The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 446 The Stupid Eagle and Its Tongue

Chu Xun’s demonic splendor was in full display when he made short work of the two mutants at the Great Completion of Ninth-grade. That person with such terrifying presence and might said about roasting the lion and the rest of Jiu You’s Beast Lords for food nearly scared the living daylights out of all of them.

Jiu You tugged at Chu Xun’s arm, shaking and swaying it like a doting little puppy, “Come on, Chu Xun. Stop scaring them. Go save them quick.”

With no choice, Chu Xun breathed heavily and acquiesced, but not before stroking her purple hair and ruffling it into a veritable birdnest. Then he walked over to examine her Beast Lords.

Just then, a screech reverberated from overhead; the silver-beaked eagle had circled back.

It wanted to see if Chu Xun was killed. Only what it saw nearly had it tumble off the sky.

“Queen Jiu You! We’re here to rescue you! Don’t worry! No one can hurt you as long as I’m here!” the eagle landed, its massive bulk stirring up waves of dust and dirt when it hit ground.

“I thought you ran away,” Chu Xun observed, throwing a look at him from over his shoulder.

“Nonsense. I am nothing of that sort. Go and ask around, I’m famous for being a paragon of honor and pride, unlike those nasty cravens!” insisted the eagle pompously.

“From where did you find this silly bird?” Jiu You looked curiously at it.

The lion and the rest of Jiu You’s Beast Lords all stared at the eagle with apparent disgust. None of them had failed to notice that the bird had fled just now when Chu Xun made his entrance. And yet it was now yapping about pride and honor!

The eagle peered at Jiu You and sang obsequiously, “I’m here to pledge my fealty to you, my queen. This human is a friend of mine. It’s lucky that we arrived just in time and I had him quickly intervene before it’s too late.”

“Your friend?” Jiu You gazed at the bird doubtfully.

None of the rest of the other Beast Lords could hardly believe a word the bird said.

“You said he intervene because you wanted him to?” Jiu You asked, eager to play a trick since the eagle evidently hasn’t guessed Chu Xun’s real identity.

The eagle stole a glance at Chu Xun. The latter was still busy examining and helping the wounded. Then he whispered, “He did not want to at first. But I ordered him to.”

“Really?” Jiu You’s eyes bent into a “Really?” Jiu You’s playful eyes curved into a pair of crescents, “So I have you to thank for, eh?”

“Don’t even mention it, my queen. I only hope to serve you by your side as we ride into war. And with the addition of my friend, this big family will be so powerful that we would be victorious!” said the eagle pensively.

“But will your friend take orders from me, if he’s as powerful as you say?” Jiu You asked.

The eagle patted its chest proudly, stole another look at Chu Xun, and whispered hushedly, “Don’t worry about that. My friend listens to me and I call the shots.”

Chu Xun heard every word the eagle was saying, but in his haste to save the wounded, he ignored every word of nonsense it said.

“Rest, my queen. Leave all this to me,” the eagle spun around and wobbled imperiously towards the surviving but wounded fox mutants.

“Stand up, both of you! Apologize to Queen Jiu You!” barked the eagle to Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin before giving them both a scathing glare, “You two old bastards. Don’t ever think that crying and wailing here will help you! It’s disgusting!”

Huang Yin’s and Hu Shi’en’s eyes flared with rage and indignation in their sockets. As Ninth-grade Beast Lords at Great Completion, how could they ever tolerate being given a fierce earful by a mere Seventh-grade Avian Lord!

“Ah? You old farts dare to give such a disrespectful glare?! Come at me if you dare!” the eagle taunted.

Swoosh!

With a heavy stomp, Hu Shi’en lunged at the bird. He turned into his original form mid-air: a gigantic walnut-brown fox more than five meters long missing its front legs. It bared its mouth wide and tried to aim its razor-sharp teeth at the eagle’s neck.

He might have lost his front legs which greatly crippled his ability to fight, but Hu Shi’en was nevertheless a Ninth-grade Beast Lord at the Great Completion. Dealing with a mere Seventh-grade Avian Lord like the eagle was still a piece of cake.

“Oh my god!” the eagle screeched with horror that its feathers all stuck up on ends. Flapping its wings wildly as it lurched backward, it squealed for help, “Sir! Help me! HELP!”

Chu Xun gave off an exasperated sigh and fired a shot from afar. A bolt of heavily-condensed Hong Meng Immortal Qi shot through the air and slammed into Hu Shi’en’s huge mass.

Bang!

Blood sprayed like a fountain with Hu Shi’en screaming with agony. The spot where Chu Xun’s purplish energy bolt had hit him was now a smoldering and bloody pulp the size of a rice bowl as the Ninth-grade Beast Lord collapsed.

The eagle was still in shock, but seeing Hu Shi’en being so easily dispatched by Chu Xun filled it with glee. Losing both his front legs and suffering another grievous wound by Chu Xun now rendered Hu Shi’en immobilized and the eagle saw this as another chance to satisfy its inflated ego.

“You really are a fool, you old senile. You’ve lost your front legs and you haven’t learned from your mistakes, have you? My friend is here and yet you dare make trouble. How about a fight between you and me?”

The lion and the rest of Jiu You’s Beast Lords all rolled their eyes. As if this eagle could be not any cheaper and more depraved.

“How dare you frighten me just now!” the eagle continued barking sharply, feeling resentful after the brief embarrassment just now and it charged at the rest of the surviving foxes.

“AARRGGH!”

It swiped its hook-like talons at then, easily dismembering a low-tiered fox Beast Lord into two bloody halves.

Bang!

Then it clawed at another fox Beast Lord, seizing its head and crushing it.

“You’re courting death!”

Huang Yin yelled furiously. With still one more arm, he could still fight. He channeled his powers and a bright yellowish glow radiated off him and he fired a bolt at the eagle.

The eagle could feel the power of the energy bolt streaking towards him and he shivered, screaming shrilly, “HELP, SIR! HELP!”

The Beast Lords of Jiu You’s horde all grimaced with annoyance. What shamelessness to an Olympic degree!

Chu Xun lackadaisically fired another bolt from his position. The energy bolt easily destroyed Huang Yin’s attack before barreling straight into him and knocked the mutant off his feet.

Chu Xun still needed the eagle so he could not have it being injured – at least not for the time being. With the lion and the rest of the Beast Lords wounded, they might need the eagle to help ferry them.

But the eagle really was a leopard who hadn’t changed its spots; right after Huang Yin was defeated again, it began to march ostentatiously up to the mutants again.

“You ungrateful fools. With my friend here, I’d advise that you use some sense and take your own life. At least you’d die quick and complete.”

“Oh, just shuddup,” glowered Jiu You angrily. Chu Xun was busy helping to heal the lion and her Beast Lords and all this blasted eagle managed to help was by interrupting him twice and that infuriated her. “One more word from you and I’ll have you roasted for food.”

That stunned the eagle into silence. Wait a minute, it thought. Those words sounded so uncannily familiar?!

Without any more disturbance from the eagle, Chu Xun’s work to stabilize the wounded Beast Lords progressed quickly.

“Who on earth are you?” Huang Yin heaved, spitting out blood and froth as he stared at Chu Xun rising up with dismay and dispirit in his eyes.

All of Jiu You Beast Lords watched silently with blooming curiosity. They too were wondering: who exactly is this terrifying stranger?

Chu Xun peered at Huang Yin with frost and said, “What’s it to you, a person whose death is about to embrace him?”

“Because no matter who you are... You will pay... The Sixth Elder of my race, a champion of the Immortal stages, has emerged. He’ll find out about this... And he’ll make you pay... Don’t make this any worse than it already is...”

“A champion of the Immortal stages?” Chu Xun scoffed, “And you think he’d really dare to come to find me?”

“The proud race of Mustelids is in no shortage of champions beyond the Immortal stages.”

“But they’re still bound by the old magical laws of Nature, aren’t they? That’s why they’ve not emerged yet.”

Huang Yin sneered. “The Sixth Elder has already been rounding up the rest of the Lost Races. By that time, rest assured that there won’t be only one Immortal-stage champion.”

“Let them come. I’ll just deal with them accordingly,” said Chu Xun casually as if he did not care.

“Reveal your name then, if you’re really as fearless as you claim,” Huang Yin demanded sternly.

“They say that weasels and foxes are among the most cunning of animals. Yet the lot of you seem to disprove that theory,” spat Jiu You with disgust, “He came all the way to save me. Can you still not guess who he really is?!”

Upon those words, Huang Yin and Hu Shi’en mulled quietly for one split-second before their faces twisted into ones of horror.

“Y-you... You’re the Devil?!” Huang Yin stammered.

“So not completely a fool either,” jeered Jiu You, indirectly confirming Chu Xun’s true identity.

“It really is you!” Hu Shi’en spasmed with utter fear and panic.

The Devil. The name whose very mention of it instilled macabre fear and terror.

Jiu You’s surviving Beast Lords – the lion, the tiger, the white elephant and the like all stared at Chu Xun with awe and disbelief.

“Good Heavens!” the eagle shrieked and fell to a sit on the ground, stiff and frozen like a chicken who had its neck seized by someone.

Chu Xun gave Jiu You an admonishing glare; he did not want to divulge his identity yet.

Jiu You stuck out a little tongue and pestered innocently, “You were not here! These monsters were so smug and arrogant! They were saying how dead you were and how they should start with vanquishing anybody related to you!”

Seeing how pale Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin looked as if they had just seen a ghost filled Jiu You with thrill.

As cold as a sculpture of ice, Chu Xun said nothing. His entire self radiated with rich Hong Meng Immortal Qi as he engaged his spell using his mind: the Demon-slaughtering Palm.

Rumble!

The mountains all around them trembled and the pandemonium kicked up a dusty haze of soot and dirt when the spell worked and by the end of it, the ensuing impact split the earth and the rest of the surviving fox Beast Lords were all killed, squashed into ground meat with only one stroke.

Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin grimaced with horror, their faces the color of chalk. Never in their worst nightmare did they foresee such an outcome.

“The Sixth Elder will avenge us, Devil!” Huang Yin yelled defiantly.

Chu Xun said nothing. He held his fingers firmly into a palm and slashed his arm down.

“AARRGGH!”

Blood gushed out like a geyser and Huang Yin’s huge animal head rolled more than ten meters in a morbid trail of blood, beheaded cleanly by Chu Xun.

Hu Shi’en could hardly resist either; Chu Xun swatted a palm at his head, blasting enough Hong Meng Immortal Qi into his skull to crack it.

Hum!

Purplish strands, each glowing like gesticulating serpents rose into the air in the thousands or even millions. Then they shot into all directions like pit vipers which had found their prey.

Blood-curdling screams resounded incessantly across the jungle around them.

Several of the fox Beast Lords had hidden themselves in the forest. But none of them managed to escape Chu Xun’s perceptive Divine Sense and the Reincarnation Lines he unleashed easily made short work of them, leaving no survivors at all.

So fell the race of Canids – at least for now.

Jiu You’s Beast Lords the lion, the tiger, and the others might have survived this bloody skirmish, but they too were greatly beleaguered with shock and awe. Man or beast, mutants or Earthlings, the name of the Devil was one that no one could ever forget.

And tales of Chu Xun’s exploits had never been short of how ruthless and brutal he could be. Then again, listening and watching him at work in person were two different things. Only after witnessing his savagery firsthand did everyone finally know how he had earned his moniker.

Chu Xun gave everyone present a warning that they were not to divulge his identity.

The Beast Lords could only nod their heads readily. No one would dare refuse. Say anything remotely defiant and perhaps their heads could be rolling on the ground the next instant.

“And you,” Chu Xun snapped at the eagle, “Come here!”

The eagle slowly inched towards Chu Xun, hanging its head over its shoulders that never stopped shivering. His luck could have never been any worse that of all people it could have encountered. Who’d have thought that man happened to be the Devil himself!

Recalling how it had been bragging to Jiu You about how dominant it was over Chu Xun, the eagle wondered if it should commit suicide to spare itself a painful death.

Meanwhile, Jiu You peered at the eagle wryly and teased, “You’re so obedient now like a frightened school boy! Didn’t you say that this friend of yours would listen to every word you say?”

The remark nearly had the eagle tumble to a fall. Panicking to the point of shedding tears, it begged, “Please, my queen. I was only just bragging. I was just talking nonsense... Please... Pay no heed to them...”

“Come here at once!” shouted Chu Xun crossly.

The eagle quickly scurried over as hastily as it could.

Chu Xun put Jiu You and those injured Beast Emperors on the backs of the silver eagle.

“We need to get out of here fast,” Chu Xun said.

All still in their true forms, the wounded of Jiu You’s horde – the golden-maned lion, the tiger – were all several, if not tens, of tonnes in weight, and the silver-beaked eagle needed to frantically flap its wings to just stay afloat in the air.