The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 503 Defeat

Jing Hong spared no expense. Right from the start, she unleashed the powerful Demon-slain Finger attack.

With enough self-control to prevent himself from looking horrified, Jin Yujie quickly retreated with Wang He to a safer distance.

“Thinking of running?” Hua Qingwu appeared in their way with her sword drawn. The weapon flared with energy dancing along its blade.

With their avenue of retreat cut off, the sons of Immortals could only fight.

Attacking as one, both men fired simultaneous blasts of energy at the gigantic monolith falling. The huge column crashed into the energy blasts and with a huge explosion, the monolith burst into pieces amid a huge pulsing tremor, accompanied by a wind and dust storm of such proportions that even the sun was blotted out of sight.

The blast knocked Jin Yujie and Wang He off their feet, sending them several hundred meters away. Yet even as they crashed into the ground, other than their torn and tattered clothing, they were otherwise undamaged at all. After all, they were no ordinary warriors.

But this was shocking enough for most people. The Flaming Qilin had taken quite some time before he finally wounded Wang He, whereas Jing Hong managed to accomplish the same feat right from the start.

Looking grim, the rest of the other three sons of Assembly of Immortals rejoined Wang He and Jin Yujie, standing in line with them and readying for an all-out battle.

“Earth is not your playground, Immortal mutts. Go back to where you come from before it’s too late,” Jing Hong warned with a steely voice.

The Flaming Qilin looked at Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu with awe, thinking, “So these are the consorts of the Devil… Wow, they command just as much majesty as he does…”

Hunger and desire blazed in Jin Yujie’s glance at Jing Hong, muttering quietly, “What happiness the Devil wallows in, that he has such beauties as his brides.”

“Are you being envious, Jin?” asked the youth beside him.

“As if you’re not, Jing Lei,” Jin Yujie admitted without even the slightest hint of bashfulness.

Jing Lei, another son of Immortals that looked more ferocious and boorish than Jin Yujie’s beautiful and dashing looks, but with more strength and manliness.

“I thought most of Earth would be nothing but abject and mundane myself. But look at these beauties, what a shame that they are the consorts of the Devil. They are beautiful, I’d give them that, but they are our enemies still, and for that, they must die.”

“Brother Leng is right. Judging from how fervently they protect the Devil’s name, it would appear that your charms do not work on them, Jin. We should just kill them and be done with it,” said another fair and clean-shaven youth but with eyes creepy enough to give anyone the jitters, whose strange name Ma Kewei (The very same “Ma” as “Ma fan” which translates as “troublesome”) heralded his penchant for mischief and bother.

“But since the Devil is still cowering somewhere, we can just take his women as hostage and smoke him out,” said another son of Immortal whose name was Yu Xiyuan. “I’m sure he’d have to show himself then. Well, you can try to see if you can win them over while we’re at it, Jin.”

All six youths represented the pride and future of the Assembly of Immortals. All thanks to Wu Kejin, the Assembly had been informed about the changes on Earth since their departure ages ago.

Knowing that vast resources and boundless opportunities now abounded Earth, the great families of the Assembly of Immortals sprang into action. Representatives were chosen from each house and magical supplies were amassed that through means both costly and exhaustive, the great houses of the Assembly of Immortal had these six youths transported here.

The process had not been easy. With the Firmamental Laws of Earth restored, the great houses could not send anyone with powers beyond the Laws’ allowance and for this reason, only warriors of the Immortal Level could be selected for this perilous mission.

And more will come; Jin Yujie and his companions were merely the first of many groups to come.

At huge cost and sacrifice they were sent here for several purposes. Their primary mission was the execution of the Devil in the name of the Assembly of Immortals, followed by the subjugation of Earth back into the dominion of the Assembly once more.

Coming to Earth, their first move was to challenge Chu Xun – they did not have any interest in anyone else at all.

They trampled past the defenses of all five cities they conquered with ease. The chieftains of the local sects and warrior guilds might also be Immortal-level champions, but the difference in skill and finesse made them ripe pickings for the sons of Immortals. This in turn made the sons of Immortals arrogant and presumptuous, making them believe that all warriors on Earth were nothing but chaff.

That was until they encountered the Flaming Qilin, Jing Hong, and Hua Qingwu.

Even so, the sons of Immortals remained undaunted. Jin Yujie and Wang He were only the weakest among their number.

Jing Lei, the strongest of the six, was skilled in lightning elemental-based magic and techniques that made him a very dangerous enemy even to warriors of the same class.

“Allow me then,” said Jing Lei. The defeat of Wang He and Jin Yujie by Jing Hong with only one attack could dishonor the Assembly of Immortals, and to salvage what face they had left, he needed a decisive and swift victory over the Flaming Qilin, Jing Hong, and Hua Qingwu together.

As it turned out, the rest of his companions understood that as well. The pride of the Assembly needed to be upheld to ensure smooth and docile compliance from the Earthlings moving forward.

“I’d implore for some kindness and tenderness where the two ladies are concerned, Jing Lei, although I could care less about the beast. It’s a pity to kill such beauties, eh?” Jin Yujie teased vilely.

“I’ll do what I can!”

With that, Jing Lei paced with careful and piecemeal steps towards the Flaming Qilin and the women. With every step, electricity arced around him, crackling angrily like a monster ready to unleash its temper.

“Come at me, all three of you!” challenged Jing Lei openly.

“As if the likes of you would need all three of us to take you down,” retorted the Flaming Qilin who charged first, driving a fist imbued with searing-hot flames at his new opponent.

“The Qilin, famous Sacred Beast of the ancient age. What a pity that you’re so weak,” Jing Lei remarked sardonically. He drove a fist forward, firing a terrible blast of lightning.

Rumble!

Such was Jing Lei’s might, that when his jet of lightning collided with the Flaming Qilin’s fist, it erupted with so huge a force that the Qilin was sent hurtling into the air, defeated.

Everyone gasped with silence.

Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu both shared grim looks.

“I told you,” said Jing Lei scornfully at the fallen Flaming Qilin, “you’re too weak. Now, all three of you. Together.”

Thousands of lightning bolts shot from his very person, zipping speedily around and ringing Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu inside a dome of lightning bolts gyrating wildly back and forth like a thousand serpents.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bolts of white cloth streaked like a couple of white spears, tunneling towards Jing Lei.

A hardly-fazed Jing Lei lifted a hand to fire another burst of lightning blast that easily ripped the white bolts of cloth into several white harmless tatters.

Swoosh!

Jing Hong swung her sword in a string of flourishes, launching a barrage of energy bolts – each with enough force to flatten hills and mountains – at Jing Lei.

The son of Immortals fired another blast that easily defeated the swarm of energy bolts.

ROAR!

The Flaming Qilin leaped back to his feet, snarling ferociously. He launched himself a hundred feet into the air, engulfing himself in red-hot flames as he lunged at Jing Lei with a huge torrent of magma gushing out of his mouth at the latter.

Jing Lei channeled his powers and held in his hands a ball of lightning. He hurled it at the magma pouring at him and the fire-made liquid instantly vaporized before even contacting the ball lightning, allowing it to barrel unhindered towards the Flaming Qilin. It struck him squarely in the torso, eliciting another explosion that saw the Qilin crashing to the ground, spewing mouthfuls of blood.

The onlooking mob of warriors could hardly utter a word. The Flaming Qilin was no match to Jing Lei’s incredible powers at all.

Jing Hong weaved her fingers and performed several hand seals. Thousands of ice lotuses bloomed in mid-air, hovering and spinning with the grace of a ballerina, yet each carried the force of a bomb.

Hua Qingwu followed suit. She conjured Demon-slain Finger. Born from Jing Hong’s memories, she could use the same magic that Jing Hong could.

The ice lotuses each gave off a pale diaphanous glow of blue. Then suddenly, they shot like arrows at Jing Lei.

Rumble!

The air shook and rumbled. Another monolith crashed down from the sky at Jing Lei like a god eager to smite Jing Lei to death.

Crackle!

More lightning bolts jigged around Jing Lei that he looked as if he was being overwhelmed by the countless little electrical serpents thronging around him defensively.

One after another, the ice lotuses exploded into harmless puffs as the serpents of electricity sprang on every one of them.

Jing Lei conjured a pair of lightning balls and mashed them into one football-sized plasma ball and he hurled it at the falling monolith.

Rumble!

The plasma ball smashed into the monolith, eliciting another gigantic explosion as the monolith burst into pieces.

More ice lotuses threatened to overrun Jing Lei, but none could come anywhere close with the millions of lightning serpents forming a tightly-knit defense that would allow nothing to pass through.

Rumble!

Jing Lei stepped forward, discharging a huge wave of electricity and causing every ice lotus to burst.

The wave of lightning continued its destructive course, blasting Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu off their feet that they crashed far away.

Every onlooking warrior went pale. Not even three Immortal-level champions could defeat the lone Jing Lei. Was this the true might of the Assembly of Immortals?!

“RUN!” the Flaming Qilin cried at Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu as he morphed back into his original form: a majestic Qilin. Covering himself in a drape of flames, the Qilin charged at Jing Lei.

Bang!

But all it took was a lightning blast for the formidable Jing Lei to batter the Qilin out of his way.

Jing Hong quickly performed more hand seals to cast a Demon-slaughtering Palm spell. A huge silhouette shaped like a man’s palm loomed over the whole area before it descended down at Jing Lei at breakneck speed.

Hua Qingwu hastily fired a long and deadly energy bolt.

“Run! Find Chu Xun!” cried Jing Hong.

The Qilin got to its feet, vomiting mouthfuls of blood as it struggled to keep steady. Its eyes were filled with the color of blood. With one last look at Hua Qingwu and Jing Hong who were still fighting to hold the fort, it sped away with as much speed as it could muster, covering hundreds of meters with every leap and bound.

Seeing that the Qilin has managed to escape, Jing Hong quickly weaved her fingers to cast another Demon-slain Finger attack at Jing Lei.

“Let’s go!” she cried at Hua Qingwu.

On the cue, Hua Qingwu fired one last blast of energy bolt from her sword before she wheeled around. Together with Jing Hong, the pair turned into two slivers of light that dashed in the opposite direction of where the Flaming Qilin had vanished.

Jing Lei had only just parried away Jing Hong’s and Hua Qingwu’s attacks when he saw all three of his opponents running in different directions. Stunned for one second, he did not know what to do.

“Go for the Devil’s women!” Jin Yujie’s cries jerked him out of his stupor. “Take them and we’ll have an advantage over the Devil!”

That was a notion that Jing Lei found himself agreeing without thinking and he bolted after Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu.

“Let’s go!” cried Jin Yujie, beckoning the others.

The rest of the sons of Immortals chased after Jing Lei.

Only, they underestimated Jing Hong’s and Hua Qingwu’s speeds which had already exceeded 5 times the speed of sound-breaking.

The more they tried to keep up, the more Jing Lei and his comrades found themselves in dismay.

Even so, the sons of Immortals knew they could hardly give up. They bit the bullet and maintained their pursuit as best as they could.

...

The heavily-wounded Flaming Qilin rushed all the way towards the hideout of the Elves, stopping for not one second at all.

For two days he journeyed until he finally stepped into the misty fog that guarded the Elvish forest at noon of the third day. Exhausted beyond measure, he could no longer go on and he crashed to the ground and fainted.

When he finally woke up, it was already the fourth day. He found himself lying on a bed – a bed in a room of a tree house he recognized!

The door swung open to admit Su Wei’er, the Sacred Maiden of the Elves. Seeing him wake up filled her face with joy.

“Flaming Qilin! You’ve finally woken up!”

It had been fifteen long years since the Flaming Qilin left and he had never once come back.

“Thank you for saving me,” said the Qilin stiffly. His wounds had almost all healed and he had an idea of who it was who had saved him.

Su Wei’er did not fail to catch his tone. The Flaming Qilin must still be angry at the Queen for her betrayal of Chu Xun.

“How are you feeling now? It was Teacher who saved you. But what happened to you?” asked Su Wei’er.

“I helped to stop the crisis that beset your race fifteen years ago and now your queen has saved me. We’re even now,” said the Flaming Qilin, rushing towards the door.

“But Qilin, where are you going?” Su Wei’er cried as she followed behind.

The Flaming Qilin gave her no answer. In just the blink of an eye, he vanished into the jungle.

Su Wei’er’s face fell with despair. It was all her teacher’s fault all those years ago and nothing she said would repair the damage.

The Flaming Qilin sped all the way until he reached the bottomless abyss. He searched the area until he found the chains and he slid down its length quickly.

He found the cave and rushed inside. “Chu Xun, your women are in danger! Can you hear me!? You need to get out of here now! You need to do something! There’s no way this lousy place can hold you down, so get out now!”

But Chu Xun remained motionless. His body pulsated with intermittent glows while he looked unconscious.