Chapter 462 Full Bloom!
It would take a week for the Soul-curing Flower to reach full bloom.
The castle was a figment of magic; an enchantment conjured by Periwinkle Sol. In fact, everything – including any non-existent servants and guards in the castle – were all contrivances of Periwinkle’s magic except for the sisters.
Once again, Chu Xun felt awed by his magic.
But more importantly, Scarlet no longer tried to stop Chu Xun from taking the Soul-curing Flower. But he would first have to defeat the Flaming Qilin first.
Scarlet’s other sisters joined them. Chu Xun beheld the beauty and charms of all seven of them; they really were so gorgeous that true enough, kings and lords would gladly trade away their kingdoms and power for any of them.
“Violet, release those men,” instructed Scarlet.
Violet nodded, but before she could leave, Chu Xun stopped her.
All seven of them were perplexed by this, but Chu Xun proffered no explanations.
The rest of the champions – with the exception of Gao Mohan, Diao Xingyi, and Ge Zhan – were all enemies as far as he was concerned. Even from the very beginning, Chu Xun had no intention of allowing them to leave the ruins alive.
Seven days whizzed by swiftly.
Flashes of tri-colored lights festooned every corner of the ruins as if heralding the most important event that has ever happened here: the Soul-curing Flower was reaching full bloom!
Scarlet and her sisters released the champions from their ensnarement and finally, they all woke up.
Scarlet and her sisters released the champions from their ensnarement and finally, they all woke up. The throngs of beautiful maidens all vanished into thin air, and the lavish and luxurious setting of the bath pool and the outdoor cabana beds all disappeared, replaced by the dismal and dusty rubbles of the ancient ruins. Even the magical fruits that they feasted on turned back into ordinary fruits and the nectar and wine returned back into normal water.
The eleven champions instantly understood what went wrong: their days of lust and pleasure were but only a dream. An illusion that had kept them ensnared like hares in a trap.
“I wonder if you’ve been enjoying yourselves, everyone?” Chu Xun teased them, accompanied by Scarlet and her sisters.
The memories of their days of wanton lust were practically carved into their minds. There was no way they would ever forget that and they had never felt any more shame that as Immortal-level champions, they had allowed themselves to fall prey to such depraved and disgraceful urges.
“So, Gao, Ge, and Diao? You’ve labored hard for the past few days; one might think you would have sired new heirs!” Chu Xun jabbed.
All three of them felt their faces burning red like tongs in a fire.
“Please, Samsara! Say no more! We can’t stand the shame!” gasped Gao Mohan, wanting to find a hole to dive into.
Ge Zhan and Diao Xingyi too were hanging their heads over their shoulders, their faces flushed with red.
“Don’t worry about it. As the saying goes, desire is in men a hunger, eh? In fact, your exploits in this past week have shown that you are all in robust health!”
For seasoned and refined champions to succumb to lust; if only they could just keep their faces covered and run away.
Even the mutant champions felt ashamed of themselves too.
“And you have known from the start?! That we’ve walked right into a trap?!” Liu Jiuyuan burst out, looking rather pale. The exertions for the past few days must have spent him greatly.
“I did,” Chu Xun sniggered, “And I have seen with these eyes of mine how unsightly you were. In fact, out of all of you here, I can safely say that you and that Mustelid worked the hardest in your beds.”
That remark made the scowl on Huang Hai’s face grew even bitter.
“I daresay these vixen mutants are the ones who are manipulating the enchantment?” Liu Jiuyuan glared darkly at Scarlet and her sisters with undisguised resentment.
Scarlet and her sisters might be the most beautiful women they ever clapped eyes on, but without the enchantment to influence them, they could resist their charms by remaining alert and wary.
“Indeed. You should thank Samsara. It was he who asked that we release you all,” said Scarlet.
“Lousy trollops! You caused our disgrace! For that, you should pay!” Liu Jiuyuan lashed out viciously. He could not allow any word of his week-long escapade of lechery to reach outside lest his reputation suffers.
“What a complete brute! You barge in here on your own volition! We did not herd you in like sheep!” retorted Violet angrily.
“Damn you fiendish vixens! How dare weaklings like you show such insolence to us!” Huang Hai bellow, firing a blast at Violet.
A high-tiered Beast Lord, Violet could never survive a blow from Huang Hai, who was obviously taking advantage of his greater strength. All color drained from her face.
Enraged, Scarlet fired another blast of her own to nullify Huang Hai’s attack, hissing threateningly, “How dare you show such insolence in our territory!”
Huang Hai was only too surprised to learn that Scarlet too was an Immortal-level champion.
“Everyone,” Huang Hai called his fellow mutant champions, “Let’s kill these vixens here and now! We cannot let anyone else know about what happened to us here or we’d never be able to tolerate the scandal!”
The champions glinted as they brooded tacit agreement. Huang Hai was right. They could not allow another soul outside to hear about the scurrilous feats they have been at all week.
“Huang’s right,” added Liu Jiuyuan with a heinous smirk, “We cannot let any word of this get out. I’m helping as well.” He finished and threw himself at Scarlet.
Scarlet immediately went pale. She had only just achieved the Immortal levels recently and she would not have been able to repel Huang Hai earlier if he had not already been wounded. But she could never be able to handle one more Immortal-level opponent.
“Scarlet! Watch out!”
Her sisters cried out for her. But Liu Jiuyuan charging straight at Scarlet with his powers in full splendor radiated such an aura that caused their blood to boil just by in his presence and they collapsed, incapacitated, with their faces as white as chalk.
“ENOUGH,” Chu Xun’s voice boomed. He released a pulse of aura of his own, sweeping towards all directions like ripples of tidal waves that easily engulfed Huang Hai’s and Liu Jiuyuan’s auric emissions.
He swung a fist at Liu Jiuyuan, who was charging at Scarlet and fired an energy bolt at the human champion.
Caught off-guard, Liu Jiuyuan quickly summoned his powers and fired a bolt to deflect Chu Xun’s attack.
Rumble!
Chu Xun’s energy bolt shrieked through the air like a flying banshee that effortlessly devoured Liu Jiuyuan’s Internal Breath bolt before smashing right into him, knocking him off his feet.
“And you. I’ve had enough of you.”
Chu Xun was truly infuriated. That Huang Hai and Liu Jiuyuan would dare attack Scarlet and her sisters in his presence was tantamount to a blatant slap at his face.
Demon-slain Finger—scaring all the gods and ghosts by the third finger.
A gigantic monolith fell from the sky, its colossal weight bearing down on Huang Hai.
Rumble!
The impact tossed winds and dust around in a sandstorm as Huang Hai grappled against the crushing pressure falling on him, but to no avail; the monolith crashed down with the force of a runaway freight train and blasted him off his feet with mouthfuls of blood pouring out his mouth as he flew away.
But Chu Xun was not satisfied; in fact, he has decided enough is enough.
Swoosh!
With strides that easily cover kilometers, he chased after Huang Hai and gave him another vicious blow.
Bang!
The first blast caught the Mustelid champion squarely on the chest, exposing the raw, bloodied flesh inside as Huang Hai howled with agony. Even his chest was caved in.
But he could do nothing against the incredible might of Chu Xun. In fact, he could actually feel the malice reeking off this mercurial and mysterious figure – a sensation that even made him went all white with horror.
Liu Jiuyuan barely clambered back to his feet when a whip came screaming through the air at him and struck viciously at his back with a deafening crack.
The Hong Meng Immortal Qi-imbued Reincarnation Whip tore through his protective aura and slashed open his back, splashing blood everywhere.
“You really have a death wish, don’t you? Both of you? Hmm?” Chu Xun bellowed like a frenzied madman, his eyes filled with cold fury. With every step he took, the air popped and crackled in resonance with his burgeoning aura.
“Stay your anger, friend Samsara!” cried Kong Liqun anxiously. He and his fellow mutants could feel Chu Xun’s malice.
Chu Xun turned back and fired a massive blast of Hong Meng Immortal Qi. The purplish jet of energy roared all the way towards Kong Liqun.
Shocked, the Peacock champion frantically channeled every ounce of Internal Breath he could call upon to defend himself.
Rumble!
Waves of dust and shock swept the place following a terrible explosion and Kong Liqun was knocked back several hundred meters.
“What is this, Samsara?!” Kong Liqun cried, not so much as indignant than aghast to find how powerful Chu Xun was.
Chu Xun said frostily, his face deadpan, “I led you here, through all obstacles and challenges, and here we are. Yet instead of any word of thanks, this filthy weasel has repeatedly sought to irritate me! Do you really take me for a fool? Or do you think I lack the guts to slaughter you?!”
“Please, friend Samsara. Huang is only being straightforward. I’m sure he has no intention of offending you. Please show mercy,” Kong Liqun pleaded despite his anger. The mutants could not afford to lose one of their members now; one less mutant champion would mean more advantage to the human champions.
“Huang, apologize to Samsara at once!” cried Hei Zong.
Huang Hai spat a huge gulp of blood, his face grotesquely distorted with hatred and agony as he glared defiantly at Chu Xun.
Chu Xun shot a glance at him – one that could send him into an icy abyss of cold.
“My apologies, friend Samsara. I meant no disrespect, honest,” said Huang Hai through gritted teeth, knowing full sure that any more brazen show of contempt now would spell his death. He could count on none of his allies, especially when they still needed him for the rest of this exploration. He would weigh next to nothing before Samsara’s significance and he understood that he needed to bit the bullet.
Chu Xun pulled Huang Hai up brusquely and began smacking savagely at his face again and again.
By the time the whirl of more than a dozen slaps to his face was done, Huang Hai staggered unsteadily, his face utterly mangled – he has lost much of his teeth, his jaw hung loose, and his face was utterly bloodied.
“Let this be a lesson to you that I’m allowing you to keep your head on probation. One more word, and it will be gone. No one here can save you,” said Chu Xun before tossing him aside like a sack of filth.
A displeased Kong Liqun quickly joined his fellow mutants to help save Huang Hai.
Chu Xun redirected his attention to Liu Jiuyuan.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT!?” the human champion burst out, panicking for his dear life.
Swoosh!
Chu Xun vanished, materializing right beside Liu Jiuyuan like an apparition and he fired several blasts.
Bang! Bang!
When the walloping finally ended, Liu Jiuyuan was left in a pitiful heap on the ground with blood gushing out of his mouth and a gaping wound at his chest with his limbs all broken.
Then Chu Xun lifted him by the scruff of his neck too and gave him at least a dozen smacks to the face that finally saw his face utterly disfigure.
Lastly, he smashed the human champion into the rock face of a cliff. The impact caused a landslide with boulders and rocks came crashing down and Liu Jiuyuan was practically planted inside the granite – a sad and miserable sight.
“Consider this a courtesy from a fellow human that you’re alive,” hissed Chu Xun menacingly, “One more instance of offense and you’ll be sorry.”
Gao Mohan and other fellow champions shared furtive glances. He really is the Devil indeed! They wondered, knowing full well Chu Xun’s identity. In fact, they began to feel pity towards Liu Jiuyuan for angering the Devil, of all people.
They were not alone; even Scarlet and her sisters could not believe their eyes. That Chu Xun could easily incapacitate two Immortal-class champions with such ease made him a dangerous and scary person.
“Heavens, he’s so powerful, Scarlet,” murmured Violet dazedly.
Scarlet could only nod her head blankly with a strange gleam in those gorgeous eyes of hers as she mulled thoughtfully.
The tri-colored lights only grew stronger.
“The Soul-curing Flower has reached full bloom!” cried Scarlet.
Chu Xun sped away; his primary target being the Soul-curing Flower right from the start.
Gao Mohan and his companions traded quick glances before the former collected the unconscious Liu Jiuyuan and dashed after Chu Xun towards the source of the intensely-hued lights. So did Scarlet and her sisters.
So did Scarlet and her sisters.
In the meantime, the mutant champions were seething with resentment towards Huang Hai. His injuries were slowing them down.
“We’re going too,” pressed Kong Liqun.
With Hei Zong carrying Huang Hai, the mutant champions chased after the humans.
Rushing at full speed, Chu Xun quickly arrived at where the Flower had been hidden in just minutes.
He looked up and on top of a little hill barely twenty meters high, a shrub a little lesser than three meters tall – a plant that resembled a clover plant – was giving off a vividly colorful radiance of light.
It was a three-petaled clover with red, white, and blue illumination surging brilliantly from all three petals respectively.
Chu Xun could feel himself trembling with anticipation. “At long last, the Soul-curing Flower.”
“Wait for me, Little Wu…” Chu Xun breathed excitedly, “Very soon, you’ll come back to life…”
But Chu Xun stood his ground. That he did not yet speed up the slopes to pick the magical plant was only due to three swords, each in the same color as the petals of the Soul-curing Flower, stuck into the ground mid-hill.
He could feel a magical bond between the swords and the flower; a symbiotic bond between both steel and plant that kept and nurtured each other.
Magical plants were known to thrive in the presence of cryptids and fauna, but he had never heard of bonds shared between plants and steel.
From his position at more than a hundred meters away, Chu Xun felt an inexplicable sensation radiating from all three swords that he could as if feel how keen and deadly they were.
Then Gao Mohan, Scarlet, and everyone else arrived.
The Lost Races champions arrived as well.
Everyone looked and they watched with longing and desire for the magical shrub at the top of the hill.
The mutant champions peered at each other. They exchanged nods and charged uphill.
Whereas Gao Mohan and his companions remained at where they stood. Seeing Chu Xun waiting there quietly made them keep their ballooning curiosity in check.
The Devil choosing to wait here must mean that something was wrong.
Apart from the gravely wounded Huang Hai, the rest of the mutant champions had begun racing uphill.
Being Immortal-level champions who could easily scale mountains and peaks with simple leaps, jumping up to the top of this little mound was a simple cakewalk for them.
They reached the foot of the hill and traded nods once more, then they charged, heading first towards the spot where the three swords stood.
The three swords hummed and trembled as if sensing their arrival and the radiance that danced off their shiny blades seemed to grow stronger.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
With another burst of brilliant flashes, all three swords unplugged themselves from the soil of the hill and aimed their tips at the mutant champions from afar.
The swords emitted another bright flash and each fired terrible jets of energies. The energy rays shrieked through the air with deadly accuracy and intensity.
“Let’s do this!”
Kong Liqun rallied his fellow champions. All five of them swiftly called upon their powers. Their auras burgeoned together and the sheer magnitude of their collective might made the air tremble.
All three deathrays came sure and swift. They obliterated whatever attacks hurled forth by the mutant champions and continued their flights towards the mutants.
The Lost Races champions all turned aghast. These three swords must be Relics far beyond the class of Immortal Weapons.
Kong Liqun howled boldly, clasping his palms together. His entire self emanated radiations of his rapidly-blooming aura and he parried away the crimson deathray coming from the red sword and he lunged, groping after the weapon.
With a mind of its own, the Red Sword easily darted aside. Tongues of red flames burst to life on its steel, circling down the length of its blade. Then it slashed viciously, firing a burst of flames that even volcanic lava could not compare.
Kong Liqun could hardly evade in time; the flames singed more than half of a sleeve, reducing the fabric into charred crisps before he managed to flee to safety.
Lang Mu, the Lycan champion, reverted back into his true form in a long and bestial howl. The giant wolf gave the Blue Sword a terrible maul that could easily flatten the hill itself.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere and Lang Mu staggered backward, grunting in pain. The Blue Sword had sliced off a chunk of its flesh!
The White Sword hummed serenely, emitting flashes of white light. Then with a swoosh, it was gone.
“ARGGHH!”
Blood splashed on the ground with Hei Zong howling with agony. The White Sword had come out of nowhere and nearly bitten off his shoulder.
Gao Mohan and his companions could not believe what they were seeing. It was a slaughter – a horrible slaughter conducted by three magical swords with sentient minds. They could only thank their luck that they did not follow.
They peered at Chu Xun and found him relaxed and composed. He must have realized that these were not ordinary swords!
The five mutant champions, now caught in a whirl of carnage orchestrated by the three magical swords, could only scream with terror as they flung whatever tricks they had to save themselves.
“Now’s the time to give it your all, everyone!” Kong Liqun’s voice thundered over the din. He produced a bronze mirror, its surface old and smudged – a Sacred Relic.
He activated it and the mirror shone like a miniature sun.
Swoosh!
The Red Sword spun in midair and shot straight for Kong Liqun.
Swoosh!
Kong Liqun immediately activated his bronze mirror and fired a golden ray of energy. The blast caught the Red Sword and an aerial explosion rocked the earth, eliciting spreading waves of dust and winds.
The Red Sword careened away with much of its reddish glow diminished.
That filled Kong Liqun with renewed hope and exhilaration. He activated his bronze mirror once more and fired more death rays at the Red Sword. The magical sword hummed as if in protest, but every time it was hit, its glow waned piecemeal.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The weakened Red Sword was suddenly rejoined by its siblings and the three swords circled around in the air, one’s tip chasing after another’s hilt ceaselessly. They were strengthening each other’s magical powers together!
Once their ritual was complete, all three swords swerved around, like a trio of predatory birds preying on Kong Liqun together.
Shocked, the Peacock race champion frantically fired one blast after another at the magical swords.
Rumble!
A huge explosion burst out. Yet the three magical swords, striking together as one, easily weathered the hail of magical rays shot from the bronze mirror. Like humming a song, the magical swords let loose a barrage of energy blasts of their own at Kong Liqun.
“ARRGHH!” Kong Liqun crashed to the ground. The blast from the swords had mangled one of his arms and the bronze mirror flew harmlessly out of his grasp.
Chu Xun saw the mirror coming his way and raised a hand. A strong vacuum-like suction drew the bronze mirror into his hand.
A high-grade Immortal Weapon, nice, thought Chu Xun, hastily stowing it away.
The three swords working together in tandem proved a formidable formation that easily outpowered the rest of the mutant champions.
Only four mutant champions remained and they had no intention of following Kong Liqun’s fate; they hurriedly took out their weapons.
Hei Zong produced a dark piece of gnarly wood. But the ancient-looking piece of timber let off a dark and ominous glow the moment it appeared.
The Zombie champion brandished a long and black spear with electric sparks arcing down its length, crackling incessantly.
The Winged champion’s weapon was a golden-colored fan of feathers that looked like an uncanny twin of the Fan of Cosmos that he had taken from the Winged race before.
Lang Mu reverted back to his human form and his weapon was a six-meter-long spiked mace.
All four of them charged at the magical swords.
Winds tossed and thrashed like a raging storm as explosions and dins of battle scattered the area.
It was then Gao and his companions realized that no matter what destruction the mutant champions unleashed, none of the terrains was damaged or altered in any way.
“This place is bewitched,” said Chu Xun suddenly as if he had guessed their thought.
“Oh, no. The three swords aren’t going to hold on much longer,” said Gao Mohan.
With the help of their high-tiered Sacred Relics, Hei Zong and his fellow mutant champions were gaining the upper hand over the three magical swords.
“Not quite yet,” Chu Xun chuckled, the corner of his lips curling.
Gao Mohan and his companions were left puzzled but Hei Zong and his comrades managed to deal the final blow on the magical swords. With all their magic extinguished, the swords, now without their former blaze of power and might, flew back to their original positions mid-hill and returned to their places.
Enlivened by their success, Hei Zong and the mutant champions sped towards the swords.
No longer being able to hold back, Gao Mohan and his companions got ready to chase after them.
“Wait,” urged Chu Xun suddenly.
The human champions were reluctant to stop, but ultimately, they chose to heed Chu Xun’s warning and they stopped to watch.
Hei Zong was leading the charge and he groped first for the Blue Sword.
But his wishes were never to be; out of nowhere came the fiery silhouette of the leg of a strong and powerful beast that came stomping down on Hei Zong.
The Draconian champion sensed danger. He channeled his Internal Breath and fired a blast at the silhouette
Bang!
The silhouette easily trampled past Hei Zong’s attacks like a steam train on the loose and came crashing down on the Draconian, hammering him into the ground.
“ARRGGHH!”
Hei Zong’s frantic shrieks of pain filled the air. He did not manage to escape cleanly; both of his legs were squashed into a sickening mass of blood and pulp.
That was enough to frighten the rest of the mutant champions from wanting to take the swords as they quickly raced downhill.
Chu Xun’s eyes squinted at the fiery advent of the Flaming Qilin.
Gao Mohan and his companions were flabbergasted. The mythical cryptid was not a colossal being, but its chimeric appearance – of a dragon’s head, a stag’s antlers, a pair of lion eyes, a tiger’s back, the barrel-waist of a bear’s, the scales akin to those of snakes, and the hooves of a stallion – basking in the red-hot splendor of its magical flames made it a very impressive sight to behold.
“A Qilin…” Gao Mohan murmured dazedly. Despite having seen the name of this mythical beast before in the thousand-year-old records of his family’s archives, no one had ever seen a Qilin up close before.
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