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

by Mars Gravity

  Its constantly flashing golden eyes, highlighted the immense shock it had in its mind.

  After a long while, the Golden Crow’s Soul finally said, “Regarding the person called Xuanyuan Wentian who exchanged blows with you three today, this noble one was able to sense a very faint devil aura from his body, along with the aura of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night. This noble one had suspected it was just my imagination, because devils have long been extinct.”

  “Never did I expect that it was truly the aura of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!”

  “This noble one inherited the will of the Golden Crow and has existed in this world for such a long time, yet I have never sensed it this entire time. In the faraway continent in the north, there actually hid a True Devil that had survived since the Primordial Era!”

  It had looked into Yun Che’s memories, so naturally, it knew about the existence of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.

  “Fortunately, he was unintentionally discovered by you and has been exterminated, otherwise, if his soul imprint recovered, with his instincts as a devil along with the hatred accumulated from being sealed for millions of years, this world definitely would have faced an incomparably terrifying tribulation. It is a feat comparable to saving this seemingly peaceful world with just your strength alone.”

  Yun Che lightly smiled as he shook his head. “I killed him simply to protect my own life. Because if he did not die, I would die instead. That’s all there is to it. As for saving the world, I don’t think I have such determination nor that kind of saintly heart. Furthermore, so what if I have killed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign? Compared to him, Xuanyuan Wentian is a hundred times more terrifying.”

  “You’re wrong. How can there possibly be a comparison to speak of between a devil god and a mortal? Though Xuanyuan Wentian of today seems to far surpass the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign you exterminated, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was a True Devil. The moment it truly recovered, its strength would basically be something you are incapable of imagining. Even with the physique of a dragon god, if it wished to destroy you, it would just take the time it takes to form a thought.

  “As for Xuanyuan Wentian, he had but just received a thin amount of devil blood and a slightly frail devil soul. Even if he’s capable of achieving perfect compatibility with all of his power, it would be impossible for him to truly step into the divine way.”

  “But though my strength has improved by leaps and bounds in these three months, I’m still far from being Xuanyuan Wentian’s match. Today, if not because there were still remnants of Fen Juechen’s soul that had yet to be destroyed, I would have already lost my life.

  “Furthermore, Xuanyuan Wentian personally told me today that his devil blood has yet to awaken completely. Three months from now, it will reach the state of perfection. When that time comes, his strength will definitely far surpass the strength he had today. Haah… I really can’t figure out how I’m supposed to go against him.”

  Yun Che raised his head and muttered to himself with a low voice. “If only Jasmine was here. Even if she was still unable to make use of her own power like before, she’d still able to teach me what I should do.”

  “…” From Yun Che’s body, the Golden Crow’s Soul could sense a heavy gloom.

  About a year ago, when they first met, Yun Che respected yet did not fear it; even when facing its pressure, he still carried a brilliant demeanor. When it wanted to forcefully strip away his Phoenix bloodline, he stubbornly rejected it and even lashed out at it with furious curses.

  Back then, when facing his curses, not only was it not angered, it instead felt that he was even more pleasing to the eye. Because as the soul of the Golden Crow, its personality was extremely prideful and violent in the first place.

  But today, it sensed gloom coming from Yun Che’s body.

  It was uncertain if the reason behind this gloom was because of the despair brought about by Xuanyuan Wentian’s strength or Jasmine’s departure.

  Perhaps it was the latter.

  “Golden Crow Divine Spirit, with your power, are you able to defeat Xuanyuan Wentian?” Yun Che asked. However, from his tone, he evidently did not carry much hope.

  “If it was a year ago, I might be able to do it,” Golden Crow’s Soul bluntly said. “But now, even if I go against the will of the Golden Crow and forcefully leave this place, I’m definitely unable to exterminate Xuanyuan Wentian.”

  “…” Yun Che closed his eyes, his two hands slightly clenched.

  Jasmine’s departure, Moonflower’s scheme, the mutated Xuanyuan Wentian and the devil origin orb break-out… While he was still submerged in loss due to Jasmine’s departure and had yet to regain his senses from it, everything suddenly came flooding in.

  In the past, no matter how terrifying of a crisis he faced, his willpower had never dimmed. However, now that Jasmine was not by his side, he felt that half of his soul had been forcefully sliced away, depressed and powerless.

  After losing her, he then truly understood his reliance on Jasmine had far surpassed his imagination.

  “Don’t you want to know why the devil origin orb in your profound veins suddenly escaped from its seal and acted up?” Golden Crow’s Soul suddenly said.

  “I have doubts about this problem as well.” The light in Yun Che’s eyes stirred. “Golden Crow Divine Spirit, could it be that you know the answer?”

  “That devil origin orb that came from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign initially possessed a very weak power. If not because you were heavily injured after the horrendous battle with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, you could have even sealed it yourself.” The Golden Crow’s Soul slowly explained, its voice still carried an evident frailty. “It merged into your profound veins, so it will naturally absorb the profound energy in your profound meridians.”

  “It is like a darkness seed which should have been close to death. Though it relies on your profound energy to awaken, it’s still something that belongs to the realm of the devil gods. The power it gradually gives birth to, will one day far surpass your own degree and realm of strength. If you wish to live, either you destroy your own profound veins or constantly seal it completely, preventing its ever-increasing devil aura from leaking out.”

  “Initially, the awakened power of this devil origin orb would have required quite a considerable amount of time before it could reach the extent of harming your life. With the profound strength you had three months ago, you could have sealed it over and over again by relying on your own strength for at least several dozens of years.”

  “However, in these three months, due to your dragon phoenix dual cultivation with Feng Xue’er, your vitality and profound energy were both in extremely active states in every single moment. The realm of your profound strength has even risen explosively within these three short months… However, due to a terrible coincidence, the sustained active and stimulated states sped up the growth of the devil origin orb’s power, finally leading to it breaking out of the seal your master placed and releasing a dark devil aura that you’re unable to endure.”

  Yun Che: “…”

  “This is negligence on this noble one’s part. If this noble one had discovered the existence of the devil origin orb in your body three months ago, it would not have led to the result today.” The Golden Crow’s Soul let out a short sigh… It did not reveal just how terrifying the devil origin orb in Yun Che’s body had become in a straightforward manner. Though it was sealed with great difficulty…

  Yun Che instead laughed and shook his head. “This is not your mistake. If you have not guided Xue’er to conduct dual cultivation with me, I would have been dead three months ago.”

  “The devil origin orb is within my profound veins so I have long had the expectation that it would end this way… Though, it has arrived a little too soon.” Yun Che’s voice paused for a moment, before he suddenly said, “Regarding the devil origin orb, I have a very heavy doubt. Why was it able to merge wi
th my profound veins so easily? The profound veins of a profound practitioner are the locations where profound energy is condensed in and they will expel all foreign substances, let alone the fact that my profound veins are even the profound veins of a profound god. Why did they directly merge with the devil origin orb that belonged to a devil, without the slightest rejection?”

  “This noble one is similarly unable to comprehend this matter either,” the Golden Crow’s Soul slowly said. “The devil origin orb is the orb of origin energy of a devil god. The birth of a devil god begins with the devil origin orb itself. It bears the origin energy of a devil god and is the core of a devil’s profound veins. The moment a devil loses it or its devil origin orb is destroyed, the devil will lose all of its powers and might even die there and then.”

  “If the devil origin orb of a devil god is destroyed, the devil god can take over another devil god’s devil origin orb and then assimilate it into its own profound veins through a certain unique method, regaining its power from then on… Though it sounds bizarre and its possibility is unproven, in the Era of Gods, there were indeed such related rumors. However, with the profound veins of a true god or a mortal, wanting to merge them with a devil god’s orb of origin energy is basically an impossible matter. Unless…”

  “…”

  The Golden Crow’s Soul evidently had thought of something but its voice had suddenly ground to a halt. Even its golden eyes had shrunk several times over.

  “Unless what?” Yun Che urged.

  “… This noble one can’t answer you, because this is merely an extremely ludicrous conjecture. There’s no need to ask any further.”

  Yun Che could hear the abnormal change in the tone of the Golden Crow’s soul. It must have thought of something, yet was unwilling to tell him… Furthermore, it was unwilling to speak about it in an extremely firm manner.

  Chapter 865: Jasmine’s Message (1)

  “Let this noble one see that black jade you obtained from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.” The Golden Crow’s soul intentionally diverted away from the topic, not wanting Yun Che to ask about it any further.

  Black jade?

  Yun Che was startled for a moment and then instantly recalled that mysterious black jade he picked up next to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s remains, which he was seemingly about to forget about. He hurriedly took it out.

  The perfectly round black jade was the size of a palm and it felt ice-cold and heavy when held. Its entire body was flawlessly pitch-black and extremely glossy, with its opposite side completely similar. There was not a single mark or pattern on it, nor was there even the least bit presence of profound energy.

  Just from looking at its exterior and aura alone, this could be nothing more than a normal jade stone. It could not even be considered a profound jade of the lowest grade.

  However, just by the fact that it could stay perfectly unharmed under the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s strength, it was definitely not a regular object.

  A ray of golden light shot down and the mysterious black jade fluttered up from Yun Che’s hand, floating in the air. Then, it was enveloped by the golden light… However, an instant later, all of the golden light completely disappeared and the mysterious black jade fell from the air, returning back onto Yun Che’s hand.

  “Just what in the world is this?” Yun Che raised his head and asked.

  “Don’t know.”

  “Even you don’t know?” Yun Che’s face was filled with astonishment. Since this black jade came from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, it was definitely something that originated from the Era of Gods millions of years ago. It was not unexpected for Jasmine to be unaware of the matter of that era, however, the Golden Crow’s soul was a soul fragment of the Golden Crow Divine Beast and it carried a portion of the Golden Crow’s primordial memories. It actually did not recognize it either?

  “Just like you two, the moment this noble one’s energy dwelled within, it disappeared without a trace. For this situation to occur, there’s more or less two possibilities,” the Golden Crow’s soul slowly described. “Either within it dwells an independent small world like this Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley which this noble one created or the principles of power within are extremely profound, a plane which our powers are unable to make contact with.”

  “Together with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, it was able to stay perfectly unharmed in the Evil God’s seal for millions of years, it’s definitely not a normal object. Most likely, it’s a ‘devil jade’ or ‘devil artifact’ belonging to the realm of the devil gods. Another possibility is that it can only be awakened by the power of the devil way.”

  Yun Che put away the mysterious black jade and casually said, “I have been curious about it this entire time. But now, what it is, is basically no longer of any importance.”

  “Golden Crow Divine Spirit, it’s time I return. If I stay for too long, they will be worried.” Yun Che lowered his head as he deeply bowed towards the Golden Crow’s soul and sincerely said, “Back then when we first met, I once scoffed at you, made you out as selfish and arrogant and that you were not worthy of being a god… Not only did you not punish me, you instead bestowed me a new lease on life and have several times saved my life, even at the expense of greatly damaging your own lifespan. For this huge grace, Yun Che truly does not know how to repay you.”

  “…This noble one naturally has my own selfishness for bestowing you my final bloodline and soul energy, there’s no need for your gratitude or repayment,” the Golden Crow’s soul lightly said.

  “…However, I’m destined to disappoint you.” Yun Che lowly sighed as he turned around and left.

  “You don’t have to be this pessimistic,” the Golden Crow’s Soul suddenly said. “As someone merged with the remnant power of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, Xuanyuan Wentian is indeed not someone you can deal with right now. However, with the state he is in, after awakening all the power of the devil blood and devil soul, his cultivation will forever be halted, not being able to make the slightest of improvements in the rest of his life. Even his lifespan will be greatly shorten as well. However, you’re different. Not only do you carry extraordinary talent, you possess the powers of various gods as well. In the future, there will definitely come a day where you surpass him. Before that, you can borrow the use of the Primordial Profound Ark to flee to other dimensions where Xuanyuan Wentian can’t find you.”

  “I can indeed flee,” Yun Che stopped his feet and spoke with a low voice. “But Caiyi definitely would not. My father and mother definitely would not either.”

  “Furthermore… Does the current me, really have a future?”

  “…” The Golden Crow’s soul no longer spoke. After a long period of silence, it let out a long sigh. “Go on then.”

  A golden light flashed and Yun Che had already been sent out of Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley.

  The light from the golden eyes retracted and as its eyes closed, it slowly muttered to itself. “Back then when I investigated his memories, I had thought that he was bestowed with great luck and was favored by the heavens. Along with the powers of the dragon god and Evil God he already possessed, I bestowed everything to him… Never did I expect that he would end up in such a crisis…”

  “This is fate. All are powerless to go against it.”

  ——————————

  After being sent out of Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, just as Yun Che had expected, Feng Xue’er and the Little Demon Empress were waiting there, staying there the entire time. Seeing Yun Che’s appearance, their eyes shone with a similar luster, as they hurriedly charged over.

  “Big Brother Yun, you… how are you right now?” Feng Xue’er said with the same worried tone.

  “It looks like you’re already fine.” After the Little Demon Empress swept her eyes at Yun Che’s aura, her expression and eyes had evidently relaxed.

  “Haha but of course,” Yun Che said with a relaxed expression. “With the d
ivine power of the Golden Crow Divine Spirit, I’m naturally safe and sound.”

  “That’s great,” Feng Xue’er happily placed down the heavy burden in her heart and said, puzzled. ”But, just what happened? Why did Big Brother Yun suddenly…”

  “You both still have injuries on your bodies and require immediate rest and attention. Let’s go back to Demon Imperial City first. They must definitely be worried to the point of breaking down.”

  “…” The Little Demon Empress looked at him deeply and said with a quiet voice. “Let us return.”

  ————————————

  Though Xuanyuan Wentian was fought back, the influence he brought definitely could not be calmed down in just a short span of time. Demon Imperial City was presently in a state of chaos. The people who had fled out of the city beforehand had already received the news and were beginning to return one after another.

  The Great City Barrier Formation had already been retracted but the entire Demon Imperial City felt as though it had been enclosed in a large wok; the atmosphere was incomparably stifling. Though they did not suffer the crisis of being annihilated, they had all personally witnessed Xuanyuan Wentian’s terror… Furthermore, he had simply fled today and was not killed. There would come a day… Or to be exact, not long later, he would definitely return.

  This terrifying truth was like a nightmare pressing down on every single one of their hearts.

  Under the guidance of the Guardian Families and the various Duke Palaces, the work on the aftermath in Demon Imperial City was being undergone. The entire Yun Family was also filled with the sunken atmosphere. Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou had been standing outside the main gate, their eyes facing the northern direction as they hoped for Yun Che to safely return. Xiao Yun and his wife had also been standing at the side to accompany them, constantly consoling them.

  Until they saw, with their own eyes, Yun Che, Feng Xue’er and the Little Demon Empress safely return and land right before them. Mu Yurou did not care about the crowd that was present as she leapt forward with tears spilling from her eyes, hugging tightly onto her own son and beginning to cry out loud like a child.