A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 935: The Truth?

"You think you can take on all three of us with your pitiful powers? What a joke?" Shi Zhanfeng scoffed.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he launched himself forward, raising a hand as he did so before swinging it down in a chopping motion upon Shi Chuankong's head.

A string of profound acupoints lit up over his arm, and it was as if his hand had truly been transformed into a radiant white blade that was giving off formidable energy fluctuations.

Shi Chuankong seemed to have detected the threat posed by the attack, and he was desperately trying to free his saber to defend himself, but he was unable to do so with both Du Yuan and the woman restricting his movements.

An alarmed look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he was just about to rush out of the pagoda when a burst of black light suddenly appeared in front of Shi Chuankong's chest, following which a pendant-like object slipped down before shattering into pieces.

Immediately thereafter, a vortex of black erupted out of the pendant's shattered fragments, and an ape-like scaled beast with countless spikes over its body rushed out from within before crashing into Shi Zhanfeng.

A sharp screech akin to the sound of metal grating on metal rang out as Shi Zhanfeng's arm struck the scaled beast on the head, only for him to be sent flying back by the force of the clash.

The devilish ape was identical in appearance to the creature confined within the black cage pendant that Shi Pokong had given to Shi Chuankong.

After knocking back Shi Zhanfeng, the devilish ape turned around and swung an arm at the woman.

The latter withdrew her bone whip, then jumped up in an agile fashion to evade the attack, while Du Yuan rushed over to the devilish ape's side before throwing an almighty punch.

Despite its massive frame, the devilish ape wasn't slow at all, and it twisted around before retaliating with a punch of its own.

The two fists clashed violently, sending gusts of fierce wind sweeping through the air in all directions.

Shi Chuankong took advantage of this opportunity to fly back in retreat, attempting to escape, yet he had only just leaped up into the air when a burst of white light appeared above his head, and Shi Zhanfeng descended upon him once again.

Shi Zhanfeng's attack was too fast for Shi Chuankong to parry with his saber, so he could only reflexively lean back, and a streak of white flashed past his cheek before sliding down his chest.

A lock of his silver hair drifted up into the air as a long gash was sliced into his cheek. The breastplate of his suit of bone armor was also shattered, while a gash that was deep enough to expose bone was inflicted onto his chest.

Shi Chuankong was sent plummeting to the ground by the force of the blow, but Shi Zhanfeng refused to give him any respite, racing after him in hot pursuit before stomping a foot down onto his chest.

A resounding boom rang out as violent tremors ran through the ground.

Shi Chuankong's body was embedded into the earth below, and a series of massive cracks appeared over the ground as blood came gushing out of his mouth.

His saber star artifact was kicked out of his grasp by Shi Zhanfeng, who then picked it and claimed it for himself.

As Shi Zhanfeng looked down at Shi Chuankong, a look of melancholy appeared in his eyes as he mused, "Compared with Shi Pokong, I don't harbor much resentment toward you. It's just that... Forget it, you can only blame yourself for putting your eggs in the wrong basket."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he raised his saber before swinging it down at Shi Chuankong's head.

Shi Chuankong seemed to have already given up on resisting, and there was a resigned smile on his face. All of a sudden, he loosened his own left fist, spreading his hand open to reveal a bloodstained, leaf-shaped jade pendant, the very same one that had been given to him by Shi Pokong!

The pendant was stained with his blood essence, seemingly having already been activated, and the thin veins on its surface began to glow radiantly.

An alarmed look appeared on Shi Zhanfeng's face upon seeing this, and he hurriedly shot back in retreat.

Immediately thereafter, the air around Shi Chuankong seemed to suddenly contract and converge around him, following which a radiant white sun rose up.

A resounding explosion rang out as the white sun imploded, sending waves of blinding white light washing over the entire white stone plaza.

Powerful shockwaves also swept through the air in all directions, peeling layers of earth up from the ground.

Even from his vantage point up in the pagoda over ten thousand feet away, Han Li felt a wave of heat sweeping toward him, almost forcing him to close his eyes, and the stone pagoda was also trembling violently, as if it could collapse at any moment.

The tremors lasted close to twenty seconds before finally slowly subsiding.

The outermost layer of the pagoda was already very fragile from wind erosion, and with much of it stripped away by the explosion, there was barely anything left of the pagoda standing.

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as he looked out at the white stone plaza.

The entire plaza had already been wiped out of existence, leaving only a crater that was over a hundred feet deep and over a thousand feet in diameter in its wake, and all of the nearby buildings had also been destroyed.

At the center of the crater laid Shi Chuankong's charred and bloodied body, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

Right at this moment, his chest suddenly began to heave violently as he erupted into a violent coughing fit.

For some reason, not only had the jade pendant not teleported him back to the Devil Realm, it had set off an explosion that had almost killed him instead.

Shi Chuankong wanted to struggle up into a seated position, but as soon as he tried to move, a burst of excruciating pain instantly coursed through his entire body, causing him to let loose an involuntary cry of pain.

"It's extremely impressive that you were able to survive an explosion from an Explosive Space Realm Talisman from point blank," Shi Zhanfeng praised as he strode over to the edge of the crater with his two subordinates.

Half of his robe had been torn away, and even the suit of armor beneath it had also been severely ravaged. On top of that, his right arm and shoulder had been reduced to a grotesque mass of flesh and blood, with bone exposed in many parts.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing the words "Explosive Space Realm Talisman", and he pulled out his own leaf-shaped jade pendant with a grim look on his face.

If he had gone through with using the talisman while traversing through the spatial storm en route to entering the Great Ruins, then all of the cultivators from Puppet City and Profound City would've most likely already been dead by now.

At the bottom of the crater, Shi Chuankong was still trying to struggle into a seated position, but he was in such terrible condition that he was only able to make small, spasming motions.

Some of the charred ashes on his body began to slip off, revealing an extremely thin white garment that was giving off a white glow.

"Is that a Star Fox Robe? No wonder you were able to survive such a violent explosion. I thought that your mother would've left this treasure to Shi Pokong, considering how he was always her favorite son, but it seems like you inherited it instead," Shi Zhanfeng sneered.

Shi Chuankong paid no heed to Shi Zhanfeng's mockery as he closed eyes, and a tear slowly slid down his cheek.

Even during their mother's dying moments, she hadn't expressed any resentment toward those around her. Her final wish was that her two sons would continue to protect and look out for each other in this perilous world, yet it seemed that this final wish of hers was ultimately not able to come into fruition.

Pokong, why would you do this?

Right at this moment, a beastly roar suddenly rang out, and the devilish ape scaled beast erupted out of the crater, somehow completely unscathed, before charging at Shi Zhanfeng's trio.

"Get rid of that thing!" Shi Zhanfeng ordered with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

Du Yuan and the petite woman immediately launched themselves at the devilish ape in unison, and their battle resumed.

Meanwhile, Shi Zhanfeng slowly made his way to the bottom of the crater, then crouched down beside Shi Chuankong.

With a casual tug, the Star Fox Robe was removed from Shi Chuankong's body, only for it to immediately dissipate into nothingness.

"It's been ruined... What a pity..." Shi Zhanfeng sighed.

He then turned to Shi Chuankong with a look of sorrow in his eyes as he rested the tip of the saber in his hand onto Shi Chuankong's chest.

All of a sudden, Shi Chuankong's eyes sprang open, and he seemed to have composed himself as he asked, "Zhanfeng, what type of person do you think Pokong is?"

Shi Zhanfeng's brows furrowed slightly as he considered the question momentarily, then replied, "I've never been able to quite see through him."

"It's always said that the one who knows you best will always be your enemy. If even you can't see through Pokong, then I was a fool for thinking that I knew him well," Shi Chuankong sighed.

Shi Zhanfeng didn't understand what Shi Chuankong was alluding to, and he declared, "Alright, it's time for me to send you on your way."

Shi Chuankong merely smiled and closed his eyes once again, ready to accept his fate.

The melancholy in Shi Zhanfeng's eyes faded as he plunged the saber down toward Shi Chuankong's heart.