Against the Gods - Volume 08 - Cloud's End Mirage

by Mars Gravity

  Yun Che, “…”

  “Mwah.” Hong’er let out a long yawn before asking in an extremely lovable voice, “Master, why’d you suddenly disturb my sleep again. Are we gonna fight again… Oh… Ah??”

  Hong’er discovered the existence of the girl with rainbow eyes and she started to size her up with a look of curiosity on her face. At the same time, Yun Che had been stunned silly… He was very sure that he had definitely —definitely— not been the one to summon Hong’er!

  The sudden flickering of the Heaven Smiting Sword’s mark and the sudden appearance of Hong’er. All of this had happened because the girl had touched his left hand.

  This sort of thing had never happened before. Even when it was Jasmine, who had not only shared a body and lifeline with him but was also millions of times more powerful than him, even she could not go against his will and forcefully summon out Hong’er.

  “Ah…” The girl with rainbow eyes looked at Hong’er while Hong’er also looked at her. Hong’er’s mouth was half open and her ruby eyes were stunned, it was as if she had suddenly frozen in place.

  One girl had long and gorgeous vermillion hair, the other had long hair that sparkled with the light of stars. One pair of eyes were vermillion red, the other pair of eyes were a fantastical four colors. The two girls stared intently at one another, not moving an inch. It was as if the other person’s eyes had suddenly stolen away their souls.

  “….” Yun Che stared at the both of them in amazement. The strange atmosphere that had abruptly formed between the two of them rendered him utterly silent for the moment.

  The girl with rainbow eyes had always been as mysterious as the starry sky and as quiet as a dark night. But he understood Hong’er better than anybody else; as long as you summoned her, there would definitely not even be a moment of peace.

  It was even less plausible that she would quietly stare at someone for such a long period of time.

  As the two girls looked at each other in dazed silence, they extended their hands at nearly exactly the same time and touched each other. The girl’s hand lightly caressed Hong’er’s face while Hong’er’s hand touched the girl’s face at the same time…

  At this time, Yun Che’s eyeballs nearly jumped out of their sockets because he had clearly seen the part where each girl had touched the other’s delicate face being pushed in slightly…

  Hong’er could touch her!?

  But she was clearly a soul body! He could previously only treat her as an Illusionary existence but Hong’er could actually touch her!

  Yun Che immediately thought of Jasmine. Only he could touch Jasmine’s soul body but that was because Jasmine and him had shared a body and a life in order to prevent Jasmine’s soul body from dissipating. Then Hong’er and this girl…

  Besides the color of their hair and their eyes, they looked exactly the same, could it be… No, it could not be such a coincidence.

  They did really share some mysterious connection?

  “Ngh… sniff… sniff…” Hong’er’s lips suddenly started to pout and her shoulder started to heave as she let out a sob. Yun Che stared at her dazedly but he discovered that Hong’er’s vermillion eyes were shining with tears. After that, those tears started to drip down with pattering sound.

  Yun Che, “…”

  “Uuu… uuuuuu… UUUUUWAAAAAAHHHH!!”

  Hong’er suddenly rushed into Yun Che’s body as she hugged him and bawled her eyes out, her tears flowed out like a burst dam as they quickly soaked his outer shirt. Yun Che was greatly shocked as he panickedly asked, “Hong’er… what happened to you?”

  “I don’t know… don’t know!!” Hong’er shouted as she bawled her eyes out, “I suddenly became really really sad and I suddenly felt like crying… Uuu.. uuuuuuuu… I’m so sad… My entire body feels so sad… Have I become broken… Uuuuuu… Uuuwaaaaahhhhhh…”

  “…” Hong’er was weeping up a storm. Yun Che raised his head to look at the girl with colorful eyes, only to discover that the two long trails of tears slowly flowing down her face were the color of white jade…

  The girl stretched out her hand towards Yun Che’s left hand once again. The moment she came into contact with his hand, the vermillion-colored sword mark appeared yet again and the weeping Hong’er transformed into a beam of red light before returning to the Sky Poison Pearl.

  She had not only bypassed his will to summon out Hong’er, she could actually send her back as well.

  She… did not want to see Hong’er cry?

  “You recognize her? You’ve seen Hong’er before?” Yun Che was unable to stop himself from hurriedly asking that question.

  Hong’er’s bizarre behavior, the two of them sharing the same appearance and the two of them weeping tears at the same time. All of these undoubtedly proved that there was definitely some sort of relationship between her and Hong’er… and it definitely was no ordinary relationship at that.

  Hong’er had come from the Primordial Era. So this girl who clearly recognized Hong’er, could it be that she had existed from the Primordial Era until today?

  But Yun Che did not expect this girl to actually slowly shake her head.

  Yun Che, “…”

  Chapter 887: A Sword That Should Not Exist

  She shook her head?

  “Then do you know who she is?” Yun Che asked again.

  “…” The girl continued to shake her head mutely.

  Yun Che, “…”

  She has never seen Hong’er before?

  And she also does not know who Hong’er is…

  Then why did she…

  After recalling Hong’er’s reaction, it was clear that she had never seen this girl before either.

  Then the entire sequence of events where the girl summoned Hong’er which led to Hong’er bawling her eyes out after she saw her and the two of them shedding tears when they looked at each other… could it be have been an instinctual reaction that came from their bodies or souls?

  And if they did not have an extremely special connection, why did such an instinctual reaction occur?

  Yun Che, who was currently filled with extreme suspicion, caused his consciousness to sink into the Sky Poison Pearl. He saw Hong’er sitting down with her legs curled up to her body, her tiny hand vigorously rubbing away the tears in her eyes. Even though she was no longer sobbing, she had wept until her eyes and her nose had turned red.

  “Hong’er,” Yun Che asked as he moved forward. “What exactly happened just now? The girl that you just saw… Have you seen her before?”

  “Of course I haven’t.” Hong’er stuck out her tiny reddened nose, “I already said that I can’t remember anything from my past, so how could it be possible that I’ve seen her before? Master is really stupid.”

  “Then why did you suddenly start crying buckets?”

  “I already said that I don’t know alright!?” Hong’er pouted as she shook her head, “I just suddenly felt really sad and felt like crying. However…” Hong’er’s lips suddenly curved into a bow as a sweet and happy smile appeared on her face, “After I finished crying, I feel really good. It’s true. Master, why don’t you cry once for me to see?”

  “…” Yun Che retreated in defeat.

  Countless enigmas nagged at Yun Che’s mind.

  The Darkness Seed that had fused with his profound veins had proven that the ancient Evil God did not only have perfect control over the five elemental profound energies of water, fire, wind, lightning and earth, he also clearly possessed darkness profound energy. As a god belonging to the god race, he would definitely not have allowed the other gods to know that he possessed the darkness element when he was still alive in the Primordial Era. Because the gods did not tolerate any negative profound energy and none of the legends that he had heard from Jasmine regarding the Evil God had mentioned him possessing darkness profound energy.

  Even the ancient memories of the Evil God that Jasmine had obtained from the Evil God’s blood had only told her that there were
five seeds of power that comprised of the five elements.

  Clearly, the Evil God had probably never exposed his darkness profound energy during the Primordial Era. Furthermore, he had buried this information exceptionally well. At the same time, one could clearly tell from the legacy and memories that he had left behind that the Evil God did not want the future generations to know of his secret.

  Then how did this Darkness Seed end up in that girl’s possession?

  And this mysterious, terrifying and extremely bizarre world of darkness…

  Could it also be something that the Evil God left behind?

  Why did he want to leave behind such a world of darkness?

  Why was this girl in a place like this? What connection did she have with the Primordial Evil God?

  And what kind of connection did she have with Hong’er…

  And that Hong’er… Who exactly was she?

  “~！#￥%…” Yun Che’s brain was a complete mess right now. He had been plunged into this thick and tangled web of mysteries at the same time he had obtained this enormous power. Before this, every time he had obtained an Evil God Seed, besides feeling joy, he would also feel as if he was fulfilling some sort of destiny. But after he had obtained this Darkness Seed, he had been left at a complete loss.

  Furthermore…

  He had this indistinct feeling that he had come into contact with a secret that even the ancient divine beings were not aware of…

  However, he had merely faintly touched the surface of this mystery. The whole truth behind all of this, including the girl with rainbow eyes and Hong’er’s true identity, should probably have become an eternal mystery following the end of the era of gods and devils.

  At the present moment, the most important thing to him was how to leave this place.

  Yun Che raised his head to look above him. If he flew straight up, he should be able to fly out of this abyss but that peerlessly dreadful suction power was able to securely seal away everything that dwelled within this dark abyss.

  Even though Yun Che’s profound strength had grown immensely after he had obtained the Darkness Seed, he was very sure that the terrifying suction force above him was something that he could not resist.

  All of the darkness monsters in this place were unfathomably strong and any one of them could instantly destroy the Yun Che who had obtained the Darkness Seed. It would not be possible for this bottomless abyss to imprison these kind of existences but not a single one of them had ever appeared in the outside world.

  The reason for this was because even these darkness monsters could not resist that suction force, so they were forcefully sealed away in this world of darkness.

  So how exactly could he leave this place…

  Yun Che looked at the space above him as he lapsed into deep thought. After a long period of time, he gritted his teeth and suddenly launched himself into the air as he flew upwards with all his might.

  Even though he did not know whether he could struggle free, he wanted to experience just how strong that suction force was once more.

  Would it end up in complete despair or would he be able to see a ray of hope?

  Yun Che’s flying speed was extremely fast. At the same time, all of the profound strength in his body swelled up as he swiftly reached the height of three thousand meters. The surrounding darkness energy started to boil as it swept towards Yun Che. Yun Che, who had made sufficient preparation for this, let out a low yell as his entire body released an incomparably dense jet-black profound light.

  BOOM

  The profound light that shone on Yun Che’s body exploded outwards with an incredibly loud ring but the moment the surrounding rampaging darkness energy came into contact with his body, it suddenly recoiled at lightning speed. Regardless of whether it was Yun Che’s body or the profound energy that had erupted out of his body, neither of them had been obstructed at all.

  RIIIIP….

  At the checkpoint between both worlds, Yun Che’s body immediately rang with the incomparably sharp sound of space tearing apart. Before he had even realized it, he had already escaped the world of darkness below him.

  “…” Yun Che slowly came to a stop as he was dazed for a brief period of time.

  I came out…!?

  I actually managed to come out!!

  That dreadful suction force that had previously appeared and was impossible for him to resist had not appeared this time.

  No, it had appeared… But it instantly disappeared after that!

  Yun Che suspiciously looked at the black light surrounding his body. He was stumped for a good long while before he muttered to himself, “Could it be because of… the Evil God’s Darkness Seed?”

  Could it be that the Evil God’s darkness profound energy was the power that was sealing away this world of darkness, so it would not obstruct him because he had obtained the Evil God’s darkness profound power?

  ……

  Could it be this reason?

  After he stood there indefinitely in a bewildered state, Yun Che’s brows finally twitched before suddenly sinking again. After that, he began to descend once more.

  With a soft ring, Yun Che traveled through the boundary between the two worlds yet again. This time, he did not circulate any profound energy, instead he focused on observing the changes that occurred around him.

  As soon as he entered the world of darkness, the surrounding dark energy instantly changed and gathered around him. The moment the gathered darkness touched his body, it recoiled, not tearing at Yun Che at all.

  So that was indeed the case!!

  He forcefully descended into this dark abyss for the sake of Su Ling’er and when the devil origin orb had flared up inside his body, he had thought that certain death awaited him. But he never imagined that in the blink of an eye, not only did his strength explosively increase, he had even completely escaped the nightmarish grasp of the devil origin orb and right now, he once again discovered that he could freely leave and enter this world of darkness.

  This complete reversal of fortune had been entirely due to the Evil God’s Darkness Seed.

  It was all because of the chance encounter he had with that strange girl in the abyss.

  Yun Che descended at an extremely quick speed. He followed that hellish purple light and soon landed at that girl’s side. He did not know who she was and why she was here. It was even possible that he would never ever know the answers to those questions but she was his savior… and she had done far more than simply saving him.

  But right now, it was time for them to bid each other farewell.

  “It’s about time for me to go. I still have many things I need to do on the outside, so I need to leave this place,” Yun Che said in a soft voice. “However, I will forever remember you. After all, the life I have right now is something that you’ve given me.”

  “…” The girl’s lips opened as she looked at him with a steady gaze, it was as if she wanted to say something.

  “You are all alone in this place, so you must definitely feel very lonely,” Yun Che said with a faint smile. “After I have finished what I need to do, I will come and visit you often.”

  “…” The luster in the girl’s eyes seemed to faintly billow.

  “Then… I’m off.”

  He stretched out a hand to lightly caress that girl’s ethereal hair as he gave her one last long look… Whoever saw those four-colored eyes would never be able to forget them for the rest of their lives. After that, he stopped hesitating as he took to the air and rushed toward the borders of this dark world.

  The girl’s eyes silently chased after his figure until he had completely vanished from her vision… Gradually, the light in her eyes slowly grew dull and she turned around and flew back into the midst of the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers. In an instant, all of the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers bloomed at the same time, forming a sea of purple flowers that was more wondrous and fantastical than any dream.

  The girl hugged herself and curled up lik
e a helpless little kitten amidst the sea of flowers. In this eternally lonely world of darkness, these living Netherworld Udumbara Flowers were her only companions.

  Yun Che left the confines of the world of darkness and shot straight up. Even though his heart was filled with urgency, his speed was not fast and it even grew slower and slower.

  On that day, he had clearly seen the scene of Su Ling’er jumping down the Cloud’s End Cliff in the memory of the remaining Seven Stars Divine Palace disciple. Furthermore, Su Ling’er’s soul crystal was still intact as well. But in his panic, he did not even give this much thought as he lost all composure and directly jumped off Cloud’s End Cliff.

  However, during the time he had spent immersed in that world of darkness, he had regained his calm and he realized that he had left out one possibility… and it was a very big possibility at that.

  That was the possibility that Su Ling’er did indeed jump off Cloud’s End Cliff… but she did not drop into the dark abyss below!

  Instead, she had been caught by something as she was falling!

  If that purple-colored soul crystal truly belonged to Su Ling’er, then this could be said to be the likeliest reason! Given how terrifying the world of darkness was, if Su Ling’er had fallen into it, she would definitely have died in an instant.

  With this thought in mind, Yun Che chose to ascend at a slow speed while releasing his spiritual perception to its maximum range as he searched for any possible auras that he could detect.

  He believed that the intact soul crystal definitely belonged to Su Ling’er! Fate had been cruel to Su Ling’er once, so for what reason would it be cruel to her again!?

  As he strictly restrained his speed, Yun Che had only risen by around fifteen kilometers after a full fifteen minutes had passed. But his heart had also begun to sink over this period of time.

  Even though the world of darkness below him was an independent existence, there was still some darkness energy that had been dispelled from it… The faint aura of darkness devil energy that Yun Che had sensed while he descended into that world of darkness was the best proof of this.