Against the Gods - Volume 05 - Primordial Profound Ark

by Mars Gravity

  “Looks like that is about enough.” Jasmine stretched out her hand, meaning to cut off a good portion of the spatial storm. At this time, Yun Che suddenly let a scream of anger; discontentment and pain ripped out from his mouth. His profound strength and spirit were supposed to be exhausted but they began to swell up fiercely as Yun Che doggedly resisted the spatial storm’s attack against his body. Jasmine’s movement consequently became slower as she saw that Yun Che’s body started to emit a flash of dull, profound light. She muttered to herself, saying, “Is he going to make a breakthrough again… Hm! That’s not right!”

  “ROOOOAR!!!!”

  A low and astonishing dragon cry started to resonate from Yun Che’s body, causing the space around him to tremble. As the dragon’s cry resonated, the shadow of an azure dragon surfaced behind Yun Che. The dragon’s shadow expanded rapidly, continuing for a full five breaths before vanishing gradually. At the same time, Jasmine could feel the presence of the Primordial Azure Dragon from Yun Che’s body, albeit a presence which had seemingly entered the wilderness of death.

  Crack…. Crack… Crack…

  The crisp, clear sound of bones moving began to come from Yun Che’s body. However this was not the sound of bones fracturing, but the sound of bones slowly regenerating. Even his flesh began to regenerate, but his spirit remained barren and weak, tottering on the brink… However, it was in this exhausted and strained spiritual state, that he tenaciously withstood the impact of the spatial storm.

  “His Dragon God’s bloodline has reached the concentration of one-thousandth!” Jasmine said in an astonished voice, she was far clearer than Yun Che on the significance of possessing one-thousandth of the Dragon God’s bloodline. Under normal circumstances, within the body of a mortal from the lower planes, it would take many years for the tiny amount of Dragon God’s marrow in Yun Che’s body to just produce one drop of the Dragon God’s blood. But in this Primordial Profound Ark, after having his body undergo a countless number of rebirths, while stimulating the Dragon God’s marrow at the same time, with the addition of the nourishment which came from the energy of heaven and earth produced by the Great Way of Buddha, all of this combined together to increase the thickness of Yun Che’s Dragon God’s blood by nearly twenty times in the span of less than a year!

  The current Yun Che, even without releasing the slightest bit of profound energy, already had a physique which was strengthened to the point where his body could take an attack from a low level Throne, and basically not receive any real wounds from that strike.

  “Seems like he can continue to resist for a while longer.” Jasmine lowered her palm, and with eyes that rippled with red light, continued to scrutinize Yun Che, observing every single change that was happening to him.

  At the beginning, she kept making plans to make Yun Che mighty, for the sole purpose of reconstituting her body. But as Yun Che’s strength increased bit by bit, with a speed which far exceeded her initial calculations, a desire was unconsciously formed in her heart. The desire to see just how far this human could go before she left him… And this desire continued to grow more and more intense.

  Only she herself had not noticed it yet.

  Time continued to flow, and unwittingly, from the time Yun Che had entered the Primordial Profound Ark, a full eighteen months had passed.

  And Yun Che had survived within the never-ceasing spatial storm for a full eighteen months.

  The sounds of the spatial explosions were ear-piercingly loud, however, whether it was Yun Che or Jasmine, both had grown used to this noise. And the other thing they had grown used to was the presence of each other. The reason why Yun Che could bitterly endure all the way in this life-threatening and scary place was because he was not alone. Because while Jasmine continuously warned and scolded him… she also accompanied him and supported him. Even after meeting such disaster, there was still someone who faced it with him together, someone who time and again rescued him from his confusion and hesitation by pointing him in the right direction.

  As for Jasmine, in these past few years, only Yun Che was besides her. Even though her appearance had never changed from the time she had met Yun Che, in terms of age, she had grown from thirteen to eighteen years old. In her life, more than a quarter of her time had been spent solely with Yun Che, with even more years to come…

  And because it had become habitual, and because one tended to neglect what one has become accustomed to, neither of them ever had this thought cross their mind: If one day both of them had to go their separate ways… how would that be….

  ———————————————————

  “It has already been half a month.” Jasmine mused as she observed Yun Che’s current state, after he had achieved what could be said as yet another inexplicable breakthrough.

  Yun Che had endured for a full fifteen days before his situation became precarious again. Just as Jasmine was about to obstruct the spatial storm, the entire space began to tremble fiercely, and a gigantic roar issued forth from all directions. This situation persisted for as long as ten breaths. This new permutation caused Jasmine’s eyebrows to furrow, and she was about to release her aura to investigate what was happening to the Primordial Profound Ark, when all of a sudden, the spatial storm calmed down rapidly and the unceasing, fierce and wantonly destructive spatial rifts disappeared. Even the distortions in space began to shrink into small ripples before finally disappearing completely… And in the end, even the sound of the spatial explosions had completely disappeared.

  Everything had become perfectly still. The spatial turbulence, in a situation where both Yun Che and Jasmine had not been prepared for, had disappeared.

  And the only reason that the spatial turbulence would disappear was that…

  The Primordial Profound Ark had stopped!

  “Stopped? How come it stopped?” Jasmine knit her eyebrows together, “Can it be that the Primordial Profound Ark does not only stop over in the Profound Sky Continent, but at other locations as well?”

  The spatial turbulence had completely disappeared… It was not that it had subsided like before, it had completely disappeared. This change gave a jolt to Yun Che’s completely fatigued spirit, but he was in a state where he was unable to speak or pay close attention to his surroundings. Instead he desperately concentrated his spirit, and started to heal his wounds using Great Way of the Buddha.

  Without the presence of the spatial turbulence, the Great Way of the Buddha absorbed the energies of heaven and earth at a rate which was tens of times slower than before. Even though his recovery was much faster than a normal person, compared to the eighteen months he spent in the spatial storm, it was exceptionally slow.

  Without needing to divide his attention to resist the spatial turbulence, Yun Che’s heart had completely stabilized. This feeling was like he had stepped from purgatory straight into a dream-like paradise. Even though he was mentally drained, and his whole body was weak and suffering from immense pain, this relaxed feeling almost made him feel like floating. A full eighteen months… He had endured in this purgatory of eighteen months and now he finally saw the brilliant, vivid dawn!

  Jasmine did not disturb him, nor did she go outside to investigate. Her body sank down, and she stood in front of Yun Che, observing his current state while simultaneously gazing at the surrounding walls which were tougher than heavenly stones. Her expressionless dewy eyes were without ripple, her thoughts a mystery.

  A whole day had passed, and the atmosphere remained quiet and still, with no sudden outbursts appearing. When it had appeared in the Profound Sky Continent, it had stopped for half a year. There was no way of telling if this stillness would last half a year as well.

  There was also no way of telling where the Primordial Profound Ark had stopped at this time.

  And for an entire day, Yun Che simply sat cross-legged on the floor, the wounds on his body healing up to roughly seventy percent. His breathing had become stable as well, and his spirit had recovere
d greatly. Therefore, now was precisely the right time to rouse Yun Che.

  Jasmine, who had been napping the entire day, opened her eyes and looked over Yun Che. She prepared to wake him up when Yun Che’s body began to undergo a sudden change.

  The dull golden pagoda rotating slowly over Yun Che’s head started to spin rapidly, and the color of the pagoda slowly became richer and richer…. From dull gold, it gradually turned into a shiny gold color! Following that, the golden light began to sink and spread across Yun Che’s body. It was as if Yun Che had put on a layer of hazy golden clothes.

  “Could it be…” Jasmine’s starry eyes flashed with deep surprise.

  Chapter 476: The Breaking of Dragon Fault

  Yun Che himself, had entered an exceptionally subtle state. Suddenly, he couldn’t feel pain, nor could he hear any sounds. It was as though everything in the surroundings had all disappeared in an instant… He felt as though his body was currently floating lightly and swimming freely in the boundless sky. Between heaven and earth, and within the chaotic space, it was as though his existence was the only one which remained.

  Endlessly majestic and incomparably calm forces of nature poured towards him. The forces enveloped his entire body and gushed into his body, healing his injuries, restoring his profound energy, and refining his body. These forces of energy felt familiar, yet foreign to him, and they much, much purer than before… No. It should be said that though they were the same forces of energy, it was as if they were forces of energy of another stage!

  His consciousness was telling him, that his Great Way of the Buddha, had once again made a breakthrough!!

  And the breakthrough this time, was completely different from the few breakthroughs in the past. The first few breakthroughs, could be said to be breakthroughs of levels within the same stage. While the breakthrough this time, that bizarre sensation, was totally a breakthrough of a large realm from a stage, to a much higher stage!

  Back then, when he made a breakthrough into the third level of the Great Way of the Buddha, Jasmine had once told him that there every three levels of the Great Way of the Buddha was a watershed. The first three could be considered as the entry-stage realm. After entering the fourth, it would mean stepping into the middle-stage realm… And to step into the fourth level with the body of a mortal, was even harder than ascending to the heavens itself.

  Yet, currently, with the timespan of three years from his previous breakthrough, he had already successfully stepped into the fourth level of the Great Way of the Buddha, which Jasmine had termed as a task “even harder than ascending to the heavens itself”!!

  The cultivation of the Great Way of the Buddha was not reliant on battles, nor was it reliant on the existence of profound energy. Its growth, was mainly reliant on comprehension and insights. In these eighteen months, Yun Che’s Great Way of the Buddha had basically been circulating at every second, and more than eighty percent of the time, it was in the circulation state at its largest degree and highest limit. The large amount of forces of heaven and earth absorbed, could hardly be calculated. Subtlely, his communication with the forces of nature and his comprehension to the Great Way of the Buddha, had been constantly deepening. He had finally broken through the bottleneck of the fourth level, and stepped into another brand new realm of the Great Way of the Buddha.

  His body, was also being reborn from the baptism bestowed by the Great Way of the Buddha of a higher level. And, it was a rebirth of an extreme degree.

  Following after Yun Che’s breakthrough of the Great Way of the Buddha, the recovery speed of his wounds instantly accelerated as well. The wounds on his body were closing at a speed viewable with the naked eyes. Through Yun Che’s closing wounds, Jasmine could see that his blood… was clearly mixed with a thin gold color.

  “The fourth level of the Great Way of the Buddha… The first step towards the legendary ‘Body of the Saints’. He had actually used less than five years, at a speed even faster than Big Brother…”

  Jasmine lightly muttered. Currently, she was actually a little out of sorts. Even with her knowledge and experience, she was still deeply astonished by Yun Che’s breakthrough this time. For the first three breakthroughs, although Yun Che had always made them ahead of her predictions, they had merely startled her a little. While this time, her feelings really had to be described with the word “shock”. Because the breakthrough into the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha was a completely different concept from the first three… Although his breakthrough was greatly related to the eighteen months of hell-like cultivation in the dimensional turbulence, Jasmine clearly knew that was not the entire reason. The most important reasons were, comprehensive ability, and luck —— In other words, the affinity and favor the natural chaotic space had towards him. Otherwise, when swapped with a person who had the same body, same strength, but different comprehensive ability and comparatively normal luck in the same spatial turbulence, forget about eighteen months, even if he was given eighteen years, or even a hundred and eighty years, or even a thousand and eight hundred years, it would be extremely difficult for him to breakthrough into the fourth level of the Great Way of the Buddha.

  The truth in front of her eyes had told Jasmine that Yun Che’s comprehensive ability, and his luck… had actually far surpassed her brother’s.

  In four hours, Yun Che’s body was completely refined. The Buddha pagoda above his head disappeared, and all the external and internal injuries on his body were completely healed as well. He opened his eyes, and during the instant his pupils glowed, a hint of golden radiance flashed past.

  “Very good.” Jasmine, on this extremely rare occasion, nodded with praise. “I did not expect that you would actually break through into the fourth level of the Great Way of the Buddha so quickly. You’re already capable of absorbing the forces of nature of an even higher level. The refinement from the fourth level of the Great Way of the Buddha grants you an arm strength of fifty thousand kilograms. The current strength and recovery speed of your body, is not the slightest bit inferior to the bestowal of the Dragon God’s bloodline either. With the integration of the Dragon God’s bloodline, although you still lack a lot in terms of power, the strength of your body is not at all inferior to a half-step Monarch! Based on recovery speed, you have even surpassed an actual Monarch!”

  “Currently, you should be able to wield ‘Purgatory’ relatively easily! However, even though your growth is astonishing, you shouldn’t rashly activate the ‘Rumbling Heaven’ gate.”

  The first level of the Great Way of the Buddha bestowed an arm strength of two thousand kilograms; the second level of the Great Way of the Buddha bestowed an arm strength of four thousand kilograms; the third level of the Great Way of the Buddha bestowed an arm strength of ten thousand kilograms, but there was a huge leap in magnitude in what the fourth level bestowed… an arm strength of fifty thousand kilograms! Although the increase in body strength could not be felt intuitively, it was naturally still to an astonishing extent that was similar to the increase in arm strength.

  With his current body, recovery ability, and level of the Great Way of the Buddha, normal spatial turbulences were basically no longer able to cause him actual harm. He could live within without feeling a hint of pressure, and even if he were to sleep openly, it would be no problem at all.

  Yun Che felt that his own body was incomparably light. His vision and hearing ability had become more sensitive as well. Slightly stirring his thoughts, his body began to float up… After his profound strength had broken through into the Sky Profound Realm, he finally possessed the ability to fly as well. Within the timespan of eighteen months, his profound strength had consecutively crossed eight levels… Currently, he was already at the eighth level of the Sky Profound Realm!

  In a year and a half, from the peak of the Earth Profound, he crossed into the late-stage Sky Profound.

  Yun Che summoned Dragon Fault, and grabbed it in his hands… As a heavy sword with a mass of ten thousand kilograms,
he would still feel a great sense of heaviness even while wielding it with both hands. But currently, when grabbing it with a single hand, it felt so light, it was as though it did not exist. He had not endured this eighteen months of hell-like experience for nothing. He could clearly feel that his current strength was many times stronger than before he entered the Primordial Profound Ark.

  In a short eighteen months, with such growth, it was enough to cause anyone’s expression to pale from shock. However, Yun Che was neither too shocked nor overjoyed, because only he himself, out of this entire world, knew what he had experienced in these eighteen months.

  “Has the Primordial Profound Ark halted?” Yun Che looked at the surroundings, and asked Jasmine.

  “It should have halted, though, I don’t know what kind of place it has stopped at.” Jasmine answered. “But, this isn’t the problem you should be worried about right now. What you need to think about now, is how to leave this place!”

  “You have two choices… If you know the Art of Formation Construction, you can try fixing the profound formation on the stone door. If you don’t have this ability, then, you’re only left with this one choice, and that’s to forcefully break the stone door, or the walls!”

  In regards to whether Yun Che knew how to construct profound formations, Jasmine naturally knew that very well. Hence, if Yun Che wanted to leave this place, the only method was to break the stone door.

  However, every stone and brick in this place came from the Primordial Era; their degree of toughness could only be said to have surpassed the understanding of a normal person. Yun Che had merely experienced eighteen months of spatial turbulences, and his body was already injured countless of times. If not for the existence of the Dragon God’s physique and the Great Way of the Buddha, he would have already died countless of times. While the bricks here had actually experienced for god knows how many years of spatial turbulences… However, no matter where his line of sight landed on, he couldn’t find the existence of even a hint of crack or damage.