Against the Gods - Volume 09 - Realm of the Gods

by Mars Gravity

  Boom!

  Within the burst of profound energy and the howling of sword wind, Yun Che tightly lifted the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. However, he did not swing it and just held it in place. No matter how unresigned he was to this, he was absolutely clear that even if he bitterly cultivated like this without rest for more than twenty hours every day, it was impossible for him to reach the Divine Tribulation Realm in thirty months.

  This was a natural chasm even the God Realm viewed as impossible so there was no way an ordinary method would work.

  Yun Che closed his eyes and then recalled his route of cultivation amidst the silence.

  His starting point had been from the Evil God’s Profound Veins he obtained from Jasmine.

  His cultivation had also advanced under Jasmine’s guidance. However, his profound strength had not come from the stable advancement of doing his best to cultivate. Instead, it had come in great waves every time.

  Back then, he had also possessed an unquenchable thirst for profound strength because of Xiao Lie and Xiao Lingxi. With that thirst in hand, he went to New Moon City and didn’t hesitate to provoke various great sects there. When he came to the Blue Wind Profound Palance, he immediately challenged the inner palace disciples on the heavenly ranking list… then after that, in order to make another great breakthrough, he headed for the Wasteland of Death.

  Beneath the suppression of Heavenly Sword Villa, he forced himself to eat the flesh of a flame dragon, drink the blood of a flame dragon…

  In the Primordial Profound Ark, there was that spatial storm that was even more frightening than nightmares.

  In Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, he leapt into the Sea of Death while carrying the Little Demon Empress…

  Before he came to the God Realm, he flew two more times. The first one came from Feng Xue’er’s Phoenix vital yin and the other time came from when darkness woke within him below Cloud’s End Cliff.

  On his road of cultivation, it seemed as though there had never been tranquility or steady progress.

  His luck was outrageous and Jasmine had repeatedly told this to him many times. However, what made him progress that fast was more due to various circumstances that were either critical, adverse, dangerous, desperate, deadly… Even he himself was unable to count how many times he had brushed shoulders with death.

  Perhaps it could be said that everything he possessed was obtained with obsession and him risking his life.

  “Thirty months… Divine Tribulation Realm… I have to think of a way… even if I have to use unscrupulous ways to do so!!”

  A savage, evil energy brewed within both Yun Che’s eyes and soul. It wasn’t targeted at any enemy but himself.

  “Eeeeeh? Master, what are you doing? Why does it seem like you’re really angry all of a sudden?”

  It was rare that Hong’er was not asleep within the pearl of the sword hilt. She currently looked at him curiously, with wide, vermillion eyes. It was because Yun Che’s current appearance did indeed look somewhat frightening. He was baring his teeth like some fierce, man-eating beast.

  “No matter how hard it is, I definitely… have to see Jasmine again.” Yun Che tightly gritted his teeth. “Hong’er you probably also miss your Big Sister Jasmine too.”

  Jasmine is a goddess from the heavens, she’s even a supreme character within the God Realm. In her eyes, the Divine Tribulation Realm is like dust. If I can’t even pass through this threshold… what right do I have to appear in her life again?

  “Oooh… I think I do maybe miss her a little.” Hong’er tilted her head with uncertainty.

  “~！@#￥%……” The corner of Yun Che’s mouth twitched. Then, he took a deep breath and thought aloud, “The conditions to participate in the Profound God Convention having profound strength no weaker than the Divine Tribulation Realm while below the age of sixty. I have absolute confidence that I can reach the Divine Tribulation Realm before the age of sixty. However, at present… two and a half years… how exactly can I do this…”

  “…Squishy? Master, why do you want to squishy yourself? Is it because you don’t feel well?” Hong’er gaped.

  Yun Che went nuts. “It’s sixty! Not squishy! Sixty as in sixty years old!”

  “Sixty years old, that’s so old! When Master turns sixty, will he become an old grandpa too?” Hong’er blinked and bit her finger somewhat anxiously.

  “Of course not! Even when I turn six thousand years old, I’ll look the same.” Yun Che rolled his eyes as he thought to himself: This little girl who’s probably more than a million years old actually thinks that sixty is really old…

  Speaking of which, with my current cultivation and special bloodline, my lifespan should exceed six thousand, right?

  As he deeply pondered this with concentrated brows, Yun Che slowly put down the Heaven Smiting Sword. Then, he slowly picked up a sparkling bead that flickered with an odd blue light and seemed to have been made from congealed ice.

  The Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet!!

  This was the first time he had touched a pellet from the God Realm. Its aura couldn’t be compared with any pellet Yun Che had seen before. What he was even more uncertain about was its medicinal force. He only knew after hearing from the description of others that it could temper one’s body and could greatly raise his profound strength.

  When it had been taken out, it caused great shock. Even Li Mingcheng and Ji Hanfeng exhibited great longing for it, evident that its usefulness was no small matter—and this was cultivation in the divine way too.

  If he used it on himself…

  But Mu Bingyun had also specially warned him strictly that he wasn’t able to bear the medicinal power of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet with his current cultivation so he absolutely should not consume it. Even if he reached the divine way in the future, she had to be there to assist him before he was allowed to consume it.

  He had kept those words in his mind yesterday and possessed no thoughts of immediately consuming the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet.

  But now…

  “Phew…” Yun Che took a deep breath and pinched the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet even tighter.

  My body was able to resist the attacks from Ji Hanfeng, an expert with the power of the divine way… so how can it not endure against a little pellet!?

  Alongside a close to crazy notion and his reliance on the Dragon God physique, Yun Che finally gritted his teeth and tossed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet into his mouth and instantly swallowed right after.

  Hnnn——

  In an instant, an instant where he was completely unable to react, Yun Che’s body went cold and the sound of an extremely muffled buzzing sound echoed in his brain.

  It was as though a glacier that had been sealed for ten million years had cracked open inside his body. Boundless cold energy gathered and then became countless ice-cold currents that burst outwards. Even the smallest current within them held frightening power that exceeded Yun Che’s expectations.

  As though he had been pierced by thousands of arrows, Yun Che instantly kneeled on the ground. He didn’t fear any kind of frost aura but this was still medicine at the divine way level, one whose medicinal force was able to let those in the Divine Origin Realm substantially increase their strength.

  Yun Che gritted his teeth as painful groans escaped his mouth. His body which had nearly gone out of control had twisted to the point where it looked as though he was sitting upright. His strong willpower did its best to change the circumstances as the profound energy in his body attempted to guide the frightening medicinal power that roamed in every direction.

  I have to… endure it…

  A layer of blue light now floated above Yun Che’s body. Even though this layer of blue light was cold, it was not docile. Instead, it moved like a violent flame.

  It was not merely the surface of his body either. Every drop of blood, every meridian and every cell in his body were being flooded, infiltrated and bound by that blue light. If he wasn’t able to
bear this excessively violent medicinal power, there was no doubt that his entire body might become crippled.

  However, Yun Che actually did not try to lead or force the medicinal force outside his body. Instead, he used his profound energy to do his best to collect it all, drawing it to his profound veins and meridians. What he wanted was not just to endure it but absorb as much as possible to refine it!

  The blue light became even stronger and more irritable; it was like a blue fire that had been caressed by a gale. The atmosphere in the cultivation room then changed. A light blue vacuum almost thirty meters wide had unwittingly appeared in Yun Che’s surroundings.

  Even in the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet was considered a high level pellet. Though it was very small, it was still made from the profound core of a high level ice beast using water from the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. The medicinal force was supposed to be violent in the first place. Even an Ice Phoenix disciple in the Divine Soul Realm would find it difficult to refine alone. If one was in the Divine Origin Realm, they had to at least have an expert in the Divine Spirit Realm assisting them in the refining process. Refining it alone was no different from seeking death.

  As for the Sovereign Profound Realm… that was precisely seeking death.

  Furthermore, the pellet Yun Che obtained was one Mu Fengshu had specially set aside for Li Mingcheng. It had the strongest medicinal force out of all the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellets that Freezing Snow Hall gave out as rewards to the top rankers. The origin power contained in this profound core came from an ice beast in the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm!

  If the one who consumed this Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet was not Yun Che and was some other profound practitioner at his level, their profound veins would have exploded in a few breaths under the release of medicinal power. Their bodies would be destroyed both internally and externally, then become ice dust.

  The Evil God’s Profound Veins, the Dragon God’s physique and the protection of the Rage God’s power… all these were the reason why he dared to risk his life!!

  Yun Che’s body occasionally swelled and contracted. Sweat poured from his body like a torrential rainfall before immediately turning to ice. Even his skin was gradually beginning to change to a deep blue color. Only his teeth incessantly chattering proved that his willpower had not been crushed during the entire process.

  ——————————————

  Chapter 968: Risking Life, Jadefallen Ice Soul (2)

  An unceasingly large commotion arose due to the information on the Profound God Convention relayed through the Voice of Eternal Heaven. Other than the Eastern Divine Region, the largest Western Divine Region, as well as the Southern and Northern Divine Regions naturally received the news as well. Similar large uproars arose in these three regions.

  Under these requirements for this upcoming Profound God Convention, that were strangely much harsher than the past conventions, there was only an extremely small number of disciples who possessed the qualifications to participate even in Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, which was of the highest caliber in the Snow Song Realm. Furthermore, nearly all of them were from Ice Phoenix Divine Hall. Those in the thirty-six Ice Phoenix Palaces who qualified numbered less than a hundred and all of them were at the very brink of being qualified.

  The people in the Snow Song Realm who were qualified for this heavenly opportunity with the Eternal Heaven Pearl were all unable to contain their excitement. However, they were also incomparably aware that no matter how hard they were to work, it was definitely impossible for them to obtain the qualifications to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm… Squeezing into the top one thousand positions of the young generation of the entire Eastern Divine Region was but an illusory fantasy for profound practitioners of a middle star realm.

  Because of this Voice of Eternal Heaven, Ice Phoenix Realm lost its usual calm. A large portion of people were focused on the Profound God Convention that was going to happen thirty months later, as it would definitely be more extraordinary than usual.

  “Junior Brother Yun, open the door. Master is looking for you.”

  Standing in front of Yun Che’s cultivation room, Mu Xiaolan called out a little impatiently. The Voice of Eternal Heaven back then had evidently shaken him greatly. Mu Bingyun had thought that after he calmed down, he would take the initiative to look for her and seek a way to resolve this issue. However, five days had passed, Yun Che had still yet to make a move. Furthermore, from sensing his aura, it seemed he had stayed in the cultivation room for these five days and had not even stepped half a foot out of the room the entire time.

  “Junior Brother Yun… Yun Che… Hey! Hurry and open the door, Master is looking for you!”

  Mu Xiaolan’s voice gradually grew, yet the stone door of the cultivation room was still tightly shut, without the slightest of movements the entire time.

  “If you don’t open the door now and incur Master’s wrath, I won’t help you! Open the door quickly and visit Master!”

  “Hey!!”

  Boom!!

  A bolt of blue light slammed onto the stone door. Mu Xiaolan irritatedly stomped her foot, turned around and left.

  “Where’s Yun Che?” Seeing Mu Xiaolan returning alone, Mu Bingyun asked, surprised.

  “Hmph.” Mu Xiaolan pouted and said, “I called for him several times but he ignored me entirely. I even said it was Master who was looking for him… So infuriating! How can he behave so arrogantly just because he’s favored by Master!? So infuriating, so infuriating!”

  “…” The light in Mu Bingyun’s eyes lightly stirred and she gently said, “Though Yun Che’s words and actions are more willful than regular people, he is not someone who does not know manners. Could something have happened to him?”

  “Xiaolan, accompany me to take a look.”

  “Ou.”

  Mu Bingyun personally headed towards the cultivation room occupied by Yun Che. The moment she approached, a strange aura suddenly made her brows twitch. Her figure quickly moved forward and with a flash of blue light, she instantly pushed open the huge door of the cultivation room.

  “Ah!” The instant the huge door of the cultivation room was opened, Mu Xiaolan cried out.

  An icy cold aura that was as chaotic as a blizzard furiously poured out of the cultivation room. The origin of this chaotic aura, was actually the blue figure at the center of the cultivation room.

  A slightly raging blue light was emitting out of that person’s body and his entire body was already encased within a thick layer of ice. His entire body was still and his features could no longer be clearly seen. Only the silhouette of his body and limbs could be faintly discerned.

  “Ah… He… He…” Yun Che was clearly the only one who could be in this cultivation room. However, what surfaced before Mu Xiaolan’s eyes was but an ice sculpture that was constantly emitting a chaotic cold energy. Furthermore, this chaotic cold energy evidently carried the aura of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet.

  Mu Xiaolan was a little scared stiff, as she stuttered, “He… Could it be… Could it be that he forcefully consumed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet?”

  Mu Bingyun’s snowy complexion went cold. With a wave of her hand, the cultivation room’s stone door immediately closed and her figure flashed to Yun Che’s side. She reached out with her right hand, opened her slender fingers, that seemed to be sculpted from snow, and swiftly caressed Yun Che’s body.

  “Is… Is he still alive?” Mu Xiaolan asked somewhat fearfully. The Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet was something even she did not dare to forcibly consume yet Yun Che had actually done it alone. With his mortal body… the consequence of this action was fundamentally a death sentence. Moreover, five full days had already passed.

  By now, his entire body should’ve completely turned into ice powder inside and out…

  Even though she didn’t like Yun Che that much, she didn’t dislike him that much either… Her only issue was that her master pampered him way too much
.

  When she asked this question, she didn’t have hope of receiving a positive answer. She immediately saw Mu Bingyun’s expression change from extremely grave to a bit odd. Then, she revealed more and more shock, as though she had suddenly seen something unbelieveable.

  “Master, how… how is he?” Mu Xiaolan asked even more carefully.

  “He’s… still alive,” Mu Bingyun answered with an odd tone of voice.

  “Ah?” Mu Xiaolan was stunned.

  “Furthermore, even though his meridians have suffered some damage, his profound veins…”

  Ding…

  Before Mu Bingyun finished her sentence, the layer of ice that encased Yun Che suddenly broke into a large amount of chunks. Then, when it scattered about, before the pieces even fell to the ground, they were sent far away by a current of air.

  When the ice layer fell, Yun Che’s body was revealed… The profound energy scuttling on the surface of his body held slight tints of blue light. As for the clothes on his body, they had long since become ice powder so when the ice layer broke down, he appeared naked before both Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan.

  “Ahh—” Mu Xiaolan’s beautiful eyes widened as she gaped. Before she had finished the latter half of her shriek, she had already been stopped by Mu Bingyun. “Don’t make a sound.”

  Mu Xiaolan hurriedly covered her mouth as she turned around lightning quick. A captivating red instantly flushed from her cheeks to her neck, her breathing had also become panicked and it took a long while before she spoke with a trembling voice, “He… He… He’s… not wearing…”

  “Not only is he not dead… he’s actually still continuously absorbing the medicinal power of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet.”

  Mu Bingyun’s voice was extremely soft but deep shock was still within it. With a wave of her hand, an icy mist fell, covering half of Yun Che’s body. Then, she took two steps back. “Xiaolan, you can turn around now.”

  Mu Xiaolan carefully turned around but she still didn’t dare to raise her head to look at Yun Che. She timidly whispered, “Is… Is he really alright?”