Chapter 2575: Counterattack

The rainbow and golden light alternately fought and chased each other, with one fleeing and the other pursuing. Soon, Zu'an was injured.

As the Heavenly Emperor, Di Jun, even with only a wisp of his soul and the Golden Crow Crown Prince's original cultivation, was not someone Zu'an could contend with. Previously, he had only been wary of Xi He joining forces with Zu'an. Now that Xi He was gravely injured, it was a one-on-one fight, and Zu'an had no chance of turning the tables.

"Don't worry, I won't let you die easily. I will tear your flesh piece by piece and condemn your soul to eternal suffering in the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls!" Di Jun gnashed his teeth as he pursued Zu'an, wanting to immerse him in fear and witness his distorted face collapse in terror.

However, Di Jun was disappointed; Zu'an's face showed no fear at all. On the contrary, he was perfectly calm: "You just said something similar not long ago, yet here I am, still alive and kicking. What good is it to be the mighty Heavenly Emperor if all you do is talk?"

Di Jun's face twitched. He realized that not only had he failed to break Zu'an's will, but he had also been somewhat provoked himself.

Rage points from Di Jun: 600,600,600…

He couldn't understand why, after encountering Zu'an, his emotions were so easily stirred. Logically, given his cultivation level, he shouldn't be so prone to anger.

However, a smile soon appeared on his face because he saw Zu'an running towards the South Heavenly Gate. This brat claimed he wasn't panicking, but his actions betrayed him. He was so flustered that he ran straight to the South Heavenly Gate, where Zhao Lingguan and a host of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were all his direct subordinates.

He was just imagining Zu'an's expression when he realized this, but then the smile on his face suddenly froze. Because he watched Zu'an begin to change his appearance, transforming into Di Jun himself in the blink of an eye!

"What trick is he playing? Who could possibly be fooled by such a petty maneuver?"

While he was still wondering, the two had already flown to the South Heavenly Gate. Zhao Lingguan and others had sensed something was amiss and quickly surrounded them. Di Jun was about to order Zhao Lingguan to apprehend Zu'an, but to his surprise, Zu'an spoke first: "Zhao Lingguan, seize this rebellious son!"

Di Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he finally realized what the problem was. He was currently in the form of the Golden Crow Crown Prince, and only a very small number of people knew about his possession of the Tenth Sun, which clearly did not include Zhao Lingguan.

"Your Majesty, what exactly is happening?" Zhao Lingguan and the other Heavenly Gods were dumbfounded by the scene before them. The Golden Crow Crown Prince was chasing down Di Jun? Was something wrong with how today began?

Leaving aside why the father and son would be fighting, even if they were, it should be Di Jun unilaterally disciplining his child, not the other way around.

As if guessing his thoughts, Zu'an quickly explained: "He was bewitched and has fallen into depravity, suddenly ambushing me and his mother from behind, trying to refine us." He thus lightly explained why he was no match for the opponent. He also wasn't sure if Zhao Lingguan knew about the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, so he dared not elaborate.

Di Jun was both shocked and enraged upon hearing this. "This brat is utterly shameless!" he exclaimed. "Zhao Lingguan, don't listen to him! I am the real Di Jun!"

Listening to the two argue, Zhao Lingguan looked from one to the other, wondering why he was encountering such an outrageous situation today. The Di Jun in front certainly resembled the true Di Jun in both appearance and aura, but the Golden Crow Crown Prince behind him spoke with an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Quickly send someone to the imperial bed-chamber to save Xi He! She was just ambushed and is now on the verge of death," Zu'an said quickly. Prompted by his "unintentional" reminder, Zhao Lingguan finally recalled that Di Jun had just entered the South Heavenly Gate with Xi He in his arms. Therefore, this Di Jun must be the real one. This was an excellent opportunity to earn merit.

A surge of joy filled him at this thought, and he shouted loudly at Di Jun, "Tenth Prince, how could you commit such a rebellious act? Surrender at once!" He secretly cautioned himself not to kill the Tenth Prince later. After all, they were father and son, and if they reconciled afterward, he would become the scapegoat. So, it would be best to capture the Tenth Prince alive first, then hand him over to Di Jun to deal with personally.

Di Jun was speechless. "Zhao Lingguan, how can you be so foolish!"

Zhao Lingguan was instantly enraged. "Hmph! Let me first capture you and hand you over to His Majesty for judgment!" With a swing of his hand, the colossal axe expanded to a thousand feet, cleaving directly towards Di Jun. Wherever it passed, even the cloud sea of the Heavenly Court parted.

However, this terrifying blow missed its target. Di Jun's body transformed into a golden light and appeared beside him. "Get lost!" Then, with a single kick, he sent Zhao Lingguan flying.

Zhao Lingguan: "???" He had thought he could easily handle the Tenth Prince, but how had he become so strong?

Yet, in front of so many subordinates, he couldn't afford to lose face. He once again brandished his colossal axe, howling as he charged forward: "Villain, stop right there!"

Di Jun was also completely speechless. He was just about to catch Zu'an, but was once again entangled by this guy. Yet, he couldn't explain that this was actually his soul fragment. After all, possessing one's own son was truly horrifying to hear, and revealing it would cause problems later. Helpless, he had to exert his utmost effort to finally break free from Zhao Lingguan's pursuit, but by then, he had lost sight of Zu'an.

"Did he return to the main hall?" Di Jun was about to head back when he suddenly felt a surge of anger. For some reason, he was certain Zu'an was in that direction. He immediately gave chase and saw Zu'an running down along the Jianmu divine tree. Di Jun couldn't help but laugh heartily: "Xi He should really see how you cling to life and fear death, abandoning them to escape alone."

After all that had transpired, he no longer wanted to waste time. He simply wanted to kill Zu'an immediately. His eyes glowed with golden light, and he directed it straight at Zu'an. No matter how fast Zu'an was, how could he be faster than light?

But to his surprise, Zu'an didn't dodge this time. Instead, he took out an array disc with both hands, and a spatial rift suddenly appeared before him. The eye technique Di Jun fired was directly transferred through that rift onto the nearby Jianmu divine tree.

Di Jun was both astonished and furious at this sight. He finally realized that Zu'an hadn't genuinely intended for Zhao Lingguan to defeat him, but merely to buy time to set up this spatial teleportation array here and then use the divine patterns on the Jianmu tree against him. If he were in his full, uninjured state, he naturally wouldn't fear this. But now, with only a wisp of his soul, and the divine patterns on the Jianmu tree being of such high caliber, he was indeed in danger.

However, as the mighty Heavenly Emperor, his knowledge was extraordinary. With a casual wave of his hand, another spatial rift appeared around the Jianmu tree, redirecting his eye technique elsewhere.

Zu'an secretly cursed his luck, surprised that Di Jun could resolve even such a deadly trap.

Di Jun secretly wiped away a cold sweat, his gaze at Zu'an growing colder. "I must admit, you are indeed cunning. I almost fell for your grand scheme just now. Unfortunately, you'll never have such an opportunity again." With the lesson he just learned, it would be absolutely impossible for Zu'an to scheme against him again.

Zu'an was equally aware of this, but he still smiled: "You certainly won't attack the Jianmu divine tree again, but... I will!"

After speaking, he directly used a divine pattern soldier diagram to simulate the Golden Crow's sword qi, fiercely blasting it onto the Jianmu tree. Simultaneously, he performed a spatial displacement, swapping positions with Di Jun.

Di Jun scoffed, "What's the use of just swapping positions? The divine patterns' counterattack doesn't target location, but rather..." His expression suddenly changed as he spoke, because Zu'an had, at that moment, reverted to his original appearance. Only then did Di Jun realize that Zu'an had been attacking the Jianmu tree using his own appearance and even his attacking methods. He didn't know what method Zu'an had used, but the fake Di Jun had been so convincing that even Zhao Lingguan, and even Di Jun himself, couldn't distinguish him. So, in the perception of those divine patterns, it had been he who was attacking!

"No!"

Just as he was about to dodge, the divine patterns flared to life, and countless terrifying beams of light engulfed him.