Against the Gods - Volume 08 - Cloud's End Mirage

by Mars Gravity

  At this moment, anyone who felt her gaze brush over them would feel all the blood in their body congeal as their heart abruptly stopped beating and they felt like they were teetering on the very edge of the abyss.

  Jasmine’s gaze shifted from Sun Moon Divine Hall to look in the direction of Supreme Ocean Palace. Her penetrating gaze bored holes into Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi.

  “Qu Fengyi, Supreme Ocean Palace’s Sovereign of the Seas. What a grand and majestic title. But alas, it belongs to a stupid and greedy woman.” Jasmine said in a cold and mocking voice.

  Under Jasmine’s gaze, both Xuanyuan Wentian and Ye Meixie did not muster up any energy aura at all and they looked markedly pathetic. Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi was no exception. Once Qu Fengyi had been marked by Jasmine’s gaze, she felt her body sway as her face instantly went even whiter than a sheet… When she had faced Yun Che, she had been the dignified, majestic and haughty Sovereign of the Seas but in front of Jasmine, she was merely a woman who was about to collapse in terror.

  “Yun Che had past grievances with Mighty Heavenly Sword Region and Sun Moon Divine Hall, but there was no resentment between him and your Supreme Ocean Palace. In fact, you could say that relations were cordial between the both of you. Yet you were the first to kick him when he was down and after that, you coveted the Mirror of Samsara as well… Heh, you better not tell this princess that you persecuted Yun Che for the sake of the Profound Sky Continent. This princess knows very well which is the truly rapacious and despicable land of demons that has caused chaos and calamity for the others between your so-called Four Sacred Grounds and the Illusory Demon Realm. And all of you know it better than anybody else!”

  Every single word that came from Jasmine’s mouth caused the pupils of Qu Fengyi’s eyes to contract bit by bit. She, someone who possessed the profound strength that was at the very peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm, collapsed to the floor at this very instant and it seemed as if she could not even muster the strength to stand.

  “As this princess’ disciple, Yun Che’s aptitude, morals and temperament are all barely passable. His sole flaw is the way he deals with women. Because when it comes to women, he has always been extremely stupid, fickle, lecherous, filled with lustful thoughts and completely shameless and underhanded in his dealings with them. He simply loses all rationality when it comes to women and he has risked his life countless times for their sake. He is simply so stupid in this aspect that it would be insulting to an idiot to slap him with the same label…”

  The most common reason for Jasmine’s scoldings was his past dealings with women and that included the time when he desperately risked his life to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for her. In fact, she had just given him an extremely thorough scolding because of that incident. However, he had long grown accustomed to these rants and he had even come to cheerfully welcome the word “lecher” every time she called him that.

  But right now they were at the Sea God Arena and Jasmine had just said this in front of everyone who was present. She had once again shot off a firecracker of vituperations and insults at him regarding the matter of women… and he could practically hear her teeth grinding together as she said those words.

  It was very clear that Jasmine had some extreme complaints regarding how he treated women… and it was not just any old complaint either, because every time she brought it up, it was always accompanied by a fury that could not be dampened.

  “So, he has never ever physically abused a woman before and has very rarely had to kill any.” Jasmine said as she walked slowly towards Qu Fengyi, “But this princess… has killed far more women than she has men!”

  Chapter 812: Whetstone

  The entire Supreme Ocean Palace was thrown into a panic… She had not killed Xuanyuan Wentian nor had she killed Ye Meixie but from the words she had just said, it was clear that she wanted to kill Qu Fengyi!

  Qu Fengyi was even more shocked and terrified than the rest of them but she was unable to utter even a single word. If anyone in the Profound Sky Continent wanted to kill her, it would be harder than reaching the heavens. But if Jasmine wanted to kill her, even if all of the Four Sacred Grounds pooled their efforts to stop her, they would not even be able to delay her for a fraction of a second.

  At this time, Zi Ji hurriedly rushed out as he begged and pleaded on Qu Fengyi’s behalf, “Se… Senior, the Sovereign of the Seas did indeed act with greed and selfishness and the mistake was all hers but… but this is not something that calls for her death. If this senior truly wants to kill her, I beg that you allow this junior to say some words on her behalf?”

  “Her sins are not worthy of death?” Jasmine’s eyes fiercely swiveled to land on Zi Ji. Under her gaze, Zi Ji’s legs grew limp and he sank to his knees. At this moment, extreme fear and shock had seized his heart as she began to speak, “Qu Fengyi intended to kill Yun Che and take the Mirror of Samsara for herself, her heart and mind were filled avarice and wickedness but you say that her crime is not worthy of death. Then how come you did not even fart when Yun Che was being forced to his death for no reason at all? Could it be that the life of this princess’ disciple is cheaper than the life of this woman!?”

  “No, no, no!” Zi Ji said as he shook his head in panic, “This junior does not dare… even if this junior was infinitely more courageous, he still would definitely not dare to mean such a thing…”

  As he was pressed down by a might that brought him to the edge of collapse, Zi Ji did not even dare to raise his head to look at Jasmine’s eyes. His heart heaved and he hurriedly crawled towards Yun Che’s side as he shoved a blue colored profound jade into his hands, “Asgar… Asgard Master Yun, please take a look at this…”

  This was an extremely rare and precious Profound Imagery Stone. As the images that were contained within were released, Yun Che could tell with a glance that some of those images showed the eastern part of Blue Wind Imperial City and also showed a Divine Phoenix Army slowly marching in from the west as they launched a grand assault against the Blue Wind Imperial City. Furthermore, these images also showed a person blocking the path of this Divine Phoenix Army… it was astonishingly Number One Under Heaven.

  Within these images, Number One Under Heaven was shown dealing with the Phoenix fire that had been shot out by one of the conducting elders of this Divine Phoenix Army. He released a powerful profound energy hurricane, pushing the flames back towards the Divine Phoenix Army.

  Moreover, when Number One Under Heaven had used his full power, his hidden elven wings had also unfurled fully, displaying their full splendour for all to see…

  “You…” Yun Che’s brows furrowed. At this moment, he finally realized why Zi Ji had suddenly posed him this question in a strange tone when he was about to leave the Black Moon Merchant Guild during his last visit, “Have you ever heard of the Illusory Demon Realm’s Twelve Guardian Families before?”

  “That is right!” Zi Ji gasped anxiously, “Actually, I had already known that he was a denizen of the Illusory Demon Realm since that time and so it was obvious that you had also come from the Illusory Demon Realm… Besides this Profound Imagery Stone, our Supreme Ocean Palace, like Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, had many spies left in Demon Imperial City. The only other person to see the images in this Profound Imagery Stone besides myself was the Sovereign of the Seas and we did not let anyone have access to it. We never exposed you and never told anyone else. If the Sovereign of the Seas truly wanted to harm you, then why would she not have done either of those things. Today, it was only because the situation forced our hand and as the Sovereign of the Seas, she had no choice but to act in this way.”

  “I beg Asgard Master Yun to take into account these things and to ask… ask your master to show mercy to the Sovereign of the Seas. Our Supreme Ocean Palace will definitely remember the grace that you have shown us and we will remember it for all time. From today onwards, if Asgard Master Yun or your master makes any request of us, our Supreme Ocean Palace will risk
life and limb to…”

  The Zi Ji in Yun Che’s cognition was like an ancient well that was ten thousand years old, his temperament was extraordinary and his inner strength ran as deep as the ocean. But at this moment, he was looking at Yun Che with pleading eyes as he knelt before him in complete obeisance… Because in the face of that complete and absolute strength and those terrible and merciless methods, the only thing Zi JI could do was beg.

  Bang!

  The Profound Imagery Stone crumbled in Yun Che’s hand as he let out a low sigh, “Senior Zi, please rise and you can rest easy as well. If my master truly wanted to kill the Sovereign of the Seas, she would already be dead.”

  “…” Jasmine’s lips twitched as she dramatically rolled her eyes at Yun Che. After that, she suddenly flung out her small hand.

  An ear-splitting slap that would be remembered by everyone present for their entire lives rang out across the Sea God Arena.

  Qu Fengyi, who was thirty meters away, cried out miserably as she suffered from a slap that appeared out of the empty air. Her body that was wrapped in those sea-blue skirts flew out like a revolving top. After she landed on the ground, she still spun tens of times before finally coming to a stop at the edge of the Sea God Arena.

  Qu Fengyi crawled on the ground as she spat more than ten mouthfuls of blood. Every mouthful blood brought along with it two teeth… Furthermore, all of her teeth had already been fractured, not a single one remained intact.

  “So… Sovereign of the Seas!” The gathered Venerable Ones and elders had been scared witless as they cried out in alarm and rushed over to help her.

  “Who dares to assist her!?”

  Jasmine gave a cold shout and those five short words struck the gathered members of Supreme Ocean Palace like a divine lightning bolt. All of them froze in place and they did not even dare to shift their feet an inch.

  “Hmph!” Jasmine said with a cold sniff of disdain before she spoke in a mocking voice, “You are a cheap person with a vile heart and a worthless life but you actually dare to call yourself the Sovereign of the Seas. This is truly a joke.”

  Jasmine’s words were not purely loathing and ridicule. Because from the perspective of the plane that she originated from, the Profound Sky Continent was indeed a base and lowly plane. Besides Yun Che, there was no one from the entire Profound Sky Continent that was worthy enough to be graced by her eyes. She wanted to vent anger on Yun Che’s behalf. That was the only reason why she stooped to ridiculing and killing these people. In doing so, she had sullied her hands and tarnished her exalted status.

  As her cold voice fell, her gaze also fell on Huangji Wuyu.

  He had fully witnessed the miserable states of Xuanyuan Wentian, Ye Meixie and Qu Fengyi. Even though they had not died, every single one of them lost every shred of dignity and fame they had garnered in their lifetimes. So when Jasmine’s gaze finally settled upon him, Huangji Wuyu’s entire body shuddered fiercely as the color of his face alternated between gray and white.

  Jasmine stared at Huangji Wuyu and even the faintest curve of her lips sent a chill running through his body. Her cold smile caused his very soul to convulse and spasm before she finally averted her gaze before blandly speaking, “Do you know why this princess has not killed you?”

  “On this continent, the four of you are the so-called Sacred Masters but to this princess, there are millions of people just like you! So even if there were a few million less of you, it wouldn’t make a single difference! Not to mention your so-called Four Sacred Grounds, even if there were millions of Sacred Grounds, this princess could destroy all of them with a twitch of my finger.”

  To all of the people who were present, each and every one of Jasmine’s words were extremely shocking and they shook their hearts and souls to the core… But they had just personally witnessed her ripping apart tens of kilometers of space and destroying Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Northern Region despite the thirty five thousand kilometer distance. Given her strength that resembled an ancient demon god’s, those dreadful words were definitely not the least bit exaggerated when it came to her.

  “But sparing your lives may be of some use to me.” Jasmine said as her eyes swept across the audience. She did not punish Huangji Wuyu, walking to Yun Che’s side instead, “Even though killing you would only be a matter of flipping my hand, this princess’ disciple Yun Che is still not able to face you on his own. In any case, all of you can still be considered the strongest people on this continent. If you were to all die and leave Yun Che with no opponents, then it would only harm his future growth. So the four of you should just wash your necks and wait! Live life while you still can! Because once his strength has grown sufficiently, if he wants any of you to die, you will have no choice but to die!”

  The gazes of Huangji Wuyu, Qu Fengyi, Ye Meixie and Xuanyuan Wentian all squarely fell on Yun Che… It was indeed true, that given Jasmine’s strength, she could kill them as easily as she would squash an ant. However, even though she had done harm to them, she had not taken their lives. But to think it was so that Yun Che could do it himself!

  She was allowing the Four Sacred Masters to be whetstones for Yun Che!

  That was also to say that from this moment onward, their lives would be firmly grasped in Yun Che’s hand. Once Yun Che’s power surpassed them, he would be able to kill them any time he wanted to avenge the grudge that had been formed this day. Furthermore, with a demon god like Jasmine instructing him, that day would definitely not be too far off. At the same time, as long as Jasmine was around, even if they wanted to escape this fate, it would be impossible.

  “What’s more.” Jasmine said as her gaze grew cold and her voice turned cold and bleak, causing the temperature in the area suddenly drop, “There are quite a few people among you who Yun Che has no small amount of hate and resentment for. But when it comes to something like vengeance, it is natural that one has to do it by himself!”

  A deep and sinister cold shot up their spines and jabbed into their brains, before it spread out and seeped into every corner of their bodies and souls… This was especially true for Xuanyuan Wentian and Ye Meixie. Because they had previous altercations with Yun Che before what had happened today.

  So if they wanted to live, what they needed to do was to desperately appease and curry favor with Yun Che—They needed to do so with all their might!

  If not, it was not only their lives that were forfeit, it might even bring about a disaster that wiped out their Sacred Grounds.

  Jasmine extended a hand and grabbed on to the sleeve of Yun Che’s clothes before speaking in a solemn voice, “Qu Fengyi, the environment of your Supreme Ocean Palace isn’t bad. Yun Che is still wounded, so this princess is prepared to let him rest here for one day longer. During this period, it would be best if you do not let this princess see anything that she does not want to see! Hmph!”

  “Yun Che, let us be off. We shall return to the place where we stayed last night.” Jasmine said in a haughty and arrogant voice.

  “Alright!” Yun Che nodded his head as he carried Xiao Yun, “Xue’er, Yuanba, let’s go.”

  “Wai… Wait a minute, Yun Che, hold on for a moment.”

  The dreadful demon god girl was about to leave and all of the people present… especially Huangji Wuyu, had breathed a heavy sigh of relief. But at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out asking them to stay. The shocked crowd hurriedly looked towards the origin of that voice. They wanted to see who had the guts to actually call for that dreadful demon god to stay—Even though the person who was actually being called was Yun Che himself.

  Astonishingly, the person who had actually called out to them was Feng Hengkong. Yun Che turned around and replied, “Sect Master of the Divine Phoenix Sect, is there anything else I can help you with?”

  Feng Hengkong hurried over to stood beside Feng Xue’er but he did not dare look at Jasmine and his voice was anxious as he spoke, “Yun Che, we… Cough, I handed Xue’er over to you five months ago and I said to you th
at once Xue’er reaches the age of twenty, as long as she has an inclination towards you, we would set a wedding date for the two of you… At the same time, we will also fulfill the condition that the Blue Wind Empress had laid down. During these five months, Xue’er has always been by your side, and nineteen days from now, Xue’er will reach twenty. Xue’er still has deep and unwavering feelings for you. When she found out you were trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, she tearfully kept watch over it every day and she was not willing to leave even for a moment. If you still feel the same way about Xue’er, then when nineteen days have passed and Xue’er has reached twenty years of age, what do you say to me setting your wedding date right there and then?”

  The moment he heard the last sentence, Feng Ximing, who was in the back, swayed violently and his eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. But the terrifying red figure besides Yun Che scared him into complete silence and the only thing he could do was clench his fists so hard that he nearly fractured his own bones.

  Yun Che instantly understood what was going on… This sly old fox had seen with his own two eyes just how powerful Jasmine was, so he decided to shamelessly become a hanger-on!

  If Feng Xue’er was married to Yun Che, then even if the truth of the Phoenix God’s death was publicly announced to the world, no one on this earth would dare to even touch the Divine Phoenix Sect.

  Feng Tianwei and Feng Zukui’s eyes were both sparkling with anticipation, they wavered between apprehension and hope, their only fear was that Yun Che would not agree.

  Feng Xue’er naturally deciphered Feng Hengkong’s intentions very quickly and she anxiously and nervously cried out, “Royal Father, this matter…”

  “Xue’er.” Just as Feng Xue’er had opened her mouth, she felt her small hand being grabbed by Yun Che. He replied to Feng Hengkong in a most solemn voice, “I, Yun Che, will never in my lifetime betray the feelings that Xue’er has for me. If the Divine Phoenix Sect Master is willing to betroth Xue’er to me, I will gladly welcome it with open arms.”