The Immortal Emperor Returns

The path of cultivation: Qi Refinement, Foundation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severance, Integration, Great Ascension, Tribulation Transcendence, Space Demolishment.

The beginning was always the most difficult part!

The Qi Refinement Stage appeared elementary, but it was the most crucial part of all.

Some people called this stage the Nirvana. In other words, one would use spiritual energy to cleanse all the spiritual channels in his body and reconstruct his body. It was akin to rebirth.

If he refined Qi and his body at the same time, it would take half the work and produce twice the effect!

“What technique should I use?”

After pondering the question for a while, Chu Xun decided to use the technique he used in his past life: Azure Dragon’s Tyrannical Physique Technique. This body-tempering technique was a technique that the Dragon Race kept to themselves. The only reason he had it was a lucky coincidence.

Now that everything was ready, Chu Xun wasted no time and immediately dived into the cultivating state.

“Huff!”

Chu Xun’s chest heaved up and down rhythmically, inhaling and exhaling two continuous streams of white Qi as he breathed. Upon closer look, it seemed as if a mischievous snake was hiding under his skin, swimming across his energy channels.

His bones creaked in protest. Sweat began beading on Chu Xun’s forehead and his face was nearly contorted. The pain of having one’s energy channels and bones shattered and reconstructed wasn’t something that the average person could bear.

Chu Xun gnashed his teeth loudly. His entire body was shaking. Like a wounded animal, a muffled howl emerged from his throat.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since.

He was beginning to calm down. However, the stream of Qi entering and leaving his body as he breathed was becoming even quicker. His skin was beginning to radiate a clean luster. His face was beginning to turn as sleek as jade.

…

…

Time gradually passed.

The Five Ghosts Transportation Formation drew in the spiritual energy all around and poured it inside Chu Xun’s body.

Chu Xun’s body lit up every now and then, like a flickering star in the darkness, and carried with it a faint aura.

The corner of his mouth was upturned. Cultivating was second nature to him now. The speed and effect were much better than he had imagined.

He didn’t just enter the beginner Qi Refinement Stage, but his Azure Dragon’s Tyrannical Physique Technique had also reached the First Transformation Stage.

He owed this to the cultivation experience he had accumulated over ten thousand years.

His only regret was that he didn’t have a drop of the Ancestral Dragon’s blood with him.

The Azure Dragon’s Tyrannical Physique Technique was also called the Azure Dragon’s Nine Transformations Technique. The nine transformations happened to coincidence with the nine levels of cultivators. If he could cultivate using the Ancestral Dragon’s blood, he could rely on his physical body alone to contend with similar-ranked cultivators.

Chu Xun opened his eyes wide. Rays of golden light swam inside his pupils. He suddenly threw a powerful punch at the stone wall next to him and the entire small, dark room shuddered from the force. The sharp-edged stones on the wall were reduced to powder.

It was fortunate. Even though he merely reached the First Transformation Stage of the Azure Dragon’s Tyrannical Physique Technique, he could now withstand a force with a weight of 500kg. That was good enough for his time on earth.

…

…

“Creak!”

The door to the small, dark room opened, letting the sunshine in.

“You can come out now,” Warden Li yelled from outside.

Chu Xun strolled out of the room, where he was greeted with the dark sky. Those ten hours had passed in the blink of an eye as he cultivated.

For a moment, Warden Li was dumbfounded. He had the feeling that the current Chu Xun was different from before. Upon closer look, he found that Chu Xun was still skinny and weak. There didn’t seem to be any difference but Warden Li couldn’t help getting that feeling nevertheless.

…

Back at Cell No. 4027.

Warden Li left after threatening the entire cell that he would stuff them all into the small, dark room if they caused any more trouble.

“Kid, how did you like the little dark room?”

After Warden Li left, Li Hu smiled sinisterly at Chu Xun while feeling the strangulation marks on his neck.

“It’s not bad.”

Chu Xun walked up to his bed, lay down, and closed his eyes.

Everyone’s attention was on him, their eyes filled with vicious murderous intent.

They were waiting.

So was Chu Xun. He was waiting for nighttime.

The arrival of the night brought upon the moonlight.

Li Hu and the other prisoners exchanged gestures and sneaked up to Chu Xun’s bed, surrounding him.

Right then, Chu Xun opened his eyes with the corner of his mouth upturned to form a sneer.

“It’s still early. Are you all that impatient?”

Chu Xun’s sudden voice gave Li Hu and the others a fright.

He sat up and looked coldly at them.

“You’re awake?” Li Hu was astonished. He never thought that Chu Xun would be awake.

“I was waiting for you to make your move,” Chu Xun replied icily.

“You…” Li Hu’s expression changed. How did Chu Xun find out that they were going to make their move tonight?

“You want to ask how did I know, don’t you? Of course I know, except the price for this information is a little steep.” When he thought of his humiliating and inexplicable death in his past life, brought upon by these scum’s punches, the malevolence inside his heart surged straight into his brain.

Even though he was reborn, this death remained a thorn in his heart. For each day that he didn’t pluck the thorn out, his demons would haunt him for another day.

“Who sent you?” This was what Chu Xun was most curious about: the identity of the person who wanted him dead.

“Go down to hell and ask Yama.” Li Hu had a nasty temper. Now that Chu Xun had nearly strangled him to death, he wouldn’t let the former off even without external instructions.

Li Hu was a martial artist. Before he was imprisoned, he was the boss of a small gang. Even though his gang operated on a small scale, it was established on the strength of his punches and kicks alone. He wasn’t at all afraid of a teen whose thigh wasn’t even as thick as his arm.

Li Hu charged up to Chu Xun in just a few steps, his punch producing a strong wind as it aimed for Chu Xun’s head.

If this punch landed, Chu Xun would be handicapped, if not dead.

The rest retreated when they saw how fierce and terrifying Li Hu’s punch was. They were afraid of becoming innocent victims of his attack.

Chu Xun’s gaze was ice-cold. He reached out and grabbed Li Hu’s fist, stopping his fierce punch in midair.

Li Hu’s expression fell. He felt as if his fist hit a steel plate, not Chu Xun’s palm. The force sent an intense pain shooting up his arm and half of his body went numb from the sensation.

All the rest saw was Chu Xun raising his hand and intercepting Li Hu’s punch. They couldn’t help widening their eyes.

Chu Xun suddenly kicked.

His kick sent Li Hu flying and crashing hard against the wall. The pain was so sharp that he nearly fainted.

The others trembled from the shock, having never thought that the violent Li Hu would be done in by Chu Xun with just a single move.

Chu Xun once again moved, his action like that of a phantom, and instantly threw six consecutive punches.

“Thud! Thud!”

The other six prisoners fell to the floor at nearly the same time, all of them knocked out.

Chu Xun walked over to Li Hu and looked at him from above.

“I’ll ask the questions. You’ll answer. If you dare to lie, I’ll make you beg for death.”

Li Hu nodded, frightened.

“Who ordered you to kill me?”

“I, I don’t know.”

Seeing the change in Chu Xun’s expression, Li Hu became frightened out of his wits. He scrambled to crawl up and kneel in front of Chu Xun. “I really don’t know. Please believe me.”

Chu Xun said nothing, indicating for him to continue.

“I’m sentenced to death for committing the crime of homicide. But on the second day I entered this cell, someone sent me a message and promised to save my life if I follow their orders.”

“And their order is for you to torment me?” Chu Xun sneered.

Li Hu shivered and subconsciously shrunk his neck. He said cautiously, “Yes. They wanted me to torment you day and night, not giving you even a day of peace but without taking your life. I didn’t believe it at first, but I should’ve been fired to death the week after I came here. It wasn’t until a month had passed that I believed them.”

“They ordered you to torment me, but why are you trying to kill me?”

“It’s not me. It’s them. Knowing that you’ll be released tomorrow, they wanted me to kill you tonight. Then, they’ll make arrangements for our release,” Li Hu hastily replied.

“They received the same orders, didn’t they?” Chu Xun pointed to the unconscious prisoners.

“Yes.” Li Hu nodded. “They even said…”

“What did they say?”

“They said that if we didn’t get the chance to kill you, we should feed you this.” Li Hu fished out a paper packet from under the bed.

Chu Xun took the paper packet from him and opened it. Inside, he found a white pill. He put it under his nose and sniffed. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Even though he didn’t know the name of this pill, he knew it was a pill that targeted one’s mental state. The consumer of this pill would suffer tremendous damage to his mind. Even if he somehow survived, he would suffer from insanity and become an idiot.

Just who was the mastermind using such an insidious trick against him? Chu Xun’s body emanated a strong murderous aura.

Insanity… Idiot… An idea came to him.

He hadn’t thought of how to deal with these men before, but he did now.

Chu Xun threw an abrupt punch and Li Hu fainted before he could even groan.

Staring emotionlessly at the unconscious men, Chu Xun walked up to one of them and squatted down. He placed his palms on the man’s temples and poured in a stream of True Energy. He repeated this on the second man, the third… There were no exceptions!

Chu Xun’s eyes were without emotion. Seven days later, the True Energy that he buried in them would erupt and they would all become idiots.

He would be out of prison by then.

…