Chapter 356 A Despotic Immortal Emperor
Cries of pain and wails of agony filled the air overhead the main square of the Fire Dragon Palace.
Scores of students and acolytes of the Palace huddled around to look at the commotion.
Bang!
Chu Xun’s fist barreled straight into Yan Wushuang’s face, sending him crashing away with howling screams.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lei Bao, Yan Chong, and the others were all having a terrible time viciously punished by Chu Xun.
“Gods, I feel sorry for the chiefs.”
“I can feel the pain just by watching them. What did they do to anger the Master so much?”
“The Master’s not called the Devil for no reason. Do you think he’d need any reason to give anyone a walloping?”
That seemed to make sense and everyone bobbed their heads in agreement.
After almost a half-hour, Chu Xun emerged feeling refreshed and reinvigorated.
In stark contrast, Yan Wushuang and the others were covering the faces, writhing on the ground with greenish-purple bruises distorting their faces.
“Your fundamentals appear to be firm all right. You don’t have to thank me for this.”
“Thank my foot,” scowled Yan Wushuang bitterly.
It was only a bloody pretense to beat them up as punishment for their reporting to his mother!
“All right. That’s all for today. Let’s continue this some other time. I have other matters to attend to,” said Chu Xun with a devilish grin.
The notion of another session of abuse filled them all with horror. “Another beating tomorrow?! Is he trying to kill us?!”
Yan Wushuang emerged the worst; with a couple of black eyes and his mouth swollen like a pair of sausages, it would appear that Chu Xun vented his anger on him the most.
With a final word to Tang Rou, Chu Xun left the Fire Dragon Palace, heading for Dragon’s Back.
...
Chu Xun marched straight into Emperor Ao’s Purple Mansion as soon as he reached Dragon’s Back.
“Damn it, boy. Where have you been for the past few days?” scowled Emperor Ao jokingly.
Chu Xun recounted to him his adventures of plundering the secret vault of the Holy Temple of the Sun. He felt rather proud of himself. Then again, who would have guessed that he would dare venture into the West again.
“So? What do you think? Unbelievable, yeah?” grinned Chu Xun.
Emperor Ao held Chu Xun in a long stare that lasted for seconds before he turned sour. “Two hundred square? And no traps nor secret mechanisms? So it’s just hidden plainly under Louis’s room?”
Chu Xun nodded. “The people of the West are arrogant folk. I’ll give them that.”
“Nope. It’s you who is stupid,” grimaced Emperor Ao.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you honestly think you’ve looted the secret vault of the Holy Temple? Nay. What you found was only Louis’s personal cache,” said Emperor Ao.
What?!
Chu Xun stared blankly.
“Surely not?!”
Emperor Ao shot him an ugly, twisted smile. “Think about it: a powerful organization that has endured for thousands of years to have only a simple two-hundred-square secret vault with no hidden mechanisms or traps? I daresay Louis has the signaling device that would warn him of any entry. But with his death, so gone the device along with him and that’s why you’d been able to enter this secret vault unnoticed.”
Chu Xun felt nowhere near pleased at all. He could not deny that Emperor Ao spoke sense. He had not been able to venture abroad before and he knew nothing about the West, only to mistakenly believe that he had punished the warriors of the West for their hubris. Small wonder why the Holy Temple had not raised any alarm until now even after his latest mischief.
“Dammit. This bloody old thing really can’t bear to see me happy, innit?!”
“You ransacked what seemed only to be a little cache and nearly lost your life doing it. Does that please you?” Emperor Ao did not neglect to rub more salt to his wound.
Chu Xun scowled. “Is he an idiot?! Saying all these in front of Jing Hong, he’s embarrassing me!”
At least Jing Hong now looked at him with more friendly eyes. In fact, she looked rather happy to see him.
He could still remember when they first met. She had been terribly mean to him then. She might still fail to remember anything of their past, but he was satisfied enough to know that she no longer hated him.
“You’re not hurt, aren’t you? You’re fine?” asked Jing Hong softly without her veil, the lake of her eyes still and serene as usual.
Chu Xun could not believe it. Jing Hong was feeling concerned about him and the mere notion of it stripped away what discontent and fatigue he felt before and he shook his head vigorously.
Jing Hong bobbed her head, her hair flourishing with silvery glitters.
“Go look at her then!” she said.
Chu Xun dipped his chin and strode to the crystal casket. Since merging with her soul, Hua Qingwu looked more alive and refresh as if she could be opening her eyes at any moment.
Chu Xun sat in front of the casket and delved into a long story about his recent adventures.
“I’ll come and regale you with more stories of what I see outside when I get back again, Little Wu. This might keep you entertained.”
“Oh, just wake up quickly, Little Wu! You don’t know how the world has changed. You won’t even recognize it!”
“...”
For the rest of the day, Chu Xun hardly left her side.
There he continued talking and talking as she listened. Quietly.
...
Fumes of steam from the hot tea wafted over the little stone table. Emperor Ao really did know his tea.
“Do you think you’d be able to defeat that old man, Ao?” asked Chu Xun, referring to the High Emeritus of the Holy Temple he encountered not long ago.
Emperor Ao furrowed his brows into a frown and glared at Chu Xun as if he was going to give the latter a good beating.
“Him? He’s just trash to me,” muttered Emperor Ao flatly.
“Trash?!” For one moment, Chu Xun wondered if he had heard wrongly. The High Emeritus wielded powers way beyond the levels of Human Kings and that easily made him even more dangerous than Louis and the Pope.
Chu Xun thought about how Emperor Ao had killed Louis without a hitch and a strange, skeptic wariness loomed in him.
“Honestly, Ao. Are you keeping secrets from me?” uttered Chu Xun, staring hard at him.
Emperor Ao was taking a sip of tea when the question came like a sledgehammer and his hand shuddered. He looked at Chu Xun, “What do you mean? Come on, I have so many secrets that not even you can profess to know them all.”
“I’m referring to your powers,” Chu Xun’s eyes flashed.
He has a strange feeling that Emperor Ao must have reached beyond the Nascent Soul Stage.
“Did you not guess that I have reached the Nascent Soul Stage then?” asked Emperor Ao by way of a deflection.
“And you nodded yourself in agreement.”
“And so I have. What’s the problem then?”
“But something tells me that you’re way beyond that.”
“Senior Emperor Ao’s nearing the threshold beyond the Integration Stage,” interjected Jing Hong softly.
That statement nearly had Chu Xun springing to his feet with shock. Glowering at Emperor Ao, he hissed, “You lied to me?!”
“When?”
“You told me that you’re at the Nascent Soul Stage!” said Chu Xun crossly.
“You said it. Not I,” Emperor Ao remarked suavely.
“And nor did you deny!”
“But in certain ways, I was not lying: isn’t the Nascent Soul Stage part of reaching the Integration Stage?”
Chu Xun tried to retort but felt as if his tongue was tied instead. “So if I had asked if you were in the Qi Refinement Stage at that time, you’d nod your head too?!”
Emperor Ao shook his head. “You’re nowhere near that daft yet, I’ll give you that.”
Chu Xun’s nostrils flared. You old rascal, he wanted to curse out loud. But the threshold beyond the Integration Stage? A stage of inconceivable might. Might that could easily conquer the whole world.
“And you want me to help to protect the people?” uttered a resentful Chu Xun who began to feel that Emperor Ao had been using him, “And before I forget, you’ve been misleading me by showing only the powers of the Nascent Soul Stage!”
“That’s because I’ve not met anyone whom I would require more power to defeat. That’s why,” replied Emperor Ao nonchalantly before narrowing his eyes at Chu Xun, “Don’t you know anything about always keeping a card hidden up your sleeve?”
“Hide my foot!” burst Chu Xun finally with no longer any regard for decorum. “You’re a veritable monstrosity with the powers of that nearing the threshold beyond the Integration Stage. No one in the world who can possibly defeat you and you sprout such nonsense about hiding your strength?!”
“Chu Xun, you don’t understand,” interjected Jing Hong suddenly, “Emperor Ao has his reasons.”
“What reasons could he possibly have! All he has to do is just stand up and show himself! Who would dare cross him!” bellowed Chu Xun. That Jing Hong was speaking on Emperor Ao’s behalf hardly helped to keep his anger down.
“Emperor Ao is bound by the Firmament Chains too. Only by using powers below the Nascent Soul Stage, he wouldn’t have to endure its backlash. If he draws any of his powers of the Spirit Severance or the Integration Stages, the more he’d suffer.”
“And he told you this?!” Chu Xun could not believe that Emperor Ao would trust Jing Hong with such an important secret.
That made him feel rather jealous. Sardonically, he hissed at Emperor Ao, “Wow, you spared no expense, eh?”
“I have nothing to hide from my own apprentice,” said Emperor Ao curtly.
“Apprentice?!” Chu Xun yelped, jerking his head quickly at Jing Hong before turning back to regard Emperor Ao. “You accept her as your apprentice?!”
Emperor Ao nodded quietly, as did Jing Hong.
That was the last straw. Chu Xun leaped to his feet with rage. “No, no, no, no, no! She’s my woman! How can the woman belonging to an Immortal Emperor be the apprentice of someone else?!”
Jing Hong stared helplessly, not knowing what to do nor the reason behind Chu Xun’s sudden losing his temper.
Unfazed, Emperor Ao said dryly with indifference, “Funny. A measly weakling of the Golden Core Realm like you calling yourself an Immortal Emperor.”
Chu Xun could feel his head boiling. “I’ll regain my godhood again one day!” he yelled.
“We’ll just have to wait until you regain your former splendor before I consider whether or not I should disavow her.”
Chu Xun glared at Emperor Ao with eyes as large as plates and his hair thrashing in the winds churning in resonance to his unbridled fury as if he was going to fight.
Still unable to comprehend Chu Xun’s anger, Jing Hong tried to persuade him, “Wait, Chu Xun. Calm down. Emperor Ao is doing us a favor by accepting me as his apprentice.”
“Favor my foot! No woman of mine can be an apprentice of his. What do you expect me to call him in the future? Teacher, like you?” yelled Chu Xun hotly. He swiveled around and thrust a finger at Emperor Ao, “Disavow her. Now.”
Emperor Ao looked as if he hardly cared.
Jing Hong looked rather flustered.
“I’m warning you. Disavow her apprenticeship or I’ll just leave. I’ll leave and never come back. I’ll have nothing to do with the billions of Huaxia lives,” Chu Xun snarled angrily.
“Pipe down, Chu Xun. Emperor Ao is both knowledgeable and powerful. Even in the World of Cultivation, there’s hardly anyone who can rival his greatness. With him being my teacher, I’ll improve rapidly. In fact, I’ve progressed a lot because of his teachings, or I would have still been stuck right now.” Jing Hong tried coaxing Chu Xun softly.
“Knowledgeable my foot! I’m once an Immortal Emperor myself! As if I’m any poorer than he is!” said Chu Xun.
“Once an Immortal Emperor, you say? So what was your regnal name then, boy?” Emperor Ao boomed.
Chu Xun stared at him, the air about him shifting swiftly as his stature grew more overbearing and imposing as he had become a king who ruled over all the world. Proudly, he declared, “Immortal Emperor Chu, also known as the Immortal Emperor of Blood.”
“Ohh?” Emperor Ao sounded strangely all of a sudden before he finally said, “Haven’t anyone called you a despotic Immortal Emperor before?”
“What do you mean?” Chu Xun thundered indignantly.
“What I just said. Did you not claim to be an Immortal Emperor? Or do you mean to say you can’t even understand three simple words?” Emperor Ao smirked derisively.
“Please, Teacher. Let me talk to him,” said Jing Hong anxiously, worried that Emperor Ao might be angry.
“Just because you’re an ancient monstrosity with powers of the Integration Stage doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you, old man.” Chu Xun’s eyes went red and livid.
“Really? Not afraid?” sneered Emperor Ao before flicking a finger at Chu Xun.
Bang!
Something struck Chu Xun so hard that he was sent flying with a long, painful, trailing howl as if an invisible hammer had slammed into him, careening him through the rock face of a cliff with a deafening explosion.
Jing Hong gasped with shock and went pale. Emperor Ao must really be angry or he would not have suddenly attacked.
Crawling up from within the rubbles and debris, a dusty-faced Chu Xun bellowed, “How dare you strike me, you old senile!?”
Emperor Ao hardly looked perturbed. He flicked his finger again, demonstrating how harmless it looked, “This? You call this ‘striking you’? I call this ‘getting rid of vermin’.”
“Godammit!” roared Chu Xun. The great and mighty Devil defeated by just a mere flick of a finger while being called “vermin”?! He yelled, “I’ll have your hide for this!”
Emperor Ao simpered brusquely and raised a hand, waving it casually.
Swoosh!
A golden bolt of light shot out of nowhere at Chu Xun, glittering with a radiance so bright that it could illuminate even the darkest horizons.
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