"Asura Realm. Open..."
With a resonant hum, Mr. Brown's furious roar transformed everything within the corpse shroud into pure black and white, as if all movement inside had been frozen.
John Chou sneered coldly as Xu Fu lunged toward the corpse shroud.
In an instant, a red flash streaked in front of Xu Fu.
"We haven't settled our score yet. What are you trying to do?"
With two sharp clangs, Xu Fu blocked John Chou's blade with both hands, was knocked backward, slid across the ground, and rose to his feet, glaring furiously at John Chou.
Mr. Brown slowly walked toward the immobilized Tan Tian. At that moment, Tan Tian turned his head, eyes cold and indifferent. I saw the corpse shroud gradually dissipating.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With a thunderous crash, Mr. Brown suddenly embraced Tan Tian. His six arms locked tightly together, and a black-and-white aura began to rise into the air. I saw a massive black vortex.
"Damn it, I won't let you succeed so easily."
Gritting his teeth, Xu Fu unleashed a barrage of fist shadows with a thunderous roar. Black vortices instantly shredded John Chou, and Xu Fu reached the corpse shroud, extending a hand—just then, I saw a smile appear on Mr. Brown's face.
"Sorry, Mr. Brown. The plan worked this time, but you'll be stuck in the Asura Realm for quite a while."
With a thunderous crash, Mr. Brown and Tan Tian vanished together, their presences completely gone. Xu Fu landed at the spot where they disappeared, and my Shadow Realm had already returned to the ground.
"John Chou."
Xu Fu turned his head, his eyes blood-red with rage. He stomped the ground with a boom and charged at John Chou.
In an instant, the two collided, sparks flying. John Chou raised Belle to block Xu Fu's fist. The clash of black and red energies spread rapidly throughout my Shadow Realm.
With a loud bang, both were knocked backward, landing heavily on the ground.
John Chou slid a short distance, then sat cross-legged on the ground, sneering. With a crisp clang, he stabbed Belle into the earth beside him.
Xu Fu hit the ground and sat down hard. Suddenly, my eyes widened—Xu Fu looked to be in great pain, biting fiercely into his right hand, his feet pounding the ground like a child throwing a tantrum, venting his frustration.
After a while, Xu Fu let out a series of hoarse howls. I couldn't make out what he was saying. He lay on the ground, flailing his limbs wildly, truly like a child having a fit.
"Reliving the joys of childhood isn't half bad, is it, Xu Fu?"
John Chou laughed heartily as he spoke. I walked over slowly, helped Isabelle Frost to her feet, and brought her to John Chou's side.
At this point, Xu Fu was covered in dust, his hair a mess as he sat up. His face regained its calm, and after pushing aside the hair covering his cheek, he chuckled softly.
"This move was truly ingenious, John Chou."
"Right back at you. Didn't you play an excellent hand yourself?"
Xu Fu immediately stood up, threw his head back, and began shouting nonstop.
"Heavens above, earth below, how could that zombie with rocks for brains be so stupid? How could this happen? Damn it, get back here!"
After a round of wild cursing, Xu Fu lay down, propping his head with one hand, looking at John Chou with a face full of misery.
"You're ruthless, John Chou. Just to ensure our partner and strategic core were taken from this world, you schemed for so long, even faked your own death to throw us off. How could you be so vicious, John Chou? Did I owe you something in a past life?"
"Xu Fu, I've told you this a long time ago!"
John Chou pointed to his head as he spoke.
"Those who think they're geniuses are usually just fools. You're no exception, haha."
Xu Fu snorted coldly, making no attempt to refute.
"To make this happen, you had your old steward enter the Path of Asura early, then come to this world and hide in Ethan Zhang's Shadow Realm, planning to unleash your trump card. But it was really to lure Tan Tian here. Why act in Ethan Zhang's domain? To cover up certain truths. You never intended to settle things with us, but to crush the hope we've held for centuries. Such cruelty hurts more than killing us."
"Imagine it yourself, Xu Fu. I did this because you forced me, didn't you? Our feud has reached the point of no return. Did you think we came here to play? You wanted to use this chance to wipe us out too, didn't you? You're just not as clever."
Xu Fu bared his teeth, his eyelids twitching slightly. He stood up, dusting himself off, looking dead serious.
"You should know by now—during the Dark Banquet, it's impossible to kill us. Even though we entered with our bodies and souls, the Banquet's protection, the help of the Nether Syndicate, and support from sects like the Nether Syndicate make killing us nearly impossible. This fight is about to end."
"Maybe so, Xu Fu. But now that it's come to this, who really won?"
Xu Fu glared viciously at John Chou, then sat down cross-legged, visibly restless.
"Fine, let's say you won, John Chou."
Xu Fu slowly stood up, raised his fist, and with a thunderous boom, tore open a gap in my Shadow Realm. He turned, floated upward, and then flew away.
"Next time, you won't be so lucky."
With a soft thud, John Chou lay down on the ground, looking quite pleased.
"What exactly happened, John Chou?"
Isabelle Frost immediately asked. John Chou chuckled and shook his head.
"Let me rest for a bit, sis."
Now I noticed the power in John Chou had faded—his Bloodbane energy had been reclaimed by the Sanzu Force, and he was back to his previous state.
"Brother, you worked hard."
As he spoke, John Chou handed Belle back to me.
"What's going on outside...?"