“We positively felt our physical properties being enhanced, Samsara? What happened?” asked Gao Mohan.
“Spirits and wraiths might be foul beings, but the Purplish Lotus Enchantment of Purification can do wonders by cleansing any foul aura that passes through it. In fact, one could argue that the sanctified aura is now fresh spiritual energy. That is why, upon consumption, you could feel yourselves being invigorated and strengthened. That is good news.”
All three of them heaved sighs of relief. Their journey into this place had been nothing but marvelous and weird. They had seen nothing of the like before, in spite of their being Immortal-leveled champions, and only after this explanation, they could finally breathe easily.
“Your mastery in the magic of enchantments really is impeccable and rare, my friend,” Gao Mohan commented frankly, giving credit where it was due.
“Just a simple trick or two, that’s all I’m good at.”
“They say the Devil suffers no rival too in his expertise in the magic of enchantment too. Which of you would triumph in a contest of skills, I wonder?” said Gao Mohan with a wry look at Chu Xun.
“I’d say we are equals,” Chu Xun chuckled unabashedly.
Gao Mohan held Chu Xun in a brief but fixing stare before he broke into a casual smile. “We’ve been simpleminded and rustic bumpkins, I’m afraid. To think that we failed to realize that we have such an impressive figure in our presence. I do apologize for this discourtesy.”
“Even the wisest man makes mistakes sometimes. I wouldn’t blame it on your ignorance. I keep my identity hidden only because I don’t want to be hindered by any unwanted business. I suppose I should be the one pleading guilty,” Chu Xun grinned back at him.
In Chu Xun’s presence were champions of the Immortal levels – human warriors who had achieved the very pinnacle of human might, skills, and intellect. It was a small wonder that Gao Mohan had finally guessed who he really was.
Meanwhile, Ge Zhan and Diao Xingyi were not fools either; this little exchange between Gao Mohan and Chu Xun had confirmed their earlier suspicions.
“So you really are the Devil, my friend.”
Even so, Ge Zhan and Diao Xingyi could hardly keep their amazement restrained.
A slight dip of Chu Xun’s head was all the sign they needed.
“Much we’ve heard about your name since our emergence from reclusion, Devil. We’ve been interested to make our acquaintances with you, but your half-year-long disappearance had made it impossible, much to our chagrin, I might add. Little did we realize that our wishes would come true during this adventure,” said Ge Zhan.
Chu Xun chuckled. Truth or not, Ge Zhan was only trying to be nice and friendly.
“And I hope I haven’t been a disappointment,” joked Chu Xun.
Gao Mohan studied Chu Xun and nodded pensively, “A little. They say the Devil is a handsome and beautiful man. But you just seem a tad too…” Chu Xun giggled.
He was joking and Gao Mohan’s quip was an apparent attempt to lengthen the banter out of goodwill.
Chu Xun nodded and gazed at the mutant champions still trapped inside the enchantment. After a beat of thought, he strode back to the enchantment and gripped at the Keystone, beginning to undo its magic.
“De— Samsara, what are you...?” gasped Gao Mohan, surprised.
“They could still be of further use,” said Chu Xun.
If what the Flame Wyrm told him were true, then the Soul-Curing Flower would be guarded by a Flaming Qilin. The mutant champions could prove useful to him in the perilous roads ahead.
The veil of darkness inside the enchantment slowly subsided as the magic of the enchantment waned and the mutant champions trapped inside finally saw their way out.
They rushed out quickly, pouring out the exit like haggard survivors of a devastating calamity.
“When did you come out?!” demanded Huang Hai.
Chu Xun ignored him and that only made Huang Hai more furious.
“We just came out not long ago,” said Gao Mohan hastily.
“You should thank Samsara. None of us would have survived that ordeal if not for him,” added Ge Zhan.
Huang Hai and Liu Jiuyuan squirmed with silent disgust.
Kong Liqun, still amiable and cordial as ever, conveyed his gratitude, “Thank you so much, friend Samsara.”
“Don’t mention it; we’re allies after all,” said Chu Xun casually.
The Lost Races champions once again said their thanks to Chu Xun, with the notable exception of Huang Hai and Liu Jiuyuan.
“So, what is this place?” asked Kong Liqun, looking around. “You came out before us, Gao,” he asked Gao Mohan, “Did you manage to explore around?”
“I’m afraid we’re only out here barely minutes before the rest of you did.”
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Huang Hai and Liu Jiuyuan dashed forward to explore around.
So did Kong Liqun and the others who chased after them.
“Let’s look around, Samsara. With everything weird and bizarre around here, we might find something good,” said Gao Mohan.
The champions searched the area, but they found nothing.
“Nothing seems to be here,” said Hei Zong at last.
“Not really,” said Huang Hai with a sneer. He jabbed a finger at the walls of the cavern and said, “These looks like the scuff marks made during a fight here, and they look fresh.”
“You came here first, did you, Samsara?” interjected Liu Jiuyuan, shifting the focus to Chu Xun.
Gao Mohan and the others glowered quietly with displeasure. Liu Jiuyuan and Huang Hai were trying to blame Chu Xun for finding any treasures first instead of thanking him for his help to undo the magical enchantment!
“You came in here first, Samsara. You’ve found something, have you?” Liu Jiuyuan pressed.
Chu Xun beheld him coldly and said with just as much chill, “It is true that these marks were left by me during a fight just now.”
“So what did you find here, Samsara? You should let everyone have a look,” Huang Hai sneered lasciviously.
“What’s it to you?” Chu Xun said to him.
“How dare you…” growled Huang Hai darkly.
“Go,” Chu Xun uttered suddenly, bolting away towards a stone door more than two meters tall on a stony rock face not far away.
Gao Mohan, Ge Zhan, and Diao Xingyi chased after him.
“Stop right there!” barked Huang Hai, wanting to stop them.
Bang!
The boiling surface of the magma burst up in a geyser more than ten meters high, and a huge tail sprang out of the molten liquid and lashed at Huang Hai.
Shocked, Huang Hai frantically summoned his powers and fired a blast at the incoming blow.
Bang!
The colossal tail slammed into Huang Hai, pounding him into the ground and the magma that spilled on his clothes immediately reduced them into crispy rags and even his hair was burned.
Seeing what happened to Huang Hai, Kong Liqun and his cohorts all reeled with horror and dashed for the door, leaving Huang Hai there.
Livid and astonished, Huang Hai let loose a bestial howl. A strong pulse of his powers shattered the ground around him and he leaped out of the hole in the ground and rushed after the stone door too.
He was fortunate that the gigantic tail had not felt the need to properly kill him, or Huang Hai would have never managed to make it out.
The champions poured through the stone door to find themselves in a breathtaking utopia of strong oak trees, verdant meadows, blossoming flowers, and a bubbling brook.
The beautiful scene was a relaxing sight to behold.
Chu Xun wallowed in the picturesque vista unfolding before him. This really was a welcoming spectacle, especially after that dismal and dreary volcano-like cavern just now.
Bang!
Huang Hai made it in, panting and gasping for breath. His hair was still smoking from the heat of the magma that singed it and he was scalded everywhere from head to toe, to say nothing about the blood that only made him unsightlier and more revolting.
“Are you all right, Huang?” asked Kong Liqun, out of genuine concern for a fellow mutant.
“You knew that there’s a monster in the magma, did you?!” Huang Hai snarled at Chu Xun.
“Of course, I do.”
“Then why did you not warn me!?” Huang Hai burst out, teetering on absolute rage.
“You were interested in the scuff marks caused by a fight just now, weren’t you? Well, don’t think you’d take my word for it, so I’d better allow you to see it with your own eyes.”
“So you admit you kept this information from us on purpose?!”
Swoosh!
Chu Xun vanished, reappearing right in front of Huang Hai in the blink of an eye and he viciously gave the Mustelid champion a hard smack across the face.
Still wounded and no match for Chu Xun even on his best days, there was no way he could hold his own against a sudden attack by Chu Xun.
Crack!
The sound of the smack rang out like a cracking whip as Huang Hai cried with agony, crashing to the ground with half his face mangled. No one could ever miss the sickening sounds of bones cracking.
Chu Xun chased after him and added another kick that shattered a few of his ribs.
Bang!
Huang Hai fell to the ground, rolling as he tumbled until he finally stopped.
“Please, restrain your anger, friend Samsara,” Kong Liqun cried fiercely. That Huang Hai, a champion of the Lost Races, to be subjected to such beatings was an insult to the rest of the mutants.
“I broke the enchantment outside, then I saved your life. Instead of a word of thanks, you kept on questioning like I’m a thief. Do you really think I’m a pushover?!” Chu Xun hissed coldly.
None of the mutant champions liked this. After all, Huang Hai was one of their own. But Chu Xun was right and no one could dismiss his contributions so far. More importantly, that Huang Hai could hardly defend himself from one smack to the face made it even more embarrassing.
“I’m sure Huang did not mean that, friend Samsara,” persuaded Kong Liqun. No one could say what other trouble lurked ahead and they might still need Samsara’s help.
“Let this be the last time then,” Chu Xun growled. He peered at Liu Jiuyuan, “That goes for you too. One more word against me and you would be sorry.”
Liu Jiuyuan’s face seethed with indignation. His mouth opened as if to retort, but nothing came out. Quietly inside, he thought, “Go on, Samsara. Go on strutting around while you still can, but I’ll have the last laugh.”
Meanwhile, Gao Mohan and the other three human champions swallowed their saliva. “So the Devil really does live up to his reputation of being an irascible monster.”
The whole party decided to take a rest there.
And the mutant champions used the chance to help Huang Hai heal.
Huang Hai’s injuries were quite bad; Chu Xun’s smack across his face had caused a fracture, in addition to the shattered ribs from the vicious kick.
But with the other five mutant champions joining hands to heal him, helped by the fact that he too, was a powerful champion himself, he quickly recovered.
“Let’s go,” said Chu Xun, leading the way.
Gao Mohan and his three companions followed after him. They would go wherever he would.
You are reading story The Immortal Emperor Returns at novel35.com
They found a craggy dirt path flanked by greenish meadows bedecked with bright blooming flowers. The chilly clean air was refreshing and for one moment, it felt like a field trip to the country instead of a perilous exploration.
Yet despite the casual and relaxed looks on their faces, everyone knew better than to let their guard down. With all the weird things they had encountered so far, there was no telling what other surprises might be waiting to pop out.
They walked down the dirt path before they finally saw where it led them to: a big and ancient castle.
The tall and menacing spires left everyone in an apprehensive mood.
CREAK!
The ornately-fashioned and heavyset doors groaned open and pale, gossamer mists tricked out of the ajar gap before the party of champions spied figures of people drifting out the door.
Female dancers more than twenty of them, each gorgeous beauties in their own right began to gyrate gracefully to the swirling plumes of the divine mists. The sight of their curvaceous figures through the veil of their thinly-gauzed robes could easily arouse any man’s carnal hunger.
“Welcome home, dear lords!”
The melodic tones of a pipa wafted around, its soft and enchanting music, along with the cooing voices of the singing girls could easily soften any man.
Even Chu Xun could feel as if a certain craving and longing rearing its head inside him.
He channeled his powers, allowing the Hong Meng Immortal Qi to course through every part of him and dispel the restlessness that tormented him. But when he spun around to look at the others, he saw how hard and fiery were their stares and how they were being engulfed by the wanton flames of desire.
“Who are you?” called Huang Hai, his expression positively odd and his eyes all lit up and his Adam’s apple rolling as he swallowed hard.
Unsurprisingly, everyone else was hardly faring any better either.
Chu Xun could hardly be not surprised. “What charms these women exude that even Immortal-level champions could not resist them!”
“We are your servants, here welcoming you back into your home,” said one of the women, her sultry voice substantiating the flattery of her message. Her ravishing beauty could easily make any man who looked at her swoon.
These were all beauties whom kings and princes would gladly trade away their kingdoms for.
And no one could deny that it was surrealistically pleasant to see so many beauties standing together.
“Please come in, my lords!”
The women cried out as one, falling to their knees.
“But none of us are the master of this place,” uttered Kong Liqun, one of the handful ones who could still remain sensible.
“Are you abandoning us, my lords?!” shrieked one of the women sourly that she looked pitiful.
“How could we?” said Huang Hai, approaching them.
“I knew it! I knew that you will not forsake us, my lord!” cried two of the women, throwing themselves into Huang Hai. They stood by his sides and gently led him inside.
“Wait, Huang!” yelped Kong Liqun.
If Huang Hai could hear him, he showed no signs of it. He stepped into the mists and into the castle.
“Let’s go in,” said Liu Jiuyuan, pretending to look fine. But no one could ever miss those manic eyes of his that blazed with an evident lust. He stepped forward and allowed another pair of women who sidled into him and led him too inside.
“Let’s go in and have a look then,” said Hei Zong.
Lang Mu and the rest of the mutant champions joined him and they went through the great doors.
With a devious grin twisting on his face, Chu Xun followed after them. He was really interested to see what would happen.
Once inside, the castle really was more than meets the eye than what they saw outside.
The actual compound and the size of this palace complex was larger than it looked from the outside, and everywhere around the ethereal mist-covered castle, legions of female servants who were each a beauty too waited to answer every beck and call.
A wide pool sat at the center of the meticulously decorated compound surrounded by portieres of fibrous drapes. Vaporous mists drifted over the surface of the bath, shrouded in colorful lights that poured as if from inside the water.
Everything screamed luxury and elegance; even the chaise lounges and tables were all expertly hewn from white jade.
Chu Xun found Huang Hai who first came in, now lying on a daybed in a gauze-draped cabana and surrounded by four beautiful women who were massaging him and feeding him magical fruits and syrupy nectar-like draughts.
Liu Jiuyuan looked equally depraved, if not worse with beautiful women in his arms, wallowing in wine and lust.
When Chu Xun looked around to find the other mutant champions, he found them enjoying themselves similarly.
Then he swiveled back and to his surprise, even Gao Mohan and the other two human champions have already been ushered to their respective cabanas too.
“Please come here, my lord,” said a beautiful lady, chirping with a voice as silky and soft as marshmallow.
Chu Xun nodded with a chuckle and allowed himself to be led to another cabana that housed another daybed.
“Have some wine, my lord.”
Chu Xun took the cup of wine she offered and surveyed its contents. It was a strange liquid that shimmered with a golden luster whenever it swirled and its aroma really was refreshing. He downed the cup’s contents.
“You called us your lords, but I don’t even know your names?” simpered Chu Xun.
“You’ve forgotten our names, my lord? I’m Violet Fairywren, and she’s Sapphire Fairywren.”
“And she’s your big sister?”
“You remember us, my lord! Even after so long, you remember us!” cried Violet, her face beaming with joyful surprise that radiated more charm.
Chu Xun said nothing. Fairywrens are a kind of songbirds and in the Huaxian classification of colors, blue comes before purple.
“You must be tired, my lord. Let me give you a good massage,” said Violet. She allowed Chu Xun to lie down on her lap and she began to rub around his temples gently.
Sapphire eased closer and pressed on his legs with perfect and impeccable strength that really was comforting and soothing to him.
“Well, since you are my servants, surely that means that I can do anything to you both?” Chu Xun said suddenly with a lewd look on his face.
He could feel Violet’s and Sapphire’s pausing for one very, very brief moment of hesitation, although they quickly recovered and pretended nothing happened.
“Naturally, my lord. You can do anything to us,” said Sapphire seductively.
Chu Xun smirked and closed his eyes.
Violet and Sapphire shared furtive glances, their alluring eyes turning into that of doubt and suspicion.
Yet in spite of the vast area, Chu Xun quickly realized that something was preventing him from exploring everywhere using his Divine Sense. He could not find out if this was all just an illusion or not.
Chu Xun closed his eyes as if to nap, but he was deep in thought.
“Surely you have someone in charge here, don’t you?” he asked suddenly.
“Why, you lords are the ones whose orders we obey, sir,” said Violet.
Chu Xun sat up.
“Where are you going to, my lord?” Violet purred.
“You don’t have to follow me,” Chu Xun muttered as he trotted off, heading towards Gao Mohan’s cabana daybed.
“Enjoying yourself, Gao?” chuckled an amused Chu Xun when he found Gao Mohan basking in so much pleasure that his eyes were practically misty and distant.
“Chu? Are you leaving this paradise?” Gao Mohan squinted his eyes unsteadily, his face flushed with shades of red.
Chu Xun stared at him quietly. Gao Mohan had just addressed him as “Chu” openly, and he called this place “paradise”.
“Do you not want to come with me?” Chu Xun asked.
“We are all lords of this paradise. Go if you wish; I’m not coming,” said Gao Mohan before he promptly snuggled close to the woman in his arms.
Chu Xun frowned and went to Ge Zhan’s cabana.
“Having fun, Ge?”
Ge Zhan’s drifting gaze and flushed cheeks looked like he was drunk as he struggled to focus on Chu Xun.
“Ah, it’s Chu! Why are you not at your own place? What brings you here?” he asked stiffly as if unhappy to see him.
Chu Xun furrowed his brows and spun around, heading this time towards Diao Xingyi’s cabana.
Things turned out to be much worse; Diao Xingyi appeared to be so hostile towards him that a fight nearly broke out. Chu Xun needed to leave before things soured.
Then he thought of Kong Liqun. The Peacock champion had managed to retain some of his senses earlier.
“How dare you step into the hallowed grounds of the Peacock race!” bellowed Kong Liqun when Chu Xun found him. The Peacock champion summoned his powers, readying himself for a fight.
Chu Xun quietly and quickly bolted away. He could hear moans and grunts of ecstasy when he passed by the veiled cabana daybeds of the others, including Liu Jiuyuan’s.
He came back to his cabana and he asked Violet, “Are you real or are you just an illusion?”
“What’s wrong, my lord?” asked Violet with feigned concern on her sweet, beautiful face.
“You must have been away for too long, my lord. Perhaps you’ll need some time settling in. Here’s a cup of wine to soothe your nerves. You loved it so much last time,” said Sapphire, offering him a jade tumbler filled this time with not golden nectar, but a strange liquid eddying softly with an emerald-greenish sheen off its surface.
Chu Xun took the tumbler and downed its contents quickly.
“Why am I feeling dizzy?” Chu Xun murmured, feeling everything in a confusing whirl around him. It felt like he had fallen through a looking glass of the most salacious dreams where a horde of beauties huddled around him, begging to mate with him.
“You must have had too much to drink,” said Violet, slowly leading Chu Xun back to the daybed to lie down. “Let’s have some rest.”
Chu Xun laid on the bed and quickly fell into a deep slumber.
Violet and Sapphire stared at each other. The latter examined his breathing before nodding at Violet, signaling that Chu Xun had indeed fallen asleep.
“He’s strange. None of our charms seems to be working with him,” said Violet incredulously at the sleeping Chu Xun.
“Ensnaring Temptation is not working on him at all. Does he not have any lust?” uttered Sapphire.
“Ensnaring Temptation is a concoction of Scarlet’s. No man can resist it. But you’re right; something’s wrong with this man and we’d better ask Scarlet,” said Violet.
Sapphire nodded. “Let’s go.”
With one last look at Chu Xun, they pushed past the drapes and strode out.
They paced slowly away, and they could hear Chu Xun’s snores.
Suddenly, the gossamer drapes opened again; Violet and Sapphire had doubled back.
They studied him carefully.
“You’re worrying too much for nothing, Sapphire. This drug is made by Scarlet herself. There’s no cure for it and there’s no way he can ever wake up.”
“Perhaps you’re right. But I still can’t help feeling something’s off with this one.”
“Let’s go.”
The two women left.
Moments later, Chu Xun’s eyes opened, his face curling with a wicked grin.