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

by Mars Gravity

  “That’s for the best,” Jasmine coldly said. “Remember! This princess wants it to be fixed. This princess does not want you to find another piece that looks exactly the same. This princess only wants this piece! You have three days. In three days, this princess will personally come to retrieve it. If it’s not completely fixed, or if this princess isn’t satisfied with it, then this princess will tear this headquarters of yours apart!”

  After saying that, Jasmine and instantly disappeared from where she was. Zi ji did not have any opportunity to speak.

  Zi Ji gasped for breath. With trembling hands, he wiped sweat from his forehead. After taking a considerably long time to steady his state of mind, he calmly said, “Qing Chen, Huang Que, Zi Xi, hurry and send a voice transmission to the guild leaders of the first ten… no, the first thirty side branches. Have them personally bring the best artisans in their guilds, use the most superior profound crystals to power their best profound arks, and immediately make their way to headquarters as fast as possible. Not a moment’s delay is allowed… Hurry!”

  “Yes!” The three young girls did not dare to probe further and moved in a rush. It was clearly from Zi Ji’s expression that this was a grave matter that concerned the existence of Black Moon Merchant Guild.

  After circulating Great Way of the Buddha for several days, Yun Che woke up from his trance. The heavy feeling on his entire body had once again weakened considerably. The dormant portions of Phoenix blood and Golden Crow blood also had clear traces of awakening.

  Yun Che opened his eyes and saw that Jasmine was standing in front of him.

  “When did you return?” Yun Che subconsciously asked.

  “Just now,” Jasmine replied.

  “That’s strange. You were wearing the Red Smoky Fairy Dress when you left. Why did you change into another?” Yun Che asked in suspicion, sizing up Jasmine with a glance.

  Jasmine was currently wearing a short, bright red polka dot dress with a huge butterfly ribbon tied to the back. Girls were creatures that loved to change into different clothes after all, and changing clothes was normal for other girls. However, it was an extremely rare sight when it came to Jasmine because… Jasmine always had a soft spot for the Red Smoky Fairy Dress—it was the first dress that Yun Che had bought for her.

  In these past few years, Yun Che had bought Jasmine many dresses in the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm. They were a miscellaneous assortment of princess dresses, moonlit dresses, fairy flowing dresses, phoenix tailed dresses, dawn jade dresses, and more. Furthermore, they were all bright red, and every single one of them was extraordinarily lavish. However, ninety nine percent of the time, Jasmine wore the Red Smoky Fairy Dress, and the occasional change in attire was just to see if she looked good in something else.

  Although it had been worn for seven years, with her profound energy protection, there was never a single stain or speck of damage on the Red Smoky Fairy Dress. As long as she wanted to, wearing it for hundreds or thousands of years would not be a problem.

  “Don’t you always say that I don’t like changing dresses? Hmph!” Jasmine snorted coldly and turned her head away, looking like she was too lazy to deal with him.

  The red dress that Jasmine was wearing was rather short, and her two thin, jade-like calves were completely exposed. A pair of small red gemstones on her jade skin glittered with flowing light, and Yun Che was barely able to tear his gaze away. He hurriedly turned his head to the side, praying that Jasmine did not notice where he was looking earlier. He hastily changed the topic and asked, “Jasmine, what did you discover in the Azure Cloud Continent? What is hidden at the bottom of Cloud’s End Cliff?”

  However, Jasmine responded with a question. “…when will you be ready to head over to the Azure Cloud Continent?”

  “If possible…” Yun Che did not hesitate very long, and answered, “As early as possible would be best. I even want to head over there right now.”

  “I don’t even know how Ling’er looks right now,” Yun Che muttered softly.

  If everything from back then truly wasn’t an illusion, then the present Ling’er should already be sixteen years old.

  “Then how are you going to get there?”

  “Using the Primordial Profound Ark, of course.”

  “Primordial Profound Ark?” Jasmine glanced at him, then leisurely said, “Do you know how far from each other the Azure Cloud Continent and the Profound Sky Continent are?’

  “The distance between the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm is approximately six hundred and fifty thousand kilometers.” Jasmine slowly raised two fingers. “The distance between the Profound Sky Continent and the Azure Cloud Continent is seven times that!”

  “Seven times…” Yun Che was secretly shocked. “Over four million five hundred kilometers!?”

  It was no wonder that both the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm knew of each other’s existence and had several historical grudges. Yet, regardless of whether it was the Profound Sky Continent or the Illusory Demon Realm, neither could find detailed records of the Azure Cloud Continent. Even if there were, an extreme few existed, and most were obscure rumors. In reality, although they existed in the same world, there was actually a distance of about five million kilometers between them!

  Even though five million kilometers of continental ground was a great distance, reaching the other side would just be a matter of time. Traveling over five million kilometers across the ocean, however… It was almost impossible for humans to go traverse that with just their own strength.

  Jasmine crossed her arms in front of her chest and softly said, “With the Primordial Profound Ark’s remaining energy, traveling back and forth between the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm dozens of times would be possible. However,going to the Azure Cloud Continent… can only be done once! If you excessively consume the Primordial Profound Ark’s energy before then, I’m afraid that, after reaching the Azure Cloud Continent, you won’t even have to think about returning.”

  “In other words… it would be best to not use the Primordial Profound Ark,” Yun Che said faintly. Then he looked at Jasmine with a respectful expression. “Jasmine, heh heh…”

  “I can bring you there.” Jasmine’s expression became stern. “However, you must promise me one thing.”

  “Huh? What is it?”

  Jasmine’s slender brows tilted slightly. The dark world beneath Cloud’s End Cliff was undoubtedly the largest concern in her heart that could not be relieved. “When you’re in the Azure Cloud Continent, regardless of whether that happens sooner or later, you’re not allowed to approach Cloud’s End Cliff ever again! Even if your strength becomes a hundred times stronger than it currently is and is eventually able to sweep across the entire continent, easily enabling you to defeat someone like Xuanyuan Wentian, you must never attempt to investigate the bottom of Cloud’s End Cliff!”

  Yun Che was someone who possessed an extreme level of curiosity and never feared unknown dangers. Jasmine was deeply aware of that. With Yun Che’s speed of growth, the day that he became undefeatable in this world would definitely come. When he no longer had any enemies, out of curiosity, boredom, and confidence, he would try to investigate what was beneath Cloud’s End Cliff…

  That would be the same as sending himself into a dark hell that he would never return from! The dark absorption force there would prevent him from ever escaping, and the dark devil aura would reduce him into ash. Any of the devil beasts would easily tear him into shreds.

  Jasmine needed to cut his wishful thinking short from the very beginning.

  chinachu Notice

  :

  I know I stated that I was going to China with mommychu to visit grannychu and was hoping to return sometime June or so, but mommychu struck again, pushing our flight to June 1st. My trip to China is also now extended from June to the middle of July. Due to this trip, the planned double daily month releases for MEN will now be even more
delayed. They WILL still come out after my trip though! Any regular chapters for every one of our series will still be coming out when I’m there (MEN 7, ATG 7, SR *TBD by Patreon*). I will try my best to get them out according to schedule, but if any chapters are missed due to chinachu problems, all of them will be made up when I get home.

  I know some people do not read the chapter posts in their haste to read the chapter so I’ll be leaving this message at the bottom of each chapter as a reminder!

  Chapter 821: A Premonition of Danger

  “Why?” Yun Che asked in a puzzled voice, “What secrets did that place hide? Could it be extremely dangerous?”

  Jasmine’s words had undoubtedly made clear that the what was hiding at the bottom of Cloud’s End Cliff was no ordinary mystery.

  “It’s not merely as simple as being dangerous.” Jasmine said in a stern voice, “I can’t tell you what is hiding at the bottom of Cloud’s End Cliff. Its dreadfulness is far beyond what you can imagine.”

  Yun Che, “…”

  Jasmine shot a glance at Yun Che before her voice turned slightly gentler, “Me not telling you the source of Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s darkness and Cloud’s End Cliff’s secret is not because I don’t want to tell you or that I don’t trust you, it’s that…”

  Jasmine raised her head as her eyes grew more focused and serious than they had ever been before, “I had originally thought this world was only a normal and even inferior planet among the billions of planets in the boundless universe. If I did not know that the Evil God’s Seeds were scattered on this planet, I would not even have come here. But as I gradually unearthed the secrets that were hidden on this planet, I came to realize that this planet was not only not as simple as I had perceived it to be but it was also far more complex and mysterious than I had ever imagined. It has gotten to the point where this planet has completely exceeded my imagination and there were a few times where my perception was completely overturned.”

  “…” Yun Che immediately froze in place.

  “Furthermore, the moment these secrets are leaked out and the denizens of the Realm of the Gods come to know of them, the world that you inhabited will be plunged into an eternal calamity,” Jasmine said as she shut her eyes. “So, it would be for the best if I am the only person who knows about these things.”

  After a brief but heavy silence, Jasmine softly added, “If I can’t even tell you these things, then it’s natural that I will never tell anyone else either.”

  Even though his heart was still filled with curiosity and suspicion, Jasmine’s words—especially the words that she had just spoken deterred Yun Che from pursuing this matter any further. The discontent and feeling of loss in his heart were completely swept away and he gave a heavy nod of his head, “I understand! I won’t ever go near Cloud’s End Cliff from now on. Even if I do end up at Cloud’s End Cliff due to special circumstances, I will definitely not attempt to investigate what is hidden at the bottom… This is something that I’ve promised you Jasmine, so I definitely won’t ever break this promise.”

  “Good.” Jasmine said as she gave a sigh of relief in her heart… Yun Che had never once broken a promise he had made to her. This was especially so when it came to getting the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for her. He had practically thrown his life away and endured soul-rending pain such that a normal person would not be able to bear even after a hundred lifetimes.

  “The Azure Cloud Continent is too far away, even I need to expend quite a bit of energy to travel there. Furthermore, your wounds and profound strength have not fully recovered yet and in a few weeks, there is still that… hmph, engagement ceremony of yours. How about we wait for you to finish up all your nonsense before I bring you to the Azure Cloud Continent? This should help you avoid the scenario where you have to walk on eggshells around two women and get overwhelmed trying to juggle both, thus wasting my energy. Hmph.”

  Jasmine’s voice had become calm once more and she had even grown rather irate towards the end. After she had finished speaking, she folded both hands behind her back and walked away with an angry and petulant pout on her face.

  “…” Yun Che’s mouth dropped open and he had a dumbstruck expression on his face. Jasmine had always assumed a very serious, cold and haughty posture and acted as if she was completely detached from the world. But during this period of time… it seemed like all the times she had shown any anger at all was when she talked about the girls that were by his side.

  “It can’t be that… she is actually… jealous… right now?” Yun Che muttered to himself softly as he stared blankly into space.

  ——————————————

  A gloomy and sinister place shrouded in shadow.

  “Sha…”

  “HAH…”

  “UWAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

  After the sounds of heavy gasping and panting subsided, a shrill roar split the air. The desolate mountain range shook at the sound of that roar as countless flying profound beasts took to the air in terror. In the middle of this desolate mountain range, a pitch-black mist slowly rose into the sky.

  A human figure holding a jet-black sword stood in the middle of that mist.

  The black mist curled around Fen Juechen’s body… Moreover, this black mist was several times deeper and denser than it had been before. The most dreadful thing, however, was his aura, it had become so dark and sinister that it seemed to originate from the depths of the netherworld itself.

  The devil blood in his body had awakened.

  He felt his power crazily rise as his profound strength attribute transformed into an even purer darkness attribute. He had nearly lost control of his emotions many times during the process of awakening but he had suppressed this with his iron will.

  Both of his hands tightly gripped the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword that was also surrounded by that same black mist—also known as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sword. His breathing was heavy and ragged as blood freely flowed down his trembling arms… This was because the devil blood in his body,which previously had not awoken, had now been completely refined. Thus, he was having a hard time enduring his crazily growing darkness profound energy.

  The blood that dripped from his body was a shocking dark red color. It was not the same color as fresh blood from normal human beings.

  “Xuanyuan Wentian…” Due to Fen Juechen’s determination to grow even stronger, even pain that was ten times worse than what he was enduring would be nothing to him right now, “The first person I’m going to kill… will be… you!!”

  Because Xuanyuan Wentian was the main culprit behind the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Family!

  The devil blood in his body continued to awaken as the black mist around his body continuously streamed into the sky; it seemed like it would never stop. The coiling black mist above him did not dissipate for a very long time as it gradually formed into the face of a sinister grinning devil…

  Fen Juechen had not noticed that two long, narrow, pitch-black eyes had slowly appeared underneath the hilt of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword before suddenly fading away.

  ——————————————

  Yun Che had devoted all of his energy and attention to his recovery over the past few weeks, so the heavy wounds that he had sustained in his dire fight with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had completely healed. His profound strength, which he had overtaxed to an extreme degree, had fully recovered just the day before and the slumbering Phoenix and Golden Crow bloods had nearly completely awakened once again.

  This morning, Yun Che had risen early and prepared to leave the Snow Region of Extreme Ice… because today was the day of the engagement ceremony between him and Feng Xue’er. The engagement ceremony that Feng Hengkong had shamelessly arranged on the day of the Devil Sword Conference.

  Yun Che did not immediately travel to Divine Phoenix City. He first stopped over at Blue Wind Imperial City as he had intended for Cang Yue to accompany him there. However, once he arrived, Cang Yue gen
tly turned him down.

  “Husband, the monarchs of the other five nations will definitely make an appearance but besides my status as the monarch of the Blue Wind Nation, I am also your principal wife. Furthermore, Little Sister Xue’er is revered above all things within the Divine Phoenix Nation. If I were to make an appearance at your engagement ceremony with her, the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family would feel a measure of discomfort. Hence, it is best if I do not personally go.”

  “However, I have long ago prepared a present for this occasion and I dispatched people to deliver it to the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family several days ago,” Cang Yue said with a faint smile. There was not a hint of jealousy or reluctance in her manner. On the contrary, she was as gentle and graceful as water, “I will definitely be there on the day that Husband and Little Sister Xue’er get married. If Husband and Little Sister Xue’er would be willing to get married in the imperial city, that would be for the best.”

  “Alright then.” Yun Che knew that it was not that Cang Yue did not want to go nor was not going for the sake of the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family. She was not going because she was taking Feng Xue’er’s feelings into consideration. He hugged Cang Yue before softly speaking, “It’ll only be two or three days at most. After that, I will bring Xue’er back and then I will bring all of you to the Illusory Demon Realm with me. My parents will definitely love all of you.”

  “Mn, I’ve also been wanting to meet them all this while. I also want to meet… the Little Demon Empress that you constantly talk about,” Cang Yue whispered into his ear with a faint smile.

  Yun Che left the palace and took to the skies, arriving at Jasmine’s side. Jasmine did not turn around and she spoke in a stiff and haughty voice, “Have you done what you needed to do? If you have, let’s be off.”

  After she finished speaking, her left hand grabbed Yun Che’s arm as she made a rift in space with a gesture of her right hand.