Chapter 2581: Show of Hands

Zu An had previously harbored many doubts about the situation, but the clues swiftly connected when Xihe told him that Emperor Jun had already possessed the ten Golden Crows and stolen their souls to fuel the Apocalypse Formation.

Gonggong was horrified and enraged. “What a vicious man you are, Emperor Jun! I underestimated you!”

Emperor Jun’s face darkened. “Hah! How naive must you be to trust that brat’s far-fetched conjecture?”

“Am I to trust a deceitful scumbag like you over him?” Gonggong scoffed.

Emperor Jun was rendered speechless.

“What did you do to Xiaoxi?” Zu An asked aloud. He was feeling increasingly uneasy. Someone who could stoop to murdering his sons wouldn’t hold back against Xiaoxi.

“So it was for her.” Emperor Jun was at the peak of his anger. “Why don’t I send you to her side if you miss her so much?”

As he fully unleashed his aura as the next Celestial Emperor, two massive wings sprouted from Emperor Jun’s back. He jolted Xingtian backward with a powerful shockwave before morphing into a golden light that moved faster than the eye could follow.

“Careful!” Xihe anxiously shoved Zu An aside before transforming into a sun to confront Emperor Jun.

However, the golden light was so formidable that the sun was immediately split in two.

Horrified, Zu An hurriedly charged forward. The sun’s avatar faded, revealing Xihe’s plummeting figure.

Zu An swiftly caught her, only to see a deep laceration that exposed her bones across her chest. Her beautiful face had turned ghastly pale. He was relieved that Xihe was strong enough to withstand the attack, or else it would have split her in two.

Seeing how naturally Xihe snuggled into Zu An’s arms, Emperor Jun’s eyelids twitched. “Very well. You adulterous couple dare to flaunt your love in front of me! I’ll make you suffer a fate worse than death!”

You have successfully trolled Emperor Jun for +999... +999... +999...

He unfurled his wings. As he morphed into a golden light and charged at the duo, his feathers transformed into sharp weapons.

He was truly enraged. This was the third time the golden light had appeared on this battlefield. The first time, it had severed Xingtian’s shield and head. The second time, it had severely wounded Xihe. This time, he was planning to kill Zu An and Xihe together.

Gonggong tried to rush over to rescue Zu An, only to be blocked by Donghuang Taiyi. “Your opponent is me.”

Unable to bypass Donghuang Taiyi, Gonggong could only watch as everything unfolded. Deep down, he knew that Zu An and Xihe were no match for the enraged Emperor Jun, especially now that Xihe had been incapacitated.

A seven-colored light suddenly shone. The golden light that was going to slice Zu An and Xihe apart vanished.

Gonggong was speechless, while Donghuang Taiyi was shocked. They couldn’t even sense Emperor Jun’s aura anymore, as if he had been erased from the world.

The Kaiming Six Shamans were dumbfounded. Only the Goddess of Wu Mountain realized what had happened.

He’s finally used that ability, but is it enough to trap a Celestial Emperor?

Xihe stared at the man holding her in his arms. She had hated him so much that she wanted nothing more than to tear him apart, but perhaps due to the time they had spent together and the effects of the other party’s Golden Phoenix ability, she realized that she had unknowingly fallen in love with him.

She'd had many chances to kill him, but still hesitated and eventually held herself back. Even so, at the same time, she couldn’t forgive him for killing her sons. This contradiction had tortured her.

Later, when she learned that the culprit behind her sons’ deaths wasn't him but Emperor Jun, she'd felt as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. She was relieved.

There were so many words she wanted to tell him, but it all condensed into a single sentence. “Be careful. He isn’t that easy to deal with.”

Zu An knew that too.

In the Seven-Colored Divine Halo’s world, Emperor Jun transformed into a thirty-thousand-meter-wide Golden Crow. His wings were so vast that they covered the sky. Countless artifacts floated in his vicinity, emanating ancient auras. Golden lights pulsated from Emperor Jun’s body, causing the Seven-Colored Divine Halo’s world to shake intensely as if it would shatter at any moment. A piercing, majestic bird call echoed.

Emperor Jun finally broke free from the Seven-Colored Divine Halo’s world and circled the sky as he gazed down on Zu An in astonishment.

A mere mortal actually can imprison me! Wouldn’t I have been in danger if he were any stronger?

His eyes turned cold.

I can’t let someone like that roam free even if I have no grudge against him. Otherwise, there is a chance that he might become a threat to me.

He flapped his wings, and the world trembled.

Zu An embraced Xihe tightly and activated his position swap skill. But to his horror, he appeared right in front of Emperor Jun instead.

He must have changed the world laws here to make me teleport in front of him!

“An ant like you can’t begin to comprehend what beings like us are capable of.”

Emperor Jun didn’t even make a move—he simply looked at Zu An—and Zu An’s body began disintegrating as if eroding to the wind. No matter how he channeled his cultivation techniques, he could only slow the rate of disintegration.

“It’s futile. He has the power to modify world laws. I never thought I’d end up dying with you,” Xihe said with a conflicted expression. Even she had no idea if she was sad or heartbroken.

But Zu An refused to submit to fate. His only option was to use the power of Keyboard Come, but if he used it in his current state, he would likely die. Even so, he was determined to kill Emperor Jun even if it spelled his death!

He was about to speak when ancient runes suddenly enveloped him. Thesey shone with peculiar lights that protected him and Xihe.

“The Shaman races’ ancient runes!” Zu An had seen similar characters when he used the Shaman races’ secret art.

His body’s disintegration halted, and he even began to recover. He took this opportunity to channel the Primordial Origin Sutra to heal his own and Xihe’s wounds. The ki around him pulsated, and before he knew, they were already some distance away from Emperor Jun.

Emperor Jun’s massive avatar didn’t pursue them. Instead, he looked warily in their direction.

Sensing something, Zu An turned around to take a look. What he saw caused him to freeze up. Behind him was a snake of inestimable size. Even the largest dragon he had seen was nothing but a lizard compared to it. The snake had brilliant eyes—one was reminiscent of the sun while the other resembled the cold moonlight.

Xihe immediately recognized the snake. “Ancestral Shaman Zhulong!”

Zhulong’s standing and strength was top-notch even among the Ancestral Shamans. Past generations of Celestial Emperors had treated him with utmost respect. It had been ten thousand years since he last made an appearance, which led to rumors that he had passed away and returned to the dao.

Zu An was shocked. He had encountered many huge things that triggered his fear, but those paled in comparison to the humongous entity right before him. The pressure emanated by Zhulong was overwhelming. His only source of relief was that Zhulong wasn’t an enemy. In fact, it was thanks to Zhulong’s intervention that he and Xihe had survived Emperor Jun’s attack.

Gonggong burst into laughter. “You’re finally here!”

Zhulong ignored him. He turned his humongous head toward Emperor Jun and sneered, “Emperor Jun, you must think that I’m dead to pull so many stunts.”

Emperor Jun quickly reined in his earlier arrogance and said, “Zhulong, you mustn’t listen to that brat’s nonsense. I have nothing to do with what happened to Nuba and your sons.”

“Do you think I’d believe your words?” Zhulong glared at Emperor Jun with wrathful eyes.

He had been in seclusion for a long time, but this time, he awoke to find his wife and two sons dead. On top of that, his only remaining son had committed a grievous mistake and would soon be punished under the celestial laws. How could he not be angry?

Emperor Jun’s expression darkened. “What do you want?”

“A blood debt must be repaid with blood!” A humongous snake body was vaguely visible amid the clouds, encircling the surroundings.

Emperor Jun suddenly let out a frenzied laugh. “Hah! Do you think I fear you people?”

With a wave of his hand, a massive cauldron appeared on the ground. An ominous wind blew, and the clear sky suddenly darkened.