Chapter 2153: False Countercharges
Chi Kongyue was stunned. She looked around as if she was looking for someone.
‘Father, are you here?’ Chi Kongyue guessed in her mind.
Although Sword of Time was a very mysterious and profound sword technique, it was unlikely to be strong enough to defeat Hong Kun with just one strike.
Even though Chi Kongyue knew that Jade Swallow Pendant could be the reason, she hoped that Zhang Ruochen was here to protect her secretly.
Unfortunately, she did not find any trace of Zhang Ruochen after a long search. It made her felt disappointed.
Sensing Chi Kongyue’s gaze, the talented young cultivators became nervous. They were afraid that they would be implicated.
At this moment, Bolan and Yan Yu’s eyes were wide open. They were in disbelief. Even Hong Kun, a Saint King, could not defeat Chi Kongyue.
They had been hoping that Hong Kun would suppress her swiftly so that they could vent their anger. However, never had they seen this coming.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing that the situation had turned against them, Bolan and Yan Yu immediately wanted to retreat.
Hong Kun had removed the restraints on them when he arrived. Furthermore, their injuries were recovering rapidly after consuming the sacred healing pill. Now, the Saint Qi and spiritual power in their bodies could circulate again.
Chi Kongyue roused herself from daze and controlled the power of Jade Swallow Pendant with her spiritual power. She instantly appeared before Bolan and Yan Yu at an incredible speed, pointing her Saint Sword at the two of them.
“You haven’t knelt to apologize. Where do you think you’re going?”
Chi Kongyue emitted a cold murderous intent enveloping Bolan and Yan Yu.
When they sensed her killing intent, they felt a chill in their hearts. They had seen Pallas turned into b.l.o.o.d.y mist under Chi Kongyue’s sword, and they did not dare to take any chances.
“Don’t think you can do as you please!”
Hong Kun stood up and let out a roar.
He could not back down at a time like this even though he had sustained severe injuries and lost his lifespan. He could not afford to watch Chi Kongyue killing Bolan and Yan Yu.
Furthermore, Hong Kun perceived that there was no way Chi Kongyue was the one who had launched that sword strike and believed that the external energy she used had a limit.
As Hong Kun roared, he took out a miniature palace building made of extremely rare Suet Jade. It was like an exquisite art piece.
Triggered by Saint Qi, the Suet Jade palace expanded rapidly and emitted an incomparably holy light. Tens of thousands of inscriptions interweaved on the surface of the Suet Jade palace and pressed down on Chi Kongyue.
The Suet Jade palace was a Seven-Radiance Thousand-Inscription Sacred Artifact that had a powerful binding force. Hong Kun had once used it to suppress a Nine-Step Saint King.
As the Suet Jade palace pressed down, the entire Spiritual Lake froze.
Chi Kongyue’s body trembled slightly. She felt as if an ancient divine mountain was coming at her, going to crush her.
Chi Kongyue’s eyes suddenly became ferocious. The harder her opponent tried to suppress her, the stronger her resistance to submit to them.
As if sensing Chi Kongyue’s will, Jade Swallow Pendant unleashed more powerful energy. It was so powerful that even the illusory image of a deity behind her looked more solid. It was as if an ancient deity from a different dimension and time were to descend here.
With that, Chi Kongyue instantly felt much more relaxed. A large amount of Five-element Chaotic Qi circulated in her and overflowed out of her body, condensing into the illusory image of a chaotic realm behind her.
This was the phenomenon caused by Five-element Chaotic Body. Only by cultivating this physique to a certain level could it be condensed.
Legends said when a Five-element Chaotic Body was cultivated to perfection, not only that it would become as strong as a deity’s physical body, the illusory realm could turn into an actual realm that could suppress the heavens.
Chi Kongyue believed in Jade Swallow Pendant’s mighty defensive power, but she did not want to stay in pa.s.sive defence mode for long. Be it a Nine-Step Saint King or even a Supreme Saint, she would do her best to fight back.
“Eh?”
Chi Kongyue’s heart skipped a beat. She noticed some unusual changes had occurred to the phenomenon she created.
However, she did not have the time to think at such a critical moment because the Suet Jade palace was about to land on her.
The illusory realm of chaos slowly rose to meet the coming Suet Jade palace. The two violently collided.
CRACK!
A cracking sound was heard from the Suet Jade palace. The palace was supposed to be very st.u.r.dy, yet several noticeable cracks formed on its surface.
“Oh no.”
Hong Kun’s expression changed. Immediately, he wanted to retrieve the Suet Jade palace.
It was a Seven-Radiance Thousand-Inscription Sacred Artifact; moreover, it was in the form of a palace building. It was worth more than a hundred million Saint Stones. In fact, Hong Kun had spent a thousand years of savings to obtain it. Hence, he could not afford to watch it get destroyed.
However, Hong Kun was a step slower. The illusory realm of chaos suddenly exploded, releasing an extremely terrifying force.
KABOOM!
After being hit by the impact, the Suet Jade palace immediately exploded, turning into fragments that shot out in all directions.
Tens of thousands of streaks of Five-element Chaotic Qi broke through the obstruction and condensed into an illusory image of a five-colored divine dragon. It looked solid and lifelike, pouncing straight at Hong Kun.
“D*mn it!”
Hong Kun was furious, feeling distressed in bereavement. Never had he expected that a young cultivator would destroy his precious treasure.
Hong Kun did not dare let his guard down in the face of the five-colored divine dragon pouncing at him. He flapped the two pairs of snow-white wings on his back, shooting out feathers like arrows.
Each and every single feather emitted a dazzling Saint light and contained a terrifying destructive power. They were unstoppable.
BOOM!
The feathers exploded one by one, and the vast destructive force drowned the five-colored divine dragon.
Just as Hong Kun was about to heave a sigh of relief, the five-colored divine dragon re-emerged with no visible signs of damage.
There was no way Hong Kun could dodge it at such a close distance. He could only mobilize all the Saint Qi in his body and instantly set up dozens of layers of Saint Qi s.h.i.+elds outside his body, ready to take it head-on.
Boom!
When the five-colored divine dragon hit the dozens of Saint Qi s.h.i.+elds Hong Kun had set up, they were torn into pieces like paper.
“Hold it.”
Hong Kun growled. He wrapped himself up with his two pairs of folded snow-white wings.
However, he had underestimated the power of the five-colored divine dragon. The snow-white wings could not withstand it either. They were broken in an instant, and a large number of blood-stained feathers flew out.
Hong Kun was once again severely injured. His body was distorted and mangled, and he was no longer in his human form. He was sent into the Spiritual Lake brutally that not even the array formation could block him.
It was not that the array formation of the Spiritual Lake was not strong enough, but the power of the five-colored divine dragon had already surpa.s.sed the impact it could sustain. As a result, the formation was forcefully torn open.
In the blink of an eye, the lake water turned blood-red and began to boil.
Every drop of a Saint King’s blood contained a vast amount of energy that an ordinary sacred artifact could not withstand.
If an array formation had not protected the Spiritual Lake, the lake would have already been evaporated.
“How could she be this powerful? Just how did she obtain such power? ”
Hong Kun’s eyes were filled with disbelief and despair.
The injuries he suffered this time was too severe that even his Saint Soul was damaged. Even if he could survive, there was no hope for his cultivation level to attain the realm of Precept Domain.
Furthermore, his lifespan had been cut off by more than 200 years. In other words, he could only survive for few hundred years.
“That is Five-element Chaotic Body? How terrifying.”
“Chi Kongyue’s strength is truly heaven-defying. She is even more terrifying than Zhang Ruochen was back then.”
“Such a big commotion will surely attract those bigwigs gathering in Syzygy Mansion. When they find out what happened here, I wonder what the leaders of Heavenly Realm will look like?”
…
The talented young cultivators were shocked and wanted to flee immediately.
Even a veteran Nine-Step Saint King like Hong Kun could only get trampled. If Chi Kongyue became bloodthirsty and obsessed with killing, they could get implicated.
At this moment, some talented young cultivators who joined meetings in other areas in the vicinity of the Spiritual Lake rushed over once they were alarmed. Among them, some were even from Heavenly Realm or their allies. Their cultivation base was higher than that of Bolan and his friends. Yet, none of them dared to act rashly.
After all, the strength Chi Kongyue had displayed could even defeat an elite of the Precept Domain realm.
Among these talented young cultivators of different realms, the strongest ones were only Seven-Step Saint Kings. None of them had the confidence to take a hit from Chi Kongyue.
Bolan and Yan Yu’s faces were ashen. If they had known this would happen, they would not have provoked Chi Kongyue no matter what.
When Bolan thought of what he had said in the beginning, he felt ashamed and indignant. He wished he could immediately find a hole to hide.
Chi Kongyue withdrew the Five-element Chaotic Qi that had spread out. At the same time, she grabbed Hong Kun—who was seriously injured and on the verge of death—out of the Spiritual Lake and brought him closer to her.
After this serious injury, Hong Kun had completely lost the ability to resist. His condition was so bad that even a weak martial art pract.i.tioner could easily kill him.
Chi Kongyue pointed her sword at Bolan and the other two without concealing her murderous intent at the slightest. “I will say it one last time. Kneel and apologize. You should never humiliate Empress Chi Yao and my father.” Her tone was icy cold.
“Chi Kongyue, don’t go too far. You have already killed Pallas. You want to kill us as well? Are you trying to stir up a dispute between Kunlun and Heavenly Realm?” Bolan said in a deep voice.
He was the son of a deity. He was more honorable than other sons of deities because both his parents were deities. They had been together for tens of thousands of years before he was born as their only child.
If he were to kneel down and apologize, not only would he lose his dignity, it would also be a disgrace to his father and mother. As a result, he would definitely become a laughing stock.
With a wave of her hand, Chi Kongyue released two streams of Saint Qi. They wrapped around Hong Kun and Yan Yu, lifting them into the air.
“Are you sure you do not want to kneel and apologize?”
Chi Kongyue asked again.
“No, I don’t want to die. Bolan, please save me,” Yan Yu said in fear.
“My life is over.” A hint of despair appeared in Hong Kun’s eyes.
Bolan naturally understood what Chi Kongyue wanted to do. This made his heart filled with anger. No one had ever dared to threaten him like this.
But now, even if he hated Chi Kongyue to her core, there was nothing he could do.
“Stop.”
Right at this moment, a loud voice filled with authority came.
A beam of holy light shot out from a palace located in Syzygy Mansion’s deepest part, and an intimidating Saint aura instantly enveloped the entire Syzygy Mansion.
“Hmph!”
Chi Kongyue let out a cold snort as she slashed with her Saint Sword.
Pow!
Myriad streaks of Sword Qi burst out, and before Hong Kun and Yan Yu could scream, they turned into Blood Mist. Even their Saint Souls were destroyed.
A senior Nine-Step Saint King and an elven genius with great potential died just like that.
The scorching saint blood instantly dyed the entire Spiritual Lake red. The blood-colored mist rose up and quickly spread to the surroundings.
Anyone present in Syzygy Mansion could smell the dense b.l.o.o.d.y scent.
“How dare you kill a Saint King from Heavenly Realm?”
With an angry voice, a slender figure bathed in Saint light appeared on the Spiritual Lake.
This person, in a spotless white robe, was eight feet tall, with long blond hair and jade-like eyes. His body contained tens of millions of Precepts. The Precepts of Heaven and earth and Saint Qi all gathered around him.
He was none other than the leader of Heavenly Realm, Zhou Yu.
Previously, Zhou Yu had suffered great loss at Sect of the Blood G.o.d. Not only had The Divine Book of Light got stolen, but he had also lost his portion of Canon of Truth to Zhang Ruochen. Such outcome had driven Zhou Yu into great bereavement.
However, Zhou Yu had eventually survived from it and returned to Heavenly Realm. He had secluded himself for self-cultivation for a period of time. Only recently did he return to Kunlun.
Zhou Yu was very angry. Chi Kongyue dared to kill Hong Kun and Yan Yu even after he had told her to stop. Apparently, she did not respect him in the slightest. Her action was a provocation to him and Heavenly Realm.
‘Well, well, well. Zhou Yu, after getting the taste of defeat last time, he still managed to improve his cultivation. Although he has yet to reach first-tier below Supreme Sainthood, he is no lesser than that’ said Zhang Ruochen in his mind.
From what he saw, Zhou Yu’s current strength should be on par with that of Azure Dragon and Moyin.
If he returned The Divine Book of Light to Zhou Yu, Zhou Yu’s strength would have reached the first-tier below Supreme Sainthood. He could have been an elite no less than Mara in his prime.
However, even so, Zhang Ruochen did not consider Zhou Yu a worthy opponent.
If it were Michael the Archangel, perhaps Zhang Ruochen would show some concern.
Following Zhou Yu, an old man with a white beard appeared on the Spiritual Lake.
Donned in a purple official robe and a jade crown, he looked elegant. He exuded the temperament of a person who had been in a high position for a long time, looking mighty.
The old man was none other than the current ruling officer of Imperial Court, Grand Chamberlain w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi.
As the disciple of Emperor Wen, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi had learned the true teachings of Confucianism. His spiritual power was extremely powerful and was close to level 60.
Sensing the terrifying killing intent emitted from Zhou Yu, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi instinctively stood in front of Chi Kongyue.
Chi Kongyue was Empress Chi Yao’s daughter. He could not allow anything to happen to her.
“w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi, are you trying to stop me?” Zhou Yu’s face darkened.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi said, “I think it’s necessary to find out what happened first.”
“Isn’t it clear enough? This brat from Kunlun ignored the rule of heaven and killed three elites from Heavenly Realm in public. Not only does she deserve death, Kunlun also owes us—Heavenly Realm—an explanation,” Zhou Yu said in an intimidating tone.
Obviously, someone had secretly informed Zhou Yu that Pallas—a giant—had also died at the hands of Chi Kongyue.
Zhang Ruochen had repeatedly opposed Heavenly Realm, and they could not do anything about it. But now, even his daughter was this outrageous and insolent. How could he tolerate it?
Chi Kongyue stepped forward and said, “They have committed blasphemy. They deserve to die.”
“Kongyue, What happened?” w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi immediately asked.
Chi Kongyue told him what had happened.
After hearing Chi Kongyue’s story, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi’s face darkened. He looked at Zhou Yu and said, “Blasphemy against Her Majesty the Empress is a serious crime. Heavenly Realm is the one who owes us an explanation.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yu frowned slightly. It was really troublesome when it came to blasphemy.
“Blasphemers must die” was a rule that all deities had agreed upon. Who would have the nerve to provoke a deity?
“This is just Chi Kongyue’s words, which cannot be trusted. Bolan, did you blaspheme Empress Chi Yao?” said Zhou Yu.
Bolan was struck by his question. He immediately replied, “No, I have great respect for Empress Chi Yao. There’s no way I would do that.”
Chi Kongyue pointed at the dozens of young cultivators in the pavilion and said, “They all heard it with their own ears.”
“Is that so? What did you all hear?” Zhou Yu turned around, and an invisible pressure enveloped the dozens of young cultivators.
The pressure sent the dozens of these young cultivators s.h.i.+vers.
At this time, they knew very well that if they said a wrong word, they would face serious consequences.
Offending Heavenly Realm for the sake of a Kunlun that was about to perish was undoubtedly a very unwise choice.
Thinking of this, all the young talented cultivators shook their heads and distanced themselves from the matter.
Seeing the reaction of these people, Chi Kongyue shook her head slightly. Her eyes were filled with disappointment.
On the other hand, there was a smile on Bolan. As long as he insisted that he had never said anything blasphemous about Empress Chi Yao, no one could do anything to him.
Moreover, they could turn the situation against Chi Kongyue and find trouble with her. It was a pleasing outcome.
Zhou Yu turned to look at Chi Kongyue and w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi. “Do you have anything else to say?” His tone was flat and indifferent.