The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 257 Joy and Relief

Wu Busi beheld Yan Yi with an immensely envious look at the latter’s impending breakthrough to become a Human King after ingesting the magical fruit.

Cradling his fruit carefully, he hazarded a little bite, feeling the sweet flavor of the fruit flooding into his mouth and tingling his senses, and he began wolfing it down quickly, leaving not even its seed and making well sure to lick his fingers of its juices for good measure.

“Gods in Heaven! I’m having a breakthrough myself!” he proclaimed proudly and he quickly sat down on the ground. His body glowed and dimmed with a strange radiance as his aura began to thicken, all of which the telltale signs of an impending promotion in his magical level.

Chu Xun conjured another Five Ghosts Transportation enchantment around Wu Busi to ensure his success and solidify his chances.

“Oh my! Get off me, Yu Cheng! I’m having a breakthrough myself!” Lei Bao yelled suddenly.

Yu Cheng got up at once, instinctively giving Lei Bao some space; one needs peace and full concentration during a breakthrough. But just when he withdrew a few steps, he paused, confused: Lei Bao has yet to consume his magical fruit, and he was injured. So how could he be having a breakthrough?!

He stared at Lei Bao and found him sniggering playfully before erupting into a heavy fit of laughter, saying, “What an innocent one! Do you really think it’s easy to achieve the level of Human Kings?”

Flabbergasted beyond words, Yu Cheng cursed, “You idiot.”

Overjoy at his successful attempt to play a trick on Yu Cheng, Lei Bao went on giggling with his mustache trembling uncontrollably.

“Wait a minute, there’s still another bone that needs adjusting,” Yu Cheng walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder. A loud crack pierced the air, followed by Lei Bao’s howls of agony.

“Yu Cheng, you! You old fool! That was intentional! You, you... Arggghhh...”

Chu Xun shook his head at the banter.

Jiu You’s wounds have recovered and her aura burgeoned as her magical levels increased.

Chu Xun could only grimace with apparently. The constitutions of demons were just so much stronger than that of normal humans.

“I’m sensing a breakthrough is at hand,” said Jiu You, walking over to him. She grinned generously at him and reached a hand out, indicating that she wanted something from him.

Chu Xun stared wordlessly at her, then he waved her off. “I’ve no more! I have only seven. And you alone, have eaten already three.”

“Come on, it’s just some fruits...” Jiu You pouted her lips and grumbled.

Irately, Chu Xun tugged at her hair and messed it up like a bird’s nest. “Then you should have just given them back to me. ‘Some fruits’ you say? I did not even get to keep any for myself.”

She beamed brightly and said, “I look for a cartful of them next time. You shall have your fill then.”

“All right, all right, now off with you,” said Chu Xun, exasperated. Did the little girl think that magical fruits are as common and readily available like apples??

Boom!

A sudden burst of hot air rippled in waves as the air smelled of burnt ozone with incessant noises of crackling from everywhere.

Yan Yi opened his eyes, his aura stronger and denser than before. He had succeeded; he was now reborn as a Human King with his wounds and injuries all healed.

“Thank you so much, my Lord.” Yan Yi bowed deeply. Without Chu Xun, he would still be bogged down in the level of half-Human King.

It did not take long for Wu Busi to complete his breakthrough as well. He emerged anew, with winds thrashing and clawing around to herald his newfound strength.

“My deepest gratitude, Immortal Chu,” he beamed.

His and Yan Yi’s breakthrough would never have been possible without Chu Xun.

Lei Bao laid sprawled on the ground, panting for breath after being tortured by Yu Heng. He gnashed his teeth with a long string of expletives and curses, but could not help feeling envious at Yan Yi’s and Wu Busi’s achievement of becoming Human King, and he quickly devoured his magical fruit.

Chu Xun strolled over to him and assisted him in the assimilation of the fruit. In barely a half-hour, Lei Bao’s aura began to rise too.

Yet, breakthroughs of the various grades of the Human King level were hardly anything trivial; Lei Bao’s powers grew very close to reaching the threshold of the Second-grade, in addition to recovering from his wounds, and that was all he could manage for now.

Still spiteful at what Yu Cheng did to him and eager to test his newfound powers, Lei Bao challenged him to a duel.

The Lord of Healing was hardly any fool; he too could feel that Lei Bao now possessed powers that dwarfed his own, being close to reaching Second-grade, and he knew better than to pick a fight he absolutely could not win.

Yet he underestimated Lei Bao’s ardor and enthusiasm. He might have babbled his refusal to a duel, but a ball lightning came charging at him nonetheless.

Forced into a fisticuff against his will, Yu Heng had no choice but to defend himself. Still, he was no match against the current Lei Bao and ended up charred and smoldering.

It was an ending of joy and relief: Yan Yi and Wu Busi both ascended to new levels, Jiu You and Lei Bao both improved their powers, and the intruders from the Broken Souls Cult were all vanquished.

Then Chu Xun remembered the young lad and elderly half-Human King whom he had saved on his way here. He had left them outside, hidden inside another enchantment he conjured while he came in.

Hearing this, Wu Busi rushed outside like the winds. Their story about how they had been hunted down viciously like dogs by the forces of the Sifang Sword Sect filled him with so much rage, that Wu Busi swore that he would never rest until the Sword Sect is destroyed.

“Thank you so much, Immortal Chu,” Wu Busi reiterated his gratefulness again. His was a son he received only in his ripe age, that he would have been stricken with madness and grief if his only son and heir was slaughtered.

Chu Xun waved off his thanks and turned his focus to the young lad, surprised. The boy was only at the level of the Acquired Realm when they first met, and yet now, he had reached the level of Grandmaster.

That reminded him of Hong Ling, who had surged into a Fifth-grade Grandmaster after ingesting a magical fruit as a mere commoner. But Jiu You and the others did not seem to have so great a leap in their powers after eating their magical fruits. Did magical fruits come in varying qualities? Or did this have something to do with one’s physical constitution and innate talent? Or would the effects be diminished the higher its user’s level was?

“Can I have another request, Immortal Chu?” said Wu Busi suddenly.

“Let’s hear it,” he replied.

Wu Busi cast a look at Yan Yi, then solemnly, he proclaimed, “I wish that the Tianwu Sect be part of the Chu Legion.”

“Of course, you can,” Chu Xun said, not refusing him. Wu Busi has proven his honor and trustworthiness by coming all the way to the Rock Sect in their aid.

Additionally, Chu Xun needed good men. Not good men with great fighting skills, but good men whom he could trust and rely on.

“My Lord!” Wu Busi knelt to the ground, with his young son and his elderly liegeman following suit.

Chu Xun swung his arms casually, and lifted all of them to their feet using an invisible force he conjured.

“There will be no more need for such ceremony; we shall henceforth be known as brothers!”

It was merry news for the Tianwu Sect to become a part of the Chu Legion. Yan Yi immediately commanded his servants to prepare a feast; a celebratory banquet was in order.

Food and ale would not go wrong after a tiring and famishing night of fighting.

That reminded Chu Xun of the two pangolins he kept during the stampede on his way to Longcheng City. He took it out and gave it to the cooks.

They divided themselves into tables of dozens, and it was a banquet of pangolin meat – steamed, braised, roasted, and so forth... The Rock Sect cooks’ masterful culinary prowess had everyone enjoying the delights of their handiwork with never-ending praises.

Pangolin meat is nourishing and helpful to one’s magical cultivation. But with each of them almost four to five meters long, there was so much meat that they could not finish it all and the rest were divided amongst the students and acolytes of the Sect.

Lei Bao noticed Yu Heng sulking himself, and he snuggled closer and asked, “What’s wrong with you, Yu Cheng? Are you not hungry after fighting one whole night?”

“Go away!” scowled the Lord of Healing with an angry glare at Lei Bao. He felt not so much as tired than sore after the beating Lei Bao gave him and that hardly helped his appetite, despite his pangs of hunger.

Lei Bao ignored Yu Cheng’s gripes and went back to gnawing at his pangolin meat while trying to look facetious. Mumbling through a mouth filled with food, he said, “This is the flesh of mutated wild beasts. It’s good. Helps our cultivation too. Let me tell you more...”

Yu Cheng could not help twitching the corners of his lips irritably. He took a cup of wine and squeezed it into Lei Bao’s hand. “Drink up. You don’t want to get choked on your own food.”

Lei Bao sniggered and upended his cup in one gulp. “Wow, thanks,” he muttered. *Burp* “Gods, do you have anything to help with my stomach? I need two of them.”

“Dammit, you fool. I’m the Lord of Healing, not some street peddler of herbs and medicine.”

“Come on, as if you’re any different,” teased Lei Bao, throwing an arm around Yu Cheng’s shoulder.

Yu Cheng narrowed his eyes at Lei Bao, his anger suddenly dissipated. “I have nothing that would help with your stomach, but I do have antidiarrheic. You want some?”

“Why would I want that for? I am good, I eat well, and my stomach is well. You should just...” Before he could finish, he turned red, sprang up to his feet, and bolted for the doors towards outside.

“What’s happened to him?” asked a curious Yan Yi.

“Who knows?” replied Yu Cheng, shrugging, although the corners of his lips betrayed a sly little smile.

“Will he be fine?” asked Chu Xun. Only he, apart from Yu Cheng knew what happened; Yu Cheng had done something to the cup of wine he gave to Lei Bao earlier.

“Rest assured that it will do him more good than harm,” remarked Yu Cheng.

Lei Bao appeared at the door as everyone reeled with bewilderment at those words, only to wheel around and ran back out.

“What the hell?!” gasped Wu Busi with shock, then he murmured to himself, “Is he going out for a walk after being too full, so that he can come back for another round of this feast?”

It did not take long for Lei Bao to come back. He sank listlessly back into his chair, with sweat rolling profusely down his pale-white face.

Yu Cheng reached for a piece of meat and offered it to Lei Bao, “Come, have another one. It helps with your magical cultivation. How about I tell you more about...”

Lei Bao’s face turned purple and he leaped up again, wanting to run outside, but Yu Cheng yanked at his arm, stopping him from leaving, “Where are you going?! I have not even begun with the benefits of eating this pangolin meat.”

Lei Bao tried and tried to fling off Yu Cheng’s hand, but to no avail. Anxious beads of sweat condensed on his brows as he yelled, “Let go of me!”

“What’s this? You want a fight? Come then. Let’s have a go for fun. How about a one-hand handicap?” teased Yu Cheng with glee, his vice-like grip refusing to yield.

The Lei Bao now could hardly even breathe easily, let alone fighting someone.

“All right, Yu Cheng, let me come back later to spar with you, okay?” said Lei Bao, grinning sheepishly.

“Of course not. Not when I’m so eager. Let’s do it now.”

“Please, please, just let go, Yu Cheng, Master Yu, Lord Yu... Just let go, please, I need to go.” Pale blue veins throbbed frantically at his neck, and he channeled what little bit of his powers that he could and a chain of lightning coiled around his hand. A little spark caught Yu Cheng off guard, and that gave Lei Bao the chance to break himself loose and bounded for the door.

Finally, everyone else understood what happened: Yu Cheng had laced Lei Bao’s drink with something. With quiet, and joyhearted mirth, everyone sat still and waited for Lei Bao to return.

Lei Bao came back again not long later. This time, he looked abysmally pale, awfully weak that he needed to hold on to the wall to keep himself steady.

“What’s wrong with you, Lei Bao? Have you had too much to drink?” asked Yan Yi, putting up a surprised facade.

Lei Bao glared angrily at Yu Cheng, enfeebled. “Is this your doing, Yu Cheng?!”

“What are you talking about? What have I done?” retorted Yu Cheng, feigning innocence with the finesse of a play-actor.

Lei Bao groaned sourly, clutching his belly, and he glowered, “You quack healer! Stop pretending! Who else but you is capable of anything as crooked as this?! Come at me head-on if you dare; I challenge you to a fight! I’ll wallop you with only one hand!”

The Lord of Healing rose to his feet. He grabbed Lei Bao’s arm and dragged him out.

The latter was so enfeebled to the point that he could barely stand, much less yanking himself free, and he could only allow himself to be dragged away.

“Let go of me, you quack healer?! What are you doing?!” One would have expected Lei Bao to be on the verge of tears; the churning in his insides was barely subsiding.

“Did you not challenge me to an honest fight? I’m game,” said Yu Cheng.

Lei Bao grimaced. How was he supposed to fight when he could barely stand?

“I mean some other day, not now?”

“I want it now,” said Yu Cheng, suppressing a grin.

“You’re a foul creature, you quack healer! I knew it! This is on purpose! Just you wait! I’ll pay this back to you accordingly, just you wait!”

“Wow, you dare threaten me? Now, of all times?” scowled Yu Cheng. He brandished his huge crystal pestle, and drove it with a crack into Lei Bao’s hind parts.

The jolt of pain shot right up from Lei Bao’s behinds, nearly making him shot upright, that his eyes widened with the shock and his face flushed red with anxiety. His stomach groaned again, like a boat rocking dangerously in a squall, and he nearly soiled his pants.

Slap!

Another stroke came at his rump, and this time, he really shot up straight to attention, his face tensed with agony with a purple hue to it, and goosebumps broke out all over him, and his eyes welling up.