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

by Mars Gravity

  “Given my understanding of the Little Demon Empress, she definitely would not do so and I share the same sentiments as well.”

  While he said this, a faint smile appeared on Yun Qinghong’s face and it was not the least bit forced or discontent, “In this world, there are many things that are far more important than one’s own life. That goes for me and the Little Demon Empress as well. If you forcefully take her away, this would be far worse than death for her… Your mother and I feel the same way.”

  “We have all personally witnessed the terror of Xuanyuan Wentian and now we are still working hard to resist him and think of a plan to deal with him. But we have never once thought of fleeing.”

  “But Che’er, it’s not the same for you!” Yun Qinghong said as his eyes grew stern, “You have to go. We are not choosing to stay because we are stupid or stubborn but it is because we have something that we need to protect. But in your case, if you choose not to leave, it will not only be an irrational decision, it will also be a very stupid one… I believe that the Little Demon Empress has already spoken to you about this and you should be very clear about it as well.”

  “…” Yun Che remained silent for a very long time.

  “Tomorrow, we will be holding holding a feast to celebrate Yongan’s first month,” Yun Qinghong said with a faint smile. “As his grandfather, it’s only natural that I arrange everything personally. So for the next two days, let’s set aside these important matters for now. Che’er, come over and help us out later.”

  “Alright…” Yun Che said rather despondently.

  Yun Qinghong left but Yun Che stayed standing in that spot for a very long time. Gradually, his eyes started to grow colder and colder and he quietly clenched both his hands.

  “It looks like… I need to kill Xuanyuan Wentian… no matter what!!”

  Need…

  Yun Che sucked in a long breath as a blurry decision formed in his heart. He looked at the Yun Family household and just as he was about to land in the courtyard, he suddenly felt his entire body shake fiercely as a dark and sinister aura suddenly exploded within his profound veins. This caused an indescribable pain to instantly spread throughout his entire body…

  Could… Could it be…

  Xiao Lingxi strode out from the courtyard. Once she saw Yun Che, who was hovering in the air above her, her beautiful eyes twinkled as she crowed in delight, “Little Che, you’re back!”

  “What about Sister Cang Yue and Xue’er? How come they didn’t come back with you?” Xiao Lingxi said as she scampered towards Yun Che. As she spoke, her nose turned up slightly as an adorable pout formed on her lips, displaying the jealousy in her heart.

  But after she had finished speaking, she realized that Yun Che had not responded to her at all. Xiao Lingxi let out a soft cry but just as she was about to ask a question, she saw Yun Che suddenly tumble from the sky and hit the ground fiercely. He remained curled up on the ground, his entire body shivering as his face contorted in incredible agony.

  “Li-Little Che!” Color drained from Xiao Lingxi’s pretty face as she threw aside the thing she was holding in her hand and panickedly ran over to Yun Che, “Little Che… You… what happened to you?”

  As the voice of Xiao Lingxi grew ever closer, Yun Che’s remaining clarity allowed him to stretch out a quivering hand. After that, a soft and gentle profound energy pushed Xiao Lingxi far away as he croaked out in pain, “Do not… come over here… Ah!!”

  Black energy that he was unable to suppress streamed out of Yun Che’s body before slowly rising into the air, causing Yun Che to experience even more pain.

  “Little Che… Little Che!!” Xiao Lingxi had been scared completely witless and she shouted in a teary voice, “Somebody come quick… Somebody come quick… Come and save Little Che!!”

  The entire Yun Family was instantly alerted to this commotion as the nearby Xiao Yun rushed over like a blustering gale. After he took one look at Yun Che’s state, his expression immediately and violently changed, “Big Brother, what’s happening to you!?!”

  “Don’t touch him!”

  Just as Xiao Yun was about to approach Yun Che, Yun Qinghong’s stern shout rang out from behind him, causing Xiao Yun to immediately freeze in place.

  Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou had rushed over and many of the Yun Family elders and most of the Yun Family disciples hurried along behind them after they had heard the news. They took one look at Yun Che’s condition and the black energy that was gushing out of his body, all of them being shocked in place.

  With a single glance, Yun Qinghong could tell that Yun Che’s current condition was exactly the same as one month ago. After Yun Che had returned from Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, he had not yet explained to him the reason behind this and Yun Qinghong had not pursued the matter either, he even believed that Yun Che had completely recovered from it. But he had never thought that Yun Che would suddenly find himself in the exact same situation again.

  “Che’er… What’s wrong with Che’er?” Mu Yurou’s face had gone completely pale. If not for the fact that Yun Qinghong was holding her arm tightly, she would already have thrown caution to the wind and rushed to his side.

  “No one is allowed to touch him… Yun’er, immediately go and inform the Little Demon Empress of the present situation!!” Yun Qinghong’s expression was rigid as he forced himself to speak calmly.

  Just as his voice had finished, an energy explosion that sounded like thunder suddenly rang out in the air above them. The Little Demon Empress and Feng Xue’er had brought along Cang Yue as they approached at an alarming speed… They had taken their time at first but then they suddenly sensed a terrifying devilish energy—Furthermore, this devilish energy did not originate from Xuanyuan Wentian. Instead, it was exactly the same as the devilish energy Yun Che had released a month ago so they had hurried over at the greatest speed while shock and fear shook their hearts.

  “Big Brother Yun!” Feng Xue’er was seized by panic as she rushed towards Yun Che side, supporting his body, which was entwined by black energy, off the ground.

  The Little Demon Empress set Cang Yue down and spoke in a serious tone, “Yun Che, quickly focus your thoughts and summon out the Primordial Profound Ark… We will immediately head to the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley!”

  No one would be able to understand the kind of terrifying circumstance that Yun Che found himself in right now. Just having devil energy invade one’s body was already incredibly terrifying but this devil energy was erupting from within Yun Che’s body. If it was someone else, they would not even have the opportunity to struggle in agony, they would have lost their lives in practically one instant.

  “…” Yun Che could barely make out any intelligible words but with his strong will, he managed to successfully summon forth the Primordial Profound Ark while correctly setting the coordinates to travel to the entrance of the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley.

  After it had instantly jumped through space, the Little Demon Empress picked up Yun Che and carried him into Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley once more.

  The last time around, even though Yun Che did not explain, they had all naturally assumed that his condition had been due to the sudden flaring up of the devil energy that had infiltrated Yun Che’s body after his fight with Xuanyuan Wentian. So they definitely had not thought of the fact that this devilish energy was actually coming from inside Yun Che’s body… This time however, the both of them were struck by a profound feeling that something was not right.

  After they entered Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley again after one month, the both of them clearly sensed that the fire aura in this place had once again weakened by a great amount. The volcanos in the original Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley were initially in a state of constant and violent eruption and one could see roiling lava and seas of fire everywhere. But today, nearly half of those volcanoes had gone dormant and the lava and the seas of fire seemed far more sluggish than before.

  But right
now, none of them were in the correct frame of mind to bother about these continuing bizarre changes. They brought Yun Che towards the end of Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley at the fastest speed possible.

  “The Empress of the Illusory Demon Realm Huan Caiyi… begs to see the Golden Crow Divine God!” The Little Demon Empress cried towards the scarlet sky

  “I beg that the Golden Crow Divine God appear before us!”

  The Little Demon Empress continued to cry out but the only thing that answered her was heavy silence. It was only after she had cried out more than ten times that the sky finally rang with the Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s voice.

  “Huan Caiyi, why do you disturb this noble one’s rest yet again!”

  “Golden Crow Divine Spirit!” Feng Xue’er said anxiously, “It’s Big Brother Yun… the same devil energy that appeared on his body the last time has reappeared yet again, so I beg that you save him!

  The Little Demon Empress and Feng Xue’er clearly could sense the space around them suddenly tightening up.

  Clang!!

  The eyes of the Golden Crow finally opened up in the air above, the dazzling light that came from its eyes caused the scarlet sky to turn a dull gold. The golden light that radiated from its eyes quickly fell upon Yun Che’s body and after a brief period of silence, a long and drawn-out sigh rang through Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley.

  “The both of you may leave. Within ten days, no one is allowed to take a step into this place.”

  “Ten days?” The Little Demon Empress said with an alarmed expression on her face, “Golden Crow Divine God, just what is wrong with Yun Che…”

  Before her voice had even finished falling, a golden light had already enshrouded her before kicking both her and Feng Xue’er out of the world of Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley.

  SCREEEEE——！

  A long cry filled the air as those scarlet-golden eyes abruptly grew wide and scarlet golden fire fell from the sky like a storm of meteors, engulfing Yun Che in a sea of golden flames.

  The black energy was slowly suppressed by the violent Golden Crow flames. The pressure on Yun Che’s body lessened as he managed to sit up straight with much difficulty and focus his mind. He started to absorb and guide the Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s boundless power into his body and gradually the black color on his face began to recede and his complexion returned to normal. His breathing also began growing steady.

  “It has just been a short month, so how did the devil origin orb break out of its seal so quickly and flare up again?” The Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s voice rang in Yun Che’s ears.

  Yun Che, “…”

  “Hmph, this noble one has already found the cause,” the Golden Crow Divine Spirit said gravely, “There is another heavy emotional issue that plagues your heart, causing you to block up your heart and be in a state of sorrow all this time, while also accelerating the growth of the devil origin orb’s power!”

  “…Even sorrow will influence the devil origin orb?” Yun Che asked in a low voice.

  “Sorrow is the same thing as rage, greed and resentment. All of them are negative emotions. Furthermore, strong negative emotions will agitate and accelerate the revival of the devil origin orb’s power. Hmph, this noble one had never thought that such a gigantic emotional knot could form in your heart given your experiences and temperament.”

  “…” Yun Che could only smile bitterly in response.

  “It looks like you have already seen the memory fragment that your master left for you.” When the Golden Crow Divine Spirit had scanned Yun Che’s memories three months ago, it had also read the memory fragment that Jasmine had left for him. So it knew about the message Jasmine left for Yun Che before Yun Che himself found out about it.

  Yun Che was not surprised at all, he merely muttered in a soft voice, “The reason human beings are humans beings is because all of their emotions and desires are fully intact. My mind knows that I should not be wallowing in sorrow but I am simply unable to accept that I’ve lost my Little Fairy… and our child as well… I also don’t know how long I will need before I am able to truly accept everything.”

  “Hmph, this is precisely the aspect of humanity that is most ridiculous and feeble! If it was someone else, this noble one could forcefully seal away this memory. But given your present soul strength, even this noble one is unable to forcefully interfere with your memories anymore. That’s fine… The devil origin orb in your body not only broke its seal but it also behaved even more violently than it did the last time. Given this noble one’s remaining power, I can just barely suppress it by force. But if I want to seal it again, not only will I need a lot of time, I will also need to rely on the Sea of Death.”

  “For the next ten days, you will need to remain inside the Sea of Death at all times. You’re not allowed to leave it for even an instant.”

  A golden light fell from the sky and picked Yun Che up before instantly depositing him into the boundless Sea of Death.

  “Since it has come to this, we regrettably have no other choice… So let’s give it our best shot,” the Golden Crow Divine Spirit said with a low sigh as it infused the last of its divine power into the Sea of Death.

  Chapter 872: Resolute (2)

  Ten days was only the time the Golden Crow Divine Spirit predicted.

  However, the scariness of the current state of the devil origin orb far surpassed the Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s prediction.

  Yun Che’s body has long surpassed that of any normal human. From head to toe, he was a true monster. His body actually perfectly combined the Evil God’s Profound Veins, the Phoenix’s blood, the Dragon God’s blood, the Golden Crow’s blood, the strength of the Rage God, as well as the Sirius’ power and there had not be any rejections—Needless to say, the Golden Crow Divine Spirit or even if the actual Golden Crow Divine Beast was present, it would not be able to comprehend the existence of this “monster”.

  This was also the main reason why the Golden Crow Divine Spirit gifted everything to him without hesitation after reading his memories.

  And within this “monster’s” body, the speed at which the devil origin orb grew was illogical as well. This was the second time the Golden Crow Divine Spirit used all its strength to help him seal the devil origin orb but its spirit was still continuously shocked.

  Finally, after sixteen long days, the devil origin orb was once again sealed with difficulty within Yun Che’s body.

  Within the Sea of Death, Yun Che opened his eyes and sensed that his body was no longer invaded by the devilish aura. He inhaled and flew out, escaping from the Sea of Death and landing on the scarlet grounds near the Sea of Death.

  Just as he was about to give his thanks to the Golden Crow Divine Spirit, he was suddenly shocked.

  The Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley that was usually constantly filled will the sounds of the raging sea of flames was now unusually quiet. At one glance, all the volcanoes within vision actually laid dormant. There was not one that was erupting. The lava was flowing slowly and the sea of flames that originally scorched the skies could now no longer be described as “a sea of flames”. The flames were dull and they burned slowly and weakly.

  Turning back and looking towards the Sea of Death, the boundless flames rumbled but the colors had turned completely dark as though it was a fierce beast at the end of its life.

  Yun Che lifted up his head and high up in the sky, the Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s golden eyes was staring at him. However, the divine pressure that originated from it was greatly inferior to before.

  “Golden Crow Divine Spirit,” Yun Che was feeling complicated, “I thank you for saving me once again.”

  “This noble one has mentioned before, there’s no need for such useless words,” The Golden Crow Divine Spirit coldly replied. “Whatever this noble one wants to do, no one can stop. Whatever this noble one does not want to do, no one can force either.”

  “Since you’re fine now, hurry up and leave. This noble one a
lready does not have much time left. If she still does not go into slumber, this world might collapse at any time. However, remember, you must let go of the knot in your heart quickly, otherwise, the devil origin orb in your body might break free at any time.”

  “…” Yun Che still did not leave immediately. Instead, he calmly asked, “Golden Crow Divine Spirit, can you straightforwardly answer one of my questions?”

  Golden Crow Divine Spirit, “?”

  “How… long do I have left?” Yun Che’s tone and expression seemed exceptionally calm.

  “…” The air suddenly became dense and the golden eye that was in the air remained silent for a long time before slowly replying, “To know your own death date is a thing that is more fearsome than death. Are you really sure you want to know?”

  “I have to know.” Yun Che’s expression still remained calm.

  “One month,” the Golden Crow Divine Spirit replied straightforwardly.

  “…” Yun Che’s eyelids slowly closed and he exhaled one long breath, “One month… that’s not much different from what I predicted. The next time the devil origin orb’s energy overflows will be the day of my death.”

  He laughed self-mockingly, “I never expected that I, Yun Che, would die in the end because of an inanimate object… Heh, there’s a part of me that can’t accept this.”

  “This is the last time this noble one is able to help you. The devil origin orb within your body is constantly growing. The next time it goes out of control, even if this noble one were to have regained her full strength and was not in this current state, it would still be nearly impossible to reseal it. This noble one using up all her strength to seal it now would only allow it to remain for about a month.

  “That’s why you had better leave this place quickly and think carefully what you want to do in this last month!”

  Yun Che remained silent for some time before suddenly asking, “Golden Crow Divine Spirit, since you know that there’s a devil origin orb within me and I’m unable to be saved and destined to die, why are you still willing to use up a large amount of your last remaining strength to save me?”