Against the Gods - Volume 09 - Realm of the Gods

by Mars Gravity

  “Hoho, but of course,” Xiao Hong said with a chuckle. After that, he spoke in a sentimental voice, “After all, this is a place of sadness for the Master. So even he very rarely came here after that happened?”

  “A place of sadness?” Yun Che asked with mild astonishment. “What exactly happened in this place? Why would it be a place of sadness for Grandfather?”

  “Oh?” An astonished expression appeared on Xiao Hong’s face, “Could it be that the Master still hasn’t told Youngest Master yet? Oh… Hoho, well that can’t be helped. Master definitely would not bring this kind of thing up to the both of you. After all, this is also the place that brings the most pain to Master’s heart.”

  “…” Yun Che sensed that something was amiss and he continued to ask, “Grandpa Hong, what exactly happened in this place? Why would this be the place that brings the most pain to Grandfather’s heart? If you know about this, could you please tell me in the greatest detail possible? After all, I’m no longer the small child that I used to be all those years ago. After I find out, it might just be possible that I could think of a way to help Grandfather walk out from under the dark shadow cast by this place.”

  To his surprise, Xiao Hong shook his head, “There’s no helping it. After all, the dead remain buried. However, there’s nothing wrong with telling Youngest Master about this affair. After all, Youngest Master has already become such an incredible person.”

  “Youngest Master, are you aware of the circumstances in which Madam passed away all those years ago?” Xiao Hong suddenly asked.

  Yun Che replied, “Uncle Xiao Ying had been killed by malicious means all those years ago and his wife wasted away while pining for him. Furthermore, no one was aware of whether their child was even dead or alive. The impact Grandmother received from these events was too great and the sorrow in her heart ate away at her body like an illness. So she passed away due to melancholy not too long after she gave birth to Little Aunt… Even though this wasn’t something that Grandfather told me himself, this is a story that is well-known in the Xiao Family and the entire Floating Cloud City. Could it be that there is still something hidden as well?”

  Before he turned sixteen, Yun Che had never once suspected that Xiao Lie’s wife had taken ill due to her melancholy and had died from sadness after she had given birth to Xiao Lingxi. However, after he turned sixteen, he returned with the memories of his life in the Azure Cloud Continent, so the medical knowledge he had acquired had naturally caused some doubts to form in his mind.

  As the saying goes, women are weak and delicate but they become strong as steel once they become mothers. Even though the pain of losing her son pierced into the innermost depths of her heart, Xiao Lie’s wife would definitely have transferred all of her attention and love to her newborn daughter once she had given birth to Lingxi. And no matter how much pain she still bore in her heart, she would have tried her best to turn that pain into strength—this was not only a mother’s instinct, it was also the grandest thing about motherhood.

  So she definitely would not have cast aside her daughter and “passed away from sadness,” no matter what happened.

  Besides, she definitely was not alone and isolated at that time. There was still Xiao Lie, whom she was madly in love with, by her side.

  So, whether it was medical diagnosis or human nature, it was highly unlikely that Xiao Lie’s wife would have “passed away from sadness.” There had to be other reasons as well. For example… she could have died due to an actual illness?

  Xiao Hong gazed at the eastern patch of flattened hills as he slowly recounted the story to Yun Che, “During those years, Young Master Xiao Ying had died from an evil scheme and Youngest Master was missing as well. Everything seemed to be going downhill and Madam was heavily affected by those events. Her face was bathed in tears every single day. Furthermore, she had just gotten pregnant at the time, so the Master was afraid that her sorrow would be too excessive and might end up harming her body and her baby. So he did his best to comfort her and cheer her up every single day… Sigh, how could the Master also not be filled with sorrow and pain at that time? However, his feelings for Madam were indeed deep to the bone.”

  Yun Che, “…”

  “When Madam had carried Miss Lingxi for six months, it just so happened that the orchids in this place were in full bloom. Orchids were the flowers that Madam loved the most, so the Master brought Madam to this place to admire the blooming orchid flowers. He planned to use this to soothe a bit of the pain she felt from losing her son. At that time, I had also tagged along to serve and accompany them.”

  “Madam’s mood did indeed turn better as morning faded to night and this was a rare sight indeed. But just as the Master was about to escort Madam back to Floating Cloud City, an unforeseen mishap suddenly occured.”

  “What mishap?” Yun Che immediately asked.

  “Madam… was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning.” The scene he had witnessed had occurred over twenty years ago but when Xiao Hong thought of it right now, his expression still turned into one of trembling fear.

  “Struck by… a bolt of lightning?” Yun Che had been struck dumb and for a moment, his brain could not process the words he had just heard, “What do you mean? How did she just suddenly get… struck by lightning?”

  “The Master and I simply could not puzzle it out either,” Xiao Hong said with a sigh of lament. “The orchids were in full bloom and the blue sky seemed to stretch on forever. Moreover, there wasn’t even a single cloud in the sky, so there definitely weren’t any dark clouds in the vicinity. However, a bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky and so happened to strike Madam’s body… Furthermore, that bolt of lightning was strangely black in color.”

  “…Black in color!?”

  “That is right. The Master and I saw it very clearly. It was indeed a black bolt of lightning and it was the first time either the Master or I had seen such a thing in our lives. Its color was as incredibly bizarre as its sudden appearance. At that time, the Master thought someone was trying to assassinate him and that the villain who killed Xiao Ying had come back to tie up all the loose ends. He searched the area in frantic fury but there wasn’t anyone on these hilly slopes but the three of us. Also, no further incidents occurred after that.”

  “What happened after that? What happened to Grandmother after she was struck by that bolt of black lightning?” Yun Che asked in an urgent voice as his brows knit together tightly.

  It was already extremely unusual for lightning to strike when the sky was clear. If Yun Che had witnessed it, his first reaction would have been to assume it was artificial. Moreover, black-colored lightning… The basic color of lightning profound energy was purple. Once his Yun Family’s Purple Cloud Art had reached an extremely high level, the lightning it produced would turn red. But no matter whether it was the Profound Sky Continent, the Illusory Demon Realm or the Azure Cloud Continent of the past, he had never seen or heard of any person or any sect who was able to create lightning which was pitch-black in color.

  But when Fen Juechen and Xuanyuan Wentian released their darkness profound energy, extremely compressed darkness profound energy would at times turn into lightning-shaped profound light beams. So when one saw it, it would look like black lightning… But there was basically no darkness profound energy which existed on the Profound Sky Continent of more than twenty years ago. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the only one who could use darkness profound energy, was securely trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest which wasn’t even on the continent in the first place.

  “After being struck by lightning, Madam fainted dead away and fell into a coma for a full three days before finally waking up. However the weirdest thing was that there were no traces of any wounds inflicted by lightning on Madam’s body. But after that, Madam’s body became exceptionally weak and she was frequently affected by fainting spells during the day while nightmares plagued her sleep at night. The Master looked for all the famous doctors near and fa
r and he tried using various remedies, great and small, to strengthen Madam’s body. But it was all to no avail. After that, Madam’s pregnancy reached a whole thirteen months before Miss Lingxi was finally born. After Lingxi was born, Madam’s body steadily deteriorated and it was not long before she passed from this world…”

  Chapter 926: The Sacred Hand’s Retirement

  Black lightning…

  No wounds…

  A pregnancy which had lasted thirteen months!?

  ……

  “Youngest Master? Youngest Master!”

  Xiao Hong’s two consecutive cries caused Yun Che to raise his head, shaking him from his reverie. According to his knowledge of the profound way, black lightning was something that definitely should not exist. Furthermore, according to his medical knowledge, a thirteen month pregnancy was something that should not happen to humans either. Even if it did happen, the newborn child would definitely not be a normal child… But after Xiao Lingxi was born, she had always been healthy and Yun Che did not remember her falling sick even once while they were growing up.

  “Ah, so Grandmother passed away because of this event,” Yun Che muttered softly to himself as suspicion and doubt flooded his heart. Given the present heights he had reached, there should not be anything that happened in the Profound Sky Continent that exceeded his knowledge. But if Xiao Hong’s tale was true, then his knowledge could account for neither the black-colored lightning nor the Xiao Lingxi who was born after a thirteen month pregnancy.

  Just like how he was completely mystified by the fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal that was found in this place.

  “Yes,” Xiao Hong said with a light sigh of lament. “However, the Master did not tell anyone about this matter. After all, Madam being struck by lightning out of the blue could be construed and distorted into her being struck by the wrath of the heavens. After that, Madam died and the Master announced that her melancholy had turned into illness and she had passed away from sadness. It is just that, he never came to the place ever again after that. This was also the reason he never allowed you or the young missus to go anywhere near this place.”

  “…I understand,” Yun Che said with faint nod of his head. “Grandpa Hong, thank you for telling me all of these things.”

  “Hoho,” Xiao Hong let out a dry chuckle. “Ever since the Master has come back, his complexion has become much better and his face has been glowing. This has caused me to feel great relief, so I think it is best that you don’t mention the things regarding Madam in front of the Master, lest you reopen old wounds.”

  “Mn, I understand,” Yun Che replied.

  Xiao Hong went east as he continued to search for those elusive orchids. Yun Che remained in the same spot for a very long time. The words that Xiao Hong said tumbled through his head but in the end, he still was not able to come up with an explanation for these events. Finally, he exhaled lightly before muttering to himself, “Whatever, it is something that happened more than twenty years ago, who knows what exactly happened at that time. Black-colored lightning… It is extremely likely that the light had played tricks on their eyes. A thirteen month pregnancy… the only possibility was that they had mistakenly thought that she was pregnant for the first three months.”

  Yun Che gave himself that final explanation and did not think on this matter any further. After all, it was something that had happened over twenty years ago and the dead would remain buried regardless. Furthermore, Xiao Lingxi had grown up without any mishaps, so even if he continued to think about this strange affair which had happened in the past, not only would this event be nearly impossible to trace, the attempt would be completely meaningless as well.

  Yun Che took out his Sound Transmission Jade while he was flying back to Floating Cloud City and found a Sound Transmission Imprint that had been recorded years ago.

  “Hua Minghai, where are you now?”

  After he had sent the sound transmission, it had only taken a few short breaths for the Sound Transmission Jade to buzz with the Hua Minghai’s swift reply. An incredibly emotional voice rang out through the Sound Transmission Jade, “Yun Che… Big Brother, is it really you? I… I’m not dreaming, am I?”

  “Of course it’s me. Where are you right now?”

  “I… I’m somewhere to the north of Divine Phoenix City, I’m no more than five kilometers from the city proper.” Hua Minghai’s voice was still filled with deep emotion.

  “The northern region of Divine Phoenix City?” Yun Che’s eyes jumped as he immediately stopped in midair and sent an instant reply, “Stay right where you are, I am going to find you immediately… and I’m going to deliver a present to you in passing as well.”

  After he put away his Sound Transmission Jade, Yun Che swiftly flew back to Floating Cloud City and took a certain someone off Luo Chi’s hands. After that, he boarded the Primordial Profound Ark to directly translate to the area which was around five kilometers away from the northern gate of the Divine Phoenix City.

  Even though he had not seen Hua Minghai for a long time, his aura was still familiar to Yun Che. He locked onto Hua Minghai’s location the moment he appeared and rapidly descended from the sky, landing in front of him.

  Hua Minghai still had not recovered from the wave of emotions that had washed over him when he received Yun Che’s sound transmission; his hand still tightly gripped around his Sound Transmission Jade. But after that, he saw Yun Che suddenly appear in front of him. His hands shook and he nearly dropped the Sound Transmission Jade that he was holding onto. After that, he spoke in an extremely emotional voice, “Big Brother Yun!! You… I… Ah… Ah! Xiaoya, come quickly! Hurry up and pay your respects to the man who saved us!”

  Just like every other time Yun Che had met him, Hua Minghai was currently disguised and it was a double-layered disguise at that. An elegant and gentle-looking woman stood at his side. Her eyes shone with a bright and clear light and there was no trace of weakness coming from her body. After she heard Hua Minghai’s words, she hurriedly moved forward and she attempted to bow down in respect, “Ru Xiaoya greatly thanks Big Brother Yun Che for saving my life…”

  “Cough…” Yun Che hurriedly raised a hand, a thread of profound energy shooting out and stopping the movements of the two people in front of him. After that, he spoke with a helpless expression on his face, “You rascal! All those years ago, you had a completely fearless attitude and swaggered about like you had the biggest cojones around, so why are you trying to act all coy and shy in front of me now?”

  “Hahahaha,” a loud and carefree guffaw escaped from Hua Minghai’s mouth. “In front of other people, I am naturally unafraid. I even walked in and out of the Divine Phoenix Sect tens of times but Big Brother Yun is different. Right now you are the foremost person in the entire history of this continent, even the Four Sacred Grounds are under your feet… Phew, I truly never thought that the person that I met in Divine Phoenix City all those years ago would actually turn out to be such a big shot. Ah, my loss at that time was truly well-deserved.”

  “How can it simply just be well-deserved? It could practically be considered the thing that is most worthy of showing off in your entire life,” the woman beside him said with a gentle smile.

  “Heh heh but of cour…” Hua Minghai’s lips were just about to curve into a smile before they suddenly froze in place. Because he suddenly realized just who Yun Che was carrying around. Even though that face did not possess the slightest trace of its usual pomp and authority, even if that person… turned into ashes, Hua Minghai would still definitely recognize him.

  “Ye… Xuan… GE!!” Hua Minghai’s expression turned sinister all of the sudden, an incredibly intense baleful energy radiating from his eyes. His hands clenched into tightly-balled fists and when he shouted out that name, even the woman standing behind him started to shake as her hands tightly clutched at Hua Minghai’s arm.

  Yun Che flung out his arm and threw Ye Xuange at Hua Minghai’s feet before saying, “Ye Meixie is al
ready dead and the Sun Moon Divine Envoys and all of the elders of Sun Moon Divine Hall have been buried. Only this Ye Xuange remains because you had said in the past that the person that you wanted to kill the most was Ye Xuange. His profound strength has been crippled, so if you want him to die or suffer a fate even worse than death, that’s up to you. Sun Moon Divine Hall will soon disappear from the Profound Sky Continent forever, so you don’t need to be worried about any future consequences.”

  Yun Che had made an extra effort to save Ye Xuange specially for Hua Minghai. This was naturally not only due to the words that he had said at the time… He was someone who definitely was not willing to leave any favors unpaid, so he used this Ye Xuange as a present to return the favor Hua Minghai did for him all those years ago when he gave Yun Che the Extreme Mirage Lightning skill. After all, Extreme Mirage Lightning had been a great help to him over the intervening years and it had even saved his life many times.

  “Big Brother Yun… I…” Hua Minghai raised his head, he was so overcome with emotion at this time that he did not know what to say. Ye Xuange, who had collapsed to the ground, strove to raise his head so that he could see Hua Minghai. He struggled on the ground while he spoke discontentedly, “You… Just who are you… what grievance does… this old man have with you?”

  “What grievance?” Hua Minghai looked down his eyes turning incredibly dark and fierce, “Old villain Ye, do you still remember the name Hua Guhuan!?”

  “Ah…” Ye Xuange’s face froze as he remembered that name in the next instant, “You… you… You’re the Ghost Mirage Sacred Hand, Hua Minghai!”

  “That’s right, it is I!” Hua Minghai waved a hand over his face, removing the disguise he was wearing and revealing his true appearance, “For the sake of stealing the Extreme Mirage Lightning technique, your Sun Moon Divine Hall pursued my Thief God Clan for many generations. What’s more, my parents died miserably at your hands, you old villain… and now the Thief God Clan consists of only one person! Me! Hua Minghai! All those years ago, my wife was also struck by your cold poison and she nearly lost her life because of that… Even when I dream, I dream of tearing you into bits and pieces! And today, you have finally fallen into my hands!!”