Against the Gods - Volume 05 - Primordial Profound Ark

by Mars Gravity

  The first flower petal landed on his shoulder… That was clearly a flower petal, yet, at that very moment, he basically felt a mountain pressing down on his shoulder, causing his body which was flying in the air to sink. And immediately after, the second, third, fourth, fifth… More and more flower petals descended onto his body. With each additional petal, Ye Xinghan’s body would be pressed down even more. After a few dozen petals, he couldn’t even float in the air any longer as he fiercely fell from the sky.

  And even after landing on the ground, that immense suppressive force still did not allow him to stand straight, as it forcefully pushed him into his knees… In the end, his entire upper body was tightly pressed onto the cold, hard ground, and he could no longer even raise his head.

  “Ji… Qian… Rou!! Ye Xinghan’s head was fixed to the ground. With a hoarse voice, he roared out. “I will definitely not forgive you. If there comes a day you land in my hands, I…”

  A flower petal immediately stuck onto Ye Xinghan’s lips, preventing him from making another sound. Ji Qianrou shook his head, and said compassionately. “Youths, after all, become rash too easily. In times like this, you actually still dare to quarrel with me. Aren’t you afraid that once I get angry, I might accidentally slice off your head… When a head is sliced off, the throat will gush out blood enough to fill the sky… Oh… Now that’s the most beautiful, the most intoxicating scene in the human realm.”

  The flower petals continued to fall, gradually piling up the ground. At the center of it, was a stack of petals which was not exactly too tall. Within the stack of petals, was Ye Xinghan, who was completely buried within, where not even a single corner of his clothes was exposed out.

  Ji Qianrou’s body gently rose to the sky, as he lightly muttered to himself. “It always feels the worst to owe someone a favor. But now I have finally managed to return it. I don’t know how long Little Hanhan will be buried either… Huu. If Little Cheche still ends up being captured by Little Hanhan, then I can no longer be blamed for it, hmph. Hehehehe…”

  Chapter 465: Sky Reaching Ancient Fortress

  Ji Qianrou appeared and intentionally stopped Ye Xinghan. To Yun Che, this was an unexpected surprise.

  Ji Qianrou’s speech and actions all exuded a demonic aura, but his conceit was not only just written on his face, it was imprinted within his bones —— This was the impression Ji Qianrou left for Yun Che.

  The day before, Yun Che had went to look for Ji Qianrou to strike a conversation and helped him cure the toad poison that has been bothering him for years. Partly, it was in order to thank him for speaking on his behalf at the arena, but even more so, it was so that he would owe him a favor… Because to such a self conceited and arrogant person, when he owed a favor, it had be repaid no matter what.

  He didn’t expect that, he would receive Ji Qianrou’s repayment so soon.

  However, he knew that Ji Qianrou would not kill Ye Xinghan, and how long he was able to block him was also an uncertainty. Therefore, Yun Che didn’t relax one bit as he carried Feng Xue’er and sprinted with all his might, leaving behind a trail of sweat.

  Time flowed past quickly. In this barren, empty, yet mysterious and abnormal world, even the flow of time would cause one’s senses to be fuzzy. Yun Che started to feel exhausted; he could no longer tell how long he had been running. It could have been seven to eight hours, or maybe fifteen to sixteen hours. His speed started to slow down before he finally collapsed to a stop and sat on the floor, breathing deeply.

  During his previous life in the Azure Cloud Continent, frequently having to escape was already a norm. However, this was the first time in his two lives that he had felt such immense pressure and danger. Because this place was simply too barren. All skills related to hiding, disguising and even anti-tracking abilities were all useless. Otherwise, if this place had been mountainous or was a forested area, even if he were carrying Feng Xue’er, it would not take too much effort for him to shake off Ye Xinghan. Last time, Burning Heaven Clan sent eight elders whose strength and speed largely outclassed him, but he had still tricked them in circles.

  “Big brother Yun… You’re sweating a lot…” Feng Xue’er said with her dimly lit eyes.

  Yun Che wiped his forehead with his hand and laughed: “To a man, sweating this much is nothing at all. I can only blame myself for not being strong enough and running out of strength so quickly.”

  “That’s not true… Big brother Yun is awesome… More awesome than anyone else…” Feng Xue’er gently said: “Are we… safe now?”

  “No idea, but we’re probably safe.” Yun Che consoled.

  “Look in front!” Jasmine suddenly said.

  Yun Che’s concentrated at once and rapidly looked up before becoming stunned.

  In front of him, the barren empty land had disappeared and a dark blue wall stood tall there. It was so tall that it blocked the view of the sky and so wide that the ends could not be seen. With Yun Che eyesight, he couldn’t see its boundaries, whether horizontally or vertically.

  Directly in front of Yun Che, the bluish black wall had an opened stone door. The stone door was three hundred meters tall and and three hundred meters wide. Everywhere else was filled with many stone windows that were tens of meters tall and wide. Between the windows was just a stretch of grey, it was impossible to tell what was inside.

  This is…

  Yun Che looked up and his mind went into a trance for some time. In regards to such a massive structure where the borders could not be seen, he should have clearly seen it from hundred of miles away. Furthermore, this place was so barren that even if the infrastructure was a hundred times smaller, it would no doubt be exceptionally out of place and spotted immediately.

  However, he had never seen it at all when he was sprinting over. From his vision, this was undoubtedly a barren land previously.

  It seemed as though this massive structure had appeared out of thin air!

  “From the looks of it, it probably is an ancient massive fortress!” Jasmine carefully said: “Its aura is extremely old and it should be a building of the Primordial Era. It might be something that existed along with the Primordial Profound Ark and not something built in later.”

  “Why didn’t I see it previously?” Yun Che asked in surprise: “Jasmine, when did you know it was there?”

  “Just now.” Jasmine replied.

  “Just now?” Yun Che was in shock.

  “You don’t need to be shocked,” Jasmine calmly said: “Even though this fortress is extremely old, the strength of the profound formation on its surface has not completely disappeared. The entire fortress is being covered by a massive primordial protective profound formation. Not only can the primordial protective profound formation protect the fortress from being damaged by nature, it also possesses immense hiding abilities! Though the fortress is massive, unless one comes within three hundred meters of it, one would not be able to detect its existence. Furthermore…”

  Jasmine hesitated for a while before continuing: “This primordial profound formation also seem to possess the spatial powers. If my guess is correct, this fortress is likely able to move on its own!”

  A fortress that could move on its own?

  This already sounded too fantastical.

  “Xue’er, according to the records of the Primordial Profound Ark by your sect, were there any mention of this fortress?” Yun Che asked Feng Xue’er, who was beside him.

  Feng Xue’er shook her head gently: “I have never heard my father mentioning it, so probably not.”

  The whole fortress was bluish black and the design was simple but old. Also, it seemed to give off a mysterious and heavy atmosphere. Yun Che looked at it for sometime and his strength had only seemed to recover a little as he asked: “Jasmine, how big is this fortress?”

  “It’s best you don’t try to go around it.” Jasmine replied calmly: “Its massiveness is something beyond your imagination. Even I cannot detect where its boundaries are. If you want to go around
it before this world closes, it is simply impossible.”

  “That big?!!” Yun Che said in shock.

  “You don’t want to go in and look around?” Jasmine calmly said: “This is an structure within the Primordial Profound Ark; even I’m interested in it. All these years, the treasures those people wanted to find from the Primordial Era might be in here.”

  Yun Che stood up, and after confirming there was no unusual aura from behind, he lifted his head halfway and walked forward slowly.

  Soon, he arrived in front of the fortress doors. At this time, Yun Che was only a few steps from the door and the massive door was completely opened. However, he could still only see a greyish patch, unable to clearly see the inside. He stopped as he held his breath and tried to scout what was beyond the door for a moment before finally stepping in.

  It was like he had stepped from one world into another. The light, ambiance, aura, space, even his sight and hearing sensitivity all underwent massive changes. In front of him, was a massive and empty hall. Numerous extremely tall stone pillars stood within the hall. The stone tiles on its base, the walls surrounding it, the top and the enumerated stone pillars were all the same bluish black color, and also emitted an antique smell and aura.

  Yun Che turned around. His eyes landed onto the entrance which he had just passed through. It was now a greyish patch like before and he could not see the outside anymore. He thought for a while, before hastily retreating.

  The surrounding world changed drastically yet again and Yun Che once again returned to the barren land in which the fortress previously stood. Below his feet was the obvious footprint that he intentionally left behind earlier, proof that this was where he stood earlier.

  After confirming that he could exit without obstacle upon entering, Yun Che was relieved and once again entered the fortress.

  The hall was massive; even bigger than the ranking tournament’s stadium Yun Che was in the previous day. Yun Che’s eyes swept across the surroundings as he slowly proceeded. The sounds of his footsteps and his intentionally suppressed breathing was exceptionally clear within this massive empty hall.

  What exactly is this place?

  Yun Che walked for a very long time before he finally saw the end of the hall. On the walls surrounding it, there was a stone door every sixty meters. Some of the doors were open and some closed. Behind the open doors were paths that lead to unknown destinations. At the end of the hall was a huge, round stone stage. The stage was thirty meters tall and three hundred meters wide.

  On the right of the stage were very tall stone stairs that led to the second level of the fortress.

  “Jasmine, did you discover anything?” Yun Che stopped and asked.

  “Actually, I don’t know anything either, but I can confirm that there is no aura from any living things here, nor is there any aura left behind from anyone, other than you, who had just come in. This, is most likely a long forgotten primordial ground! You should take a look around. You might find some unusual discoveries. If you are able to obtain an artifact from the Primordial Era, even if it is the lowest grade, it would undoubtedly be a huge treasure.”

  Yun Che nodded. After hesitating for a while, he walked towards the big stone stairs and went up. He didn’t know how many levels were there; even Jasmine was unable to detect just how many levels there were to this fortress, hence, he didn’t even need to try to guess. Even if he found out that there were thousands or tens of thousands of levels, Yun Che would not be shocked.

  On the stone stairs, Yun Che slowly ascended and looked downwards at the same time. From the top, he observed the massive hall on the first level. Just as he looked on top of the round stage, he concentrated and stopped ascending.

  Because at the time, he seemed to feel a red glow flash past his eyes.

  It was exceptionally quiet and was still a field of bluish black. Therefore, even though the red glow was extremely weak, it seemed striking and out of the ordinary. Yun Che didn’t even think as he hugged Feng Xue’er and jumped down from the stone stairs, steadily landing above the stage as he fixated on the position where the red glow was at.

  “What did you find?”

  “…I’m still not sure.”

  Yun Che walked forward as he slowly reached the end of the stage. Then, the weak red glow seemed to flash pass his eyes again, which caused him to hastily stop moving. His eyes firmly fixated on the crack between two bluish black rocks that were on the stone stage.

  Yun Che knelt that as he looked closely and indeed, when he focused between the two bluish black rocks, at the narrow crack that was difficult to make out with the human eye, a faintly blinking red glow shot out.

  There’s something below here!

  Jasmine had said that this was the place left behind from the Primordial Era and was definitely extremely old. But the thing below was still emitting a light. This must be from an unusual artifact that had been left behind.

  If it really was some extraordinary treasure, the Sky Poison Pearl should have detected it. Why did the Sky Poison Pearl have absolutely no reaction?

  Yun Che stretched out his hand and intensely smashed this crack. A “bang” instantly sounded as his hand bounced back. He felt pain from his skin and bones, yet the two bluish black rocks were perfectly fine, not even damaged in the slightest.

  “You want to break it? With your strength, this is definitely not possible! Xia Yuanba is a mid-stage Overlord and he’s still not able to break an ordinary rock from the outside. The rocks within this fortress are much stronger than the rocks outside. Even if you were to attack it at full strength for tens of years, it would not be damaged in the slightest.” Jasmine said ruthlessly.

  Chapter 466: Mysterious Voice

  There was definitely something special hidden under this stage, or, it might contain another space. However, just as Jasmine had said, with his strength, breaking this stage apart was basically an impossible task.

  Yun Che searched the vicinity, and did not find anything similar to a mechanism switch either. Hence, he could only give up, and once again, walk up the stone stairs.

  The stone stairs were long, and even after Yun Che had walked for a very long time, he had only walked half of it.

  “Who… are… you…”

  Yun Che’s steps suddenly stopped, and he hurriedly turned his head to look at his surroundings. “Who is it? Who’s speaking!?”

  “Ah… Big Brother Yun, what’s wrong?” Feng Xue’er, who had been quietly nestling in his embrace was given a huge fright, and she asked a little anxiously.

  Yun Che’s gaze swept his surroundings as he poured his concentration into his ears. He softly asked. “Xue’er, did you hear a voice just now?”

  “Just now?” Feng Xue’er shook her head, confused.

  Just now, Yun Che had clearly heard an incomparably soft and faint voice. That voice was very weak, and seemed to a woman’s voice. Yet, it was especially ethereal as well, causing him to be unable to clearly distinguish where the voice had come from. Or could it be… his imagination?

  “Jasmine, that voice just now. Did you hear it?” Yun Che asked with a frown.

  “I didn’t hear anything at all.” Jasmine replied. “What did you hear?”

  “…” Even Jasmine did not hear it. Yun Che couldn’t help but suspect that what he heard earlier was just an illusory voice. He focused his mind, quietly stood at his current spot, and his eyes swept around the vicinity for a long time, yet, he could no longer hear any voice.

  Yun Che continued to raise his feet, and walk up the stairs. After a long time, he finally arrived at the second floor of the fortress.

  Bluish black walls, bluish black floors and bluish black ceilings. Everything was no different from the first floor. Yun Che did not continue to head up, and instead, walked straight towards an open stone door.

  Behind the stone door, was unexpectedly a simple and neat place which looked similar to a courtyard. Inside, there were stone tables, stone stools, and similar-looking bl
uish black earthen jars, where most of them were already broken. Behind the courtyard, there were seven to eight rooms that were regularly distributed. Yun Che walked into the courtyard, stood at a stone door of one of the rooms, and tried to push it with his hands.

  Suddenly, on the right side of the stone door, a small-scaled profound formation the size of a palm appeared with a flash. Right after, the profound formation turned, and the stone door slowly opened on its own.

  “All the doors here should have been set with profound formations such as this one, which can be conveniently opened and locked. But, the profound energy within these small-scaled profound formations are already very weak, and even you will be able to easily destroy them. However, it’s already extremely rare for them to be able to exist since the Primordial Era. The strength of those who set these profound formations are definitely beyond ordinary.” Jasmine said sternly.

  “From the looks of it, this place seems to be for residential use.” Yun Che walked into the stone room. Inside, there was a stone table, two stone stools, a cabinet-like stone frame, and a stone bed that was adequately spacious and large. The arrangements of the other rooms should be more or less the same as well. With how huge this fortress was, if it was arranged for residential use, most probably, it would be possible for the entire population of the Blue Wind Empire to live in.

  Yun Che turned around, and realized that there was a small-scaled profound formation that occasionally flashed gently at the back of the stone door. Its position, was in exactly the same position as the profound formation that appeared when Yun Che pushed open the door. It should be the same profound formation. However, it could only be seen from the inside, and could only be seen on the outside when the stone door was touched.

  “Try using your profound energy to touch this profound formation.” Jasmine suddenly said.

  Following her instructions, Yun Che reached out his hand, and struck towards the profound formation with profound energy that was neither strong nor weak. In an instant, with a bang, the door which was initially opened, suddenly closed extremely quickly.