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

by Mars Gravity

  Bright red blood splattered the mountain stones, the twelve members of Seven Stars Divine Palace had instantly been turned into broken bloody corpses littering the ground but it had not done anything to lessen the fury and pain in Yun Che’s heart. He closed his eyes and howled wildly like a berserking vicious beast…

  Bang…

  He fell to his knees with a heavy thump, his blood-drenched fist fiercely exploding downwards.

  BOOOOOOOMMM!!!!

  A huge explosion blanketed most of the Mythical Abode Mountain Range as countless boulders rained down from the Cloud’s End Peak.

  Yun Che’s arm streamed with blood but he could no longer feel even the slightest hint of pain. He knelt to the ground, both his hands rigidly clawing the ground. Rough and heavy gasps escaped his throat as his whole body was shaking in an incomparably violent manner.

  Why…

  Why had it turned out like this…

  Yun Che felt as if his soul had been pierced by ten thousand arrows… Losing Ling’er had always been the greatest point of pain and regret in his life.

  After he was allowed to be reunited with Ling’er once more, he had always believed that this was definitely the greatest boon that heaven had ever bestowed upon him. When he found out that he was destined to die, the last and greatest desire of his life was to see Ling’er once more… Even if he could only gaze at her from a distance.

  He used the Primordial Profound Ark, taking his one and only chance to come to the Azure Cloud Continent. After he confirmed that everything that had happened here six years ago was not a dream, he was simply ecstatic. However, before he was even able to see Su Ling’er, he received such tragic news instead. This kind of ending was…

  In his past life, he had allowed revenge to consume his eyes and soul. Su Ling’er had given her everything to him, giving him enough tears to last a lifetime but he had not even made a single promise to her…

  In this life, when he had met Su Ling’er again in that “dreamscape,” he had made all those promises to her but before he could make those words a reality, those words had caused her to wait vainly for six years… before he lost her once more.

  “Ling… er… Just what sin did she commit…” The pain of his soul being torn apart caused Yun Che to be unable to feel the existence of his body or his five sense. Icy-cold tears dripped down to fall on the ground besides his hands, “Why did heaven… have to treat her this way!!”

  “No… It’s my fault… It’s all my fault…” Yun Che said as his entire body trembled. He had gritted his teeth so hard that he had nearly shattered them, “Why did I waste so much time… to deal with Su Haoran and those other bastards… If I had come just a bit earlier, things wouldn’t have turned out this way… and Ling’er would have been fine…”

  “It’s all my fault!!”

  “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

  Yun Che’s pupils went red as he raised his left arm and heavily smashed it against his own chest.

  Pfft!

  His chest sank under the weight of this blow as a long arrow of blood was fiercely expelled from his body. But the pain his body felt was not even ten-thousandth of the agony his heart was under.

  Ding…

  Under his blow, a small and delicate precious stone that he had kept inside the clothes around his chest was jolted high into the sky, striking the mountain stone in front of him. It let out a clear and crisp sound as it the stone before it rebounded back towards Yun Che while it quiet shone with a dull purple light.

  The weak purple light that was flashing in his eyes caused Yun Che to freeze the arm that was just about to smash his chest again. In the next instant. He sprung forward as fast as lightning, picking it up in his hand.

  The small rhombus-shaped precious stone was releasing a warm purple light. This precious stone was no ordinary profound jade, it was the soul crystal that Su Hengshan had given him!

  Su Ling’er’s soul crystal!!

  A soul crystal was bonded with its owner’s soul; once the soul of the owner was extinguished, the soul crystal would instantly shatter. In those sects that were slightly bigger, important members of the sect would leave soul crystals within the sect. So if they died while abroad, their sect would be the first to know.

  But the soul crystal of Su Ling’er which he held in his hand… had not shattered and it still glowed with the light of her soul!!

  Ling’er was not dead!!

  It was as if a cold spring had rushed into Yun Che’s body, causing his chaotic heart to become incomparably cold and sober. He tightly gripped the soul crystal as he hurried over to the side of Cloud’s End Cliff.

  The foggy cliff was so deep that Yun Che could not see the bottom. Cloud’s End Cliff was also known to the world as the Death God’s Graveyard. Over the entire history of the Azure Cloud Continent, countless people had either been thrown off Cloud’s End Cliff or had tried to climb down Cloud’s End Cliff but not a single person had ever returned alive—This included the incomparably formidable existences that were akin to gods for most people, Monarchs!

  Furthermore, this was not something that was hidden, it was something that was common knowledge in the Azure Cloud Continent!

  The twelve people from Seven Stars Divine Palace could lie to him but those memories were not able to lie to him. Su Ling’er had indeed jumped down Cloud’s End Cliff.

  However, the warm and unbroken soul crystal that lay in his hand would also not lie to him.

  Yun Che stepped onto the very edge of Cloud’s End Cliff while he sucked in a deep breath of air, striving his best to calm his wildly beating heart. He could not stop himself from muttering in a flustered voice, “Ling’er is still alive… Ling’er isn’t dead… Ling’er isn’t dead…”

  He suddenly took the air and hovered right above Cloud’s End Cliff. After that he used all of his strength to shout into the boundless abyss below him:

  “Ling’er!! Ling’er!! This is Yun Che… Ling’er, where are you… Ling’er!!”

  His voice was enhanced by profound energy, so it could be heard from as far as fifty kilometers away. But it had been completely swallowed up by the jet-black abyss below him. He did not hear even the tiniest response, even after a long time had passed… and more importantly, he did not hear Su Ling’er’s response.

  Above him was the boundless blue dome of heaven, below him was an endless abyss. At this moment, it seemed as if he was standing on the border between heaven and hell and the only sounds left in this world were the sound of his breathing and the sound of his beating heart.

  He slowly raised his hand, the soul crystal that was bonded with Su Ling’er’s soul glowing with a warm light. This warm light told him that Su Ling’er was still alive in this world, waiting to be reunited with him. He steadily stared at the soul crystal and Su Ling’er’s figure slowly appeared before his eyes…

  First was the Su Ling’er from his previous life, the girl who seemed like a melancholic fairy, the girl who had wept countless tears over him…

  Next was the Su Ling’er from six years ago, the girl who had the smile of an angel, the girl who cried as she told him that he must definitely come back…

  Yun Che softly gripped the soul crystal in his hand as he stopped shouting. The chaos had suddenly vanished from his eyes, becoming incredibly clear as his body slowly descended. After that he began to quickly pick up speed as he plunged downwards towards the boundless abyss below him like a falling meteor.

  【Yun Che, I want you to promise me… When you go to 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 you grow strong enough to sweep across the entire continent and easily defeat someone like Xuanyuan Wentian, you must never attempt to investigate the bottom of Cloud’s End Cliff… 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!】r />
  【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.】

  The warning that Jasmine had issued to him in the sternest of tones echoed in his ear. The vow that he made in front of Jasmine also clearly rang in his mind as well.

  Jasmine, I am sorry, I am going to break the vow I made to you back then…

  During my life in the Azure Cloud Continent, I had thought that the most important thing in my life was vengeance.

  But the moment that Ling’er died in my arms, I suddenly felt as if my entire world had become hollow and empty and that pain and remorse doggedly followed me for the rest of my life… I was tortured by pain and remorse every single moment I was awake. In my dreams, I dreamt countless times that all of it was a lie and that Ling’er was still by my side. I dreamt that I was willing to set aside everything else for her sake, to give her all of me…

  Moreover, those dreams and hopes have miraculously become a reality… So how can I lose her again!?!

  “Ling’er…” Yun Che softly whispered as he descended into the abyss, “Even if I am buried forever with you in the Death God’s Graveyard, I will definitely not let go of you again!”

  Yun Che descended without any hesitation or fear. Instead, he grew faster and faster as he tightly grasped Su Ling’er’s soul crystal in his hand. He fervently prayed in his heart for it definitely not to shatter… for it to never ever shatter.

  In the blank of an eye, he had already descended a full three thousand meters and his surroundings had become a sea of pitch-black darkness. He raised his head and discovered that he could no longer see even a hint of light in the space above him.

  Ling’er, where are you… Where exactly are you!

  I know that you are definitely safe and sound… I am going to find you soon!!

  Darkness instinctively causes fear in human beings, let alone the absolute darkness found in a deep abyss. But the speed of Yun Che’s descent did not slow in the slightest, instead, it was growing even more rapid with every passing moment.

  The soul crystal in his hand told him that Su Ling’er was definitely waiting for him in the world beneath the abyss.

  Previously, his tardiness had resulted in and led to a terrible result where Su Ling’er had chosen to jump down Cloud’s End Cliff. So how could he tolerate the slightest bit of hesitation and sluggishness at this moment?

  Whoosh!

  The scarlet phoenix flames ignited in Yun Che’s hands, illuminating the pitch-black world of the abyss. But under the light that was radiating from the Phoenix flames, he still only saw a swathe of darkness and he saw no end to the abyss that stretched below him.

  Yun Che simply extinguished the ignited Phoenix flames and continued his descent at full speed… In the history of the Azure Cloud Continent, the countless profound practitioners who had attempted to descend Cloud’s End Cliff had done so in an exceedingly slow and cautious manner. Even Jasmine had remained vigilant and careful when she descended the Cloud End’s Cliff several months ago.

  So Yun Che was definitely the first person to ever crazily rush down this cliff that was the most dreadful abyss in the entire Azure Cloud Continent… or even the rest of the world.

  The wind whistled in his ears as the air slowly grew dark and colder. Yun Che’s wildly beating heart had not regulated itself from the start to the end. He imagined that the world below the abyss was a vasty body of water… or perhaps it was a pitch-black forest… But just what would allow a person who fell down here to survive while making it hard for them to escape…

  So, Ling’er was definitely safe! As long as he fell into the world below him, he would definitely be able to find her!

  Jasmine had clearly told him that the world beneath Cloud’s End Cliff was incomparably dreadful, that it possessed a dreadfulness he would not even be to imagine… But right now, he exerted all his effort to cling onto those thoughts, used all his might to continue believing.

  Amidst the dark and howling wind, he continuously descended several thousand feet. At this time, he had finally begun to sense the weird aura that Jasmine had sensed at that time.

  This aura was…

  Darkness devil energy!?

  Chapter 881: The Girl in the Abyss (1)

  Why would there be devil energy here?

  If it were someone else, they would only treat this as a yin aura that naturally occurred at the bottom of the deep abyss. However, Yun Che had fought Fen Juechen and Xuanyuan Wentian, as well as interacted with an actual devil within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest before. In one instant, he could tell that this aura was the same type of aura as the devil aura on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!

  However, this devilish aura was exceptionally weak… at least based on Yun Che’s senses, if one was not paying attention, there was a possibility that it would not be detected.

  As Yun Che was feeling extremely anxious, although he wondered for a short moment, he did not take it to heart too much and continued descending at maximum speed.

  Usually, he was an exceptionally cautious person. When searching an extremely dangerous region, he would definitely take each step with caution. However, today, facing Azure Cloud Continent’s most frightening “Death God’s Graveyard,” he had instead “rushed to his death” without a care.

  The sound of wind became ever more eerie. He had already descended for quite some time. Based on his estimate, he had already fallen for more than thirty thousand kilometers yet there were no signs of it coming to an end. His heart contracted more and more tightly. Su Ling’er’s profound strength was only in the Spirit Profound Realm so there was no need to talk about flying as even her ability to float in the air was exceptionally weak.

  Falling from three kilometers would be certain death, let alone thirty kilometers.

  However, the soul crystal he held in his hand remained whole and warm all the while.

  Both of Yun Che’s hands clenched slightly tighter as he tried to rid his brain of all other useless thoughts. To him right now, just knowing that Su Ling’er was still alive would be sufficient… No matter what was below, no matter what happened to Su Ling’er, this time, this lifetime, he would definitely not let go again!

  Not just an unknown deep and dark abyss, even if he knew it was hell, he would jump down without any hesitation.

  When he jumped down Cloud’s End Cliff for the first time, he had lost his consciousness in the progress while he descended. He did not know where he landed or how long he fell. Only this time did he know how frightening the deep abyss below Cloud’s End Cliff was.

  After falling for another several kilometers, he still had not reached the bottom of the abyss. However, Yun Che’s body had unknowingly passed through a “checkpoint” at this time and entered into a different world.

  Instantly, Yun Che’s body felt extremely cold. A strong and extremely dense cold aura started attacking from the surroundings, attacking his entire body and his profound veins. At the same time, he felt a strong attraction force coming from below. It was as though there were countless unseen hands of darkness pulling him violently.

  He instantly gathered his strength and tried to resist but the strength of the pulling force was too extreme. His profound strength seemed like a speck of dust in front of this force and he could not even gather one bit of resistance as he was violently swung downward.

  “Ugh!!”

  Bangg!!

  With a painful cry, like a stone that had been thrown with great strength, Yun Che fell head first and descended for some thousands of kilometers before eventually smashing heavily into an exceptionally tough object. Pain shot through his entire body turning it numb as he collapsed down there. After some time, he finally managed to struggle and sit up.

  Yun Che pressed one hand onto his he
ad while the other hand pressed onto the floor. Finally, he reacted. Below him was hard ground, which meant that this was the bottom of the abyss!!

  The surface that the palm came in contact with was cold yet tough… the feeling it gave him was that this was even tougher than the toughest profound steel that he had ever seen within the Profound Sky Continent.

  Just as Yun Che wanted to stand up, when his arm tried to support his body, he sat down heavily once again. His mouth opened widely and he nearly had to use all of his strength before he managed to breathe once. He felt suffocated, as though an extremely heavy steel plate was compressing his chest. His brain felt dizzy and his mind was so fuzzy that he felt as though his spirit was leaving him.

  The remaining clear-headedness in his brain told him that this was the devouring power which originated from a dark devil aura!

  Devouring one’s life force and soul!!

  When he initially entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he had already felt this type of feeling. Now, his profound strength was far superior to that time but it was several dozen times more times unbearable. Only several breaths of time and he felt as though he had lost half his life.

  Because the dark devilish aura was even more dense than the frightening one at the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest… and it was numerous times stronger!

  Furthermore, this type of dark devilish aura not only devoured the life force and soul, it also suppressed profound energy. If not for his Evil God’s Profound Veins that were not suppressed, he wouldn’t have the chance to come up with any resistance at all.

  “Devil energy… why… is there… such a frightening… devil energy…”

  Yun Che let out a groan but he nearly could not hear his own voice. He shook his head with strength and struggled to maintain consciousness before he wriggled himself into an upright sitting position. He quickly calmed his mind and used the Great Way of the Buddha. It started slowly before turning faster and faster. Fifty four profound entrances and all the pores in his body were opened and strands of heaven and earth’s energy entered his body like a refreshing stream, turning into his strength and life force.