Against the Gods - Volume 07 - Heaven Smiting Shakes the World

by Mars Gravity

  A haughty and mocking voice suddenly rang through the air and seemed to come out of nowhere. Tian Yi vigorously bounded up from the ground with his longsword instantly coming out of its scabbard. “Who is it?!!”

  This was the great general’s main tent, and it was heavily guarded by layers of defenses. And aside from all of this, Feng Huwei himself was a mighty early stage Overlord while Tian Yi was also a third stage Throne. But this voice still rang out as if that person was right beside them and they had not even noticed the presence of anyone before this. So even though their reactions were extremely swift, the hairs on their bodies instantly stood on end due to this great shock.

  Tian Yi gripped his longsword tightly as he swiftly surveyed his surroundings, but he did not even catch the shadow of the one who spoke. He turned around and prepared to take his place beside Feng Huwei. But to his shock, he saw a young man clothed in golden robes silently standing not even a foot away from Feng Huwei’s back. That person wore an extremely cold smile on his face, and his eyes were as black as the pools of the underworld. Feng Huwei, who had the strength of an Overlord, was emitting profound energy from every pore of his skin as he glared furiously… yet he did not notice the young man who was standing right behind him!!

  The longsword in Tian Yi’s hand fiercely shook as he yelled in alarm, “General, be… behind you!!”

  Feng Huwei automatically turned his head, and his face came within inches of touching the face of another person. Instantly, his pupils shrank into pinpoints as he sprang backwards. When he had straightened up, his entire body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat. He extended a finger towards the young man, and just as he was about to say something, he realized that the face of this uninvited guest seemed vaguely familiar. But after that moment of bafflement had passed, his expression suddenly changed and he croaked out the words, “You… you are Yun Che!”

  “Oh?” Yun Che crossed both hands over his chest and coldly smiled as he looked at him askance, “The Divine Phoenix Empire’s famed and brilliant Great General Feng Huwei actually recognizes me. Ah, this is a great honor indeed.”

  “Yun… Yun Che?” Tian Yi turned his head to look at Feng Huwei. “That Yun Che? Didn’t he already… die three years ago?”

  As a member of the Divine Phoenix Sect, not only did he have the status of a great general, his profound strength had also reached the Tyrant Profound Realm, so naturally he had the qualifications to compete in the Seven Nations Ranking Tournament. So this face which belonged to the person who had trampled all over the dignity of their Divine Phoenix Sect, how could he forget it.

  “You’re actually still alive!” Feng Huwei said in a deep voice. If it was the Yun Che of three years ago, Feng Huwei would definitely not be scared. But just now, Yun Che was standing not even an inch behind him, but he did not notice a single thing! Even if he was a fool, he would recognize the level of power required to perform such a feat. Moreover, even though not a single ripple of profound energy emanated from Yun Che’s body, his mere gaze alone caused Feng Huwei’s heart to start beating rapidly in his chest. All of these things added together proved that Yun Che standing before him, who should have died a long time ago, had a strength that was far more terrifying than it was three years ago.

  “And you… are about to die right now,” Yun Che said with a low, cold chuckle as a stream of icy-cold killing intent locked squarely onto Feng Huwei.

  “Don’t even think of harming my general!!” Tian Yi gave a ferocious shot as he waved his sword to protect Feng Huwei. After that, he grit his teeth and thrust the sword towards Yun Che’s chest. But at the same time, he was growing more and more flustered because such a great commotion was occurring here, yet there was no reaction from any of the guards outside… Could it be that all the guards had already been taken care of by him? But there clearly had not been any movement outside at all!!

  At the same time, all the guards stood at attention outside the big tent, their expressions cold and grave… while a colorless and shapeless “Frozen End Illusory Mirror” had engulfed the entire tent, and in this space which Yun Che controlled, no sound or aura could escape from within.

  At tip of Tian Yi’s sword appeared an eye-startling vortex, and even though this sword stroke seemed simple and without flourish, it was an attack that used all of his power. But Yun Che did not even move an inch as he waited for Tian Yi’s sword to pierce his chest.

  Seeing that Yun Che had no intention to dodge, a faint glimmer of joy appeared in Tian Yi’s eyes as all of the profound energy in his body surged forth and concentrated at the tip of the sword that was fiercely thrusting towards Yun Che’s heart…

  A sword stroke which contained all of the power of a Throne could easily cut through fine steel, yet when this sword solidly came into contact with Yun Che’s chest, not a single sound rang out. Tian Yi felt as if his sword had suddenly slipped into a void and all the profound energy he had released had exploded inside this “void” as it disappeared without a single trace…

  Tian Yi’s long sword pressed against Yun Che’s chest as he stood there, completely petrified and at a loss for words. In the next instant, the longsword in his hand shivered, and the body of the sword dispersed into a cloud of tiny dust particles which drifted to the floor. What was left was only the handle of the sword which he was still gripping.

  Tian Yi had a dazed expression on his face; his eyes were not focused at all and his entire body stood there, unmoving. Following the destruction of his sword, he too collapsed like a block of wood on the floor. His eyes were wide open, but there was no movement in them… not a single wound could be seen on his body, nor was there any life in him either.

  “Tian Yi!” Feng Huwei moved a step forward before immediately bounding backwards. He gazed at Yun Che and his expression was incomparably dark and heavy… he had not even been able to see the method by which Yun Che had used to kill Tian Yi.

  “Great General Huwei.” Yun Che gave a cold laugh as he looked at Feng Huwei, and his killing intent was so strong that he caused Feng Huwei’s body to spasm; it seemed like he did not even dare move a muscle. Yun Che continued, “I heard that a few months ago, when you led your troops into Floating Cloud City, you gave orders to capture my little aunt?”

  Yun Che’s voice abruptly grew dark and cold, “You have great courage indeed!!”

  Yun Che’s words caused Feng Huwei’s eyelids to fiercely twitch. He was extremely clear on who Yun Che was talking about. Because when he had encountered Xiao Lingxi in Floating Cloud City, the two city lords politely introduced her as Yun Che’s little aunt, and that had caused him great excitement at that time. At the moment, he immediately knew why this Yun Che who “had come back from the dead” would suddenly come to pay him a visit and why Yun Che had such a strong desire to kill him… He had heard more than once that one of the strongest sects in Blue Wind Nation, a huge sect which had survived for a millennium, had been viciously wiped off the face of the earth for the crime of kidnapping his little aunt, and he did not even leave a trace of it behind!

  Feng Huwei kept his cool and suppressed the fear that was welling up inside of him. A cold smile appeared on his face instead as he said, “You want to kill me? That will depend on whether you have the guts to or not.”

  “Oh?” The corner of Yun Che’s eyes twitched.

  “You may indeed have the power to kill me right now, but…” Feng Huwei extended a hand and pointed towards his own temple, “But there exists a soul imprint laid down by the Sect Master himself within my soul right now! If you dare to kill me, then the last thirty seconds of my memories before my death will be instantly transmitted to the Sect Master! Heh, if you dare to kill a member of the Divine Phoenix Sect, your ensuing death will be even more miserable, and all the people related to you will die miserably as well! So if you have the guts, then come and kill me!”

  “Oh really?!” His expression did not change according to what Feng Huwei expected; rather, his gaze grew amused and he gave a cold
laugh which carried contempt that was even more profound, “Then that is… simply too wonderful!!”

  Chapter 686: Profound Strength Endowment?

  As Yun Che’s voice fell, his figure suddenly blurred. Feng Huwei, whose nerves were on edge, suddenly came to that realization, but before he had any time to react, a hand had already formed a death grip around his throat; the entire process had been so fast that his eyes were basically unable to follow Yun Che’s movements.

  In fright, Feng Huwei attempted to swiftly circulate the profound energy in his entire body, but just as his profound energy was about to explode, a gigantic and earth-shattering power had already wildly surged into his body, and it instantly suppressed his profound strength and caused the profound energy wave that was about to explode to disappear without a trace.

  Feng Huwei went pale with fright; Yun Che could appear soundlessly behind him without giving off any trace of his existence. He could also kill Tian Yi in a similar fashion as well. These two things alone were enough to tell him that it was extremely likely that Yun Che’s current strength had far surpassed his own, but he had never ever thought that the gulf between his strength and Yun Che’s strength was actually so incredibly vast. As the great general Huwei of the Divine Phoenix Empire, who had always been accorded the highest of status, he had always been proud of his own strength, but under Yun Che’s profound energy suppression, he could not even circulate his own profound energy, much less cause his profound energy to go wild!

  “You…” Feng Huwei’s pupils grew so large they looked like they were about to pop. He had originally approximated that even if he could not beat Yun Che, he would still have a sixty percent chance of being able to flee to safety. But now that Yun Che’s hand was around his throat, he could not even muster any strength to resist him. Even making a single sound was an exceedingly difficult thing to accomplish.

  “Are you still going to continue asking if I have the guts to kill you or not?” Yun Che gave a cold and contemptuous laugh, “You dare to call yourself the so-called great general Huwei, yet you are actually as naive as a dumb hog.”

  Boom——

  Following the merciless release of Yun Che’s energy into Feng Huwei’s body, a muffled explosion rang out from Feng Huwei’s body. His entire body spasmed severely, and blood flowed from all seven apertures; his awareness swiftly flew away, and in this instant, Yun Che’s Profound Handle swelled out and entered Feng Huwei’s soul as he quickly read all of his memories.

  It was extremely normal for an ordinary Divine Phoenix soldier to not know what exactly the Divine Phoenix army was doing here, but it was impossible for their commander, Feng Huwei, to not know as well.

  Feng Huwei’s memories were being processed at a rapid pace, but once he tried to access the memories concerning the “Floating Cloud City Mission,” an abnormal blankness suddenly appeared within Feng Huwei’s memories!

  More accurately speaking, it was an obfuscating darkness!

  This obfuscating darkness was clearly formed from an extremely strong mental profound energy, and whether it was its strength or its aura, it definitely did not originate from Feng Huwei. It had definitely been put there by another person. And what the obfuscating darkness blanketed just so happened to be all the key memories regarding the “Floating Cloud City Mission,” hence Yun Che could not obtain any of the information that he wanted.

  “This is a Cage of Memories that has been set up by someone whose mental power is extremely high!” Jasmine said unhurriedly, “And even though the memories locked up in this cage belong to Feng Huwei, he knows very clearly that he is not allowed to use words, profound energy sound transmissions, writing… or any other method to tell other people. If he has any such intention or takes any actions that indicate he is about to do so, this mental energy will instantly trigger and destroy this portion of his memory. On the other hand, if others try to use any Soul Search techniques to obtain these memories, it will not be possible either! So likewise, your Profound Handle will not be effective in this scenario!”

  Since Jasmine said that it was not possible, then it definitely would not be possible. Moreover, Yun Che could clearly feel that this obfuscating darkness was intertwined with this portion of Feng Huwei’s memories, and if he tried to use his Profound Handle to forcibly wipe away the obfuscating darkness, then the memories which are intertwined with it will also be wiped away, leaving him with nothing in the end.

  After thinking about it for a while, Yun Che decided it was best to not force the issue, so he simply read all of Feng Huwei’s other memories and withdrew his Profound Handle once he was done.

  “It looks like among the two hundred thousand Divine Phoenix soldiers here, only Feng Huwei can give me the answer that I desire.” Yun Che said with a deep sigh, “And it is clear that the reason the Divine Phoenix Sect set up this Cage of Memories within Feng Huwei’s mind is because they were worried that the Four Great Sacred Grounds would take action against Feng Huwei and forcibly use a Soul Search technique on him.”

  After all, the only powers that could threaten the Divine Phoenix Sect within Profound Sky Continent were the Four Sacred Grounds.

  When he had infiltrated this tent, he had also clearly heard Feng Huwei and his vice commander Tian Yi mention “the Four Great Sacred Grounds,” so they clearly knew that the Four Grest Sacred Grounds were behind the occasional abductions that had occurred every now and then.

  “To be able to set up a Cage of Memories such as this one, not only does the creator need to have extremely strong mental strength, it also was accompanied with risks that cannot be controlled or calculated.” Jasmine said with a cold laugh, “This Divine Phoenix Sect seems to be hiding a huge secret indeed.”

  “At least, it is a lot bigger than what I had originally anticipated…” Yun Che’s eyes flashed. “I have always had my suspicions on why the Divine Phoenix Empire would take action against Blue Wind Nation. Or perhaps swallowing Blue Wind Nation was just a pretext and this place… is where their real objective lies!!”

  “I am suddenly rather curious about something right now.” Jasmine said with a peculiar interest, “When do you intend to depart for the Divine Phoenix Empire?”

  The thing that women had most in abundance would forever be their curiosity… and Jasmine was no exception.

  Yun Che replied without a hint of hesitation, “This very day!

  “When it comes to things like settling debts, even a one day delay is too long.”

  “Hmph.” Jasmine giggled through her nose which more or less conveyed her meaning, which was “so it’s going to be like this after all.”

  Feng Huwei, who was still in Yun Che’s clutches, finally regained his consciousness at this time. He opened his eyes and looked at the cold smile draped across Yun Che’s face and immediately felt his body go cold. He almost demanded in a quavering voice, “You… what did you just do to me?!”

  As soon as he spoke, he discovered that his own voice had become extremely weak.

  Yun Che did not reply; instead, he directly disregarded him and looked straight ahead. When he spoke, the words that came out of his mouth were filled with icy-cold cruelty and killing intent, “Feng Hengkong, now that you know I am alive, do you feel very disappointed?!”

  “I owed a debt of kindness to Feng Xue’er, but three years ago, because of the issue of bloodlines, you sought to persecute me and disturbed my peace. After that, on the Primordial Profound Ark, you ordered Feng Feiyan to find a suitable opportunity to kill me. For Xue’er’s sake, I was originally planning to forget about the whole thing and not pursue the matter any further…”

  “But you have truly given me a nice surprise!!”

  Yun Che’s voice was so sinister and cold that it caused the nearby Feng Huwei to shiver all over… he instantly understood that Yun Che was not just standing there talking to himself, but he was clearly using his death soul imprint… to send a message to the Emperor of the Divine Phoenix Empire, the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Sect
Master, Feng Hengkong!!

  That also meant that once Yun Che was finished, it would be his turn to die!

  Not only did the death soul imprint not pose any threat to Yun Che, it was actually utilized by Yun Che in the end!

  “Right now you must be wondering just where those hundreds of thousands of troops went to… That is right, I did it. However, this is only just the beginning… Ah, no! It can’t even be counted as a prologue!”

  “Killing my royal father, trampling over Blue Wind Nation’s territory, trampling over countless of my friends and countrymen, and turning my homeland into a hellhole filled with fear, despair, and suffering! All of these things are weighed against you and I want your Divine Phoenix Empire… to pay it back a hundred thousand fold! So wash your neck and wait!!”

  Bang!!

  With an explosion, Feng Huwei was fiercely thrown to the ground by Yun Che, and his body instantly ruptured as a large amount of blood and flesh was splattered against the ground… yet not a single drop of it had touched Yun Che’s body.

  No one would have thought that the Divine Phoenix Empire’s famed general, Huwei, who caused the other six nations to tremble in fear, would die in such a miserable fashion. Forget about leaving a corpse behind, not even a whole finger was left… all because he touched Yun Che’s reverse scale!

  So even though Yun Che had not obtained the answer he wanted, he had already killed the person that he had wanted to kill. Furthermore, Feng Huwei was an important member of the Divine Phoenix Sect, so his memories contained many things regarding the sect itself… including some of its secrets.

  Yun Che withdrew his Frozen End Illusory Mirror and silently took his leave as he returned to Floating Cloud City. Meanwhile, outside of the large tent where he had just been in, the layers of guards stood at their posts, their expressions solemn, as not a single one of them knew that their grand commander Feng Huwei had died without even leaving a corpse behind.