.

When he was sure he heard the clamor from Chu Xun fighting inside, Yue Hongbo mounted his ambush on the five hooded men left behind.

The seemingly-injured Yue Hongbo and Yue Changle, who were in bloodstained tatters, leaped on the five suddenly, their auras burgeoning to full strength.

Even Yue Wennan, who had fainted and was barely clinging to dear life, sprang to his feet suddenly, his aura ballooning and his limp arms healed suddenly as he too joined in the ambush while making an impressive display of his palm techniques.

The five men the imposter Li Kun left behind had been vigilant, but they did not expect three gravely-wounded men to be powerful enough to kill them. Caught unawares, three Third-grade Human Kings went down even before they knew what happened.

The remaining two, a Fifth-grade and a Sixth-grade Human King, managed to survive the first assault.

Still, the odds nevertheless weighted against them. The Fifth-grade Human King lost his life barely minutes later. Seeing this, the last Human King, a crafty one too, quickly swallowed something unknown and had his powers enhanced to Seventh-grade.

This managed to partially tip the scales but the Seventh-grade Human King escaped, disappearing into the shadows of the dense woods.

Far away, the horde of warriors who had been watching everything were left so stunned as if their eyeballs were popping out.

What in the world was going on?!

Those with sharper and quicker mind quickly deduced what was going on and they left quietly. Knowing how they were involved in the pursuit and hunt for Chu Xun before, it was time they took their leave quickly before retribution fell upon them.

Finally, when the rest saw Chu Xun and Yue Fandie walking out of the canyon together, everyone—even those as slow as a fool—understood the real truth at last.

That prompted scores of them to turn around and flee.

Dammit, Chu Xun and Yue Fandie! Plot all you want against the Cult, but why involve us?!

The fleeing warriors griped and complained quietly, but that did not slow down their paces in the least as they sped away as quickly as routed dogs.

Yue Fandie beheld the exodus of warriors fleeing for their lives and he sighed unhappily, moaning, “There’s my reputation now all in shambles...”

Chu Xun narrowed his eyes and eyed him quietly with scorn. Yue Fandie was in fact tremendously supportive of a trap to ensnare the Cult when he first suggested it. He had offered a great many ideas, although none of them could actually be used.

Bashfully, the Yue Brothers reported how one of the Human Kings managed to escape.

That filled Yue Fandie with rage, who went on giving his three two-hundred-year-old sons a huge earful in public.

Chu Xun did nothing to stop him, knowing full well that it was just a show intended for him.

With Chu Xun showing no intention of persuading him to stop, Yue Fandie rubbed his nose sheepishly, gave his sons a bit of more reproaching before he bade them to set off back to the Sanctuary with the rest of their men.

After that, Chu Xun and Yue Fandie left too as well.

A few warriors managed to pluck up enough courage to venture into the canyon and found the gorge where the fight took place. They found plenty of scorched marks and damages in the area, but where did the members of the Cult go to, they wondered.

It was only until one of them discovered piles of ashes in humanoid shapes, they realized what happened with chill running down their spines. Shivering profusely, they shuddered, turned around, and fled.

Some bolder ones managed to stay long enough to take pictures before they scampered off as quickly as mice themselves.

Back at the Sanctuary, Chu Xun was greeted by Jiu You and Yu Cheng. The former pouted at him; she had been bored sick, forced to stay indoors to prevent being seen and that made her quite unhappy.

At the same time, the message boards on the Net were buzzing with excited commotion.

“Have you heard? More than twenty Human Kings were all slaughtered by the Devil. Heavens, not even scraps were left.”

“What about the Sanctuary of Tetrarchy? Did the Devil butcher any of their people too?”

Apparently, word had not fully got out yet. Many only knew about the Sanctuary’s collusion with the Cult to ambush Chu Xun and now that the forces of the Cult were vanquished, they were eager to know what fate might have befallen the Sanctuary.

“You all don’t know, do you? The collusion is a sham; the ambush is all fake. Just the sprat to catch the mackerel.”

“How on earth did that happen?”

More people on the Net were left stunned by the truth.

“The Cult’s been tricked big time. They fell into the trap set up by Chu Xun and the Sanctuary, and everyone who came was all killed, except for one who managed to flee alive.”

“Wow... That’s rather underhanded for the Devil and the Sanctuary... But I’ll just say this, well played.”

“Dammit, those scums from the Cult had it coming. They almost killed me at Longcheng. Good job, Devil!”

Yet the comments have been quite divided; some sang praises for Chu Xun while others criticized him.

“Don’t you ever feel pleased for what you’ve done, Chu Xun. You’d be judged by Heavens for the carnage you’ve wrought.”

“The massacre you’ve done this day shall one day be reciprocated to you one day. Don’t think you’re the best; there are many whose powers could easily crush you.”

“Just you wait, Chu Xun. When my Elder Ancestor is back, he’d definitely have your head.”

Knowing about nothing currently swirling on the Internet, Chu Xun was saying his goodbyes to Yue Fandie.

“You should stay a few more days, Brother. You’ve yet to enjoy the fullness of our hospitality,” persuaded Yue Fandie, unwilling to let him go.

“Uncle, after everything, you must be fatigued. Why not stay and have some rest before leaving?” coaxed Yue Hongbo as well.

“I’ll come and disturb you some other day, Brother. Right now, I have something important that I need to attend to quickly,” said Chu Xun, gently refusing the invitation.

He had just received word from Wu Ming that news of what happened in the canyon had reached the ears of Tianlong Fort and they were preparing to evacuate.

The flight of Tianlong Fort, he mused. For ages, Chu Xun had coveted the treasures inside the vault of Tianlong Fort and he would never let this chance slip by.

In spite of Yue Fandie’s insistence that he should stay, Chu Xun nevertheless left with Jiu You and Yu Cheng.

Tianlong Fort sat near to Hongcheng at the Southwest—a long and far journey from the Northwest which would take at least ten hours even by plane.

If only he had wings to fly there himself, Chu Xun griped, hoping eagerly that he could make it there before his quarry was gone.

The journey turned out to be an unbearable one for Chu Xun with him counting each insufferable second tick by, more so when their flight was delayed for more than an hour.

As soon as the plane touched ground at Hongcheng, Chu Xun immediately sped for the location Wu Ming sent him.

They pressed on with all the speed they could muster, going all the way as quickly as lightning.

Yet they were still too late when they finally arrived. The fort was deserted, utterly silent as a crypt, with only ruins and mess remaining. They had left hurriedly indeed.

Chu Xun was about to contact Wu Ming when the latter’s message reached him first. As it turned out, Tianlong Fort had divided its forces into different groups to facilitate a proper evacuation, and he was following one of their groups eastward, expecting to reach Dongling City by nightfall. The Human King leading this convoy—a Fifth-grade called Chen Quan—was carrying quite a lot of treasures with him and only he knew where all Tianlong Fort forces ultimately regroup.

“Let’s go.”

With Jiu You and Yu Cheng in tow, Chu Xun began his hunt eastward.

He knew Long Feiyang, being the smart person he was, had intentionally scattered the forces and resources of the Fort because of him.

Hence, the possibility of plundering the entirety of the booty might look more distant by the second, but he could very well still try to get a portion of it.