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

by Mars Gravity

  Above Yun Che’s head, a pale golden mini pagoda appeared hazily and began to spin slowly.

  In this world of darkness that was frightening beyond imagination, his life force and soul were being devoured quickly. However, at the same time, the Great Way of the Buddha was also swiftly replenishing his life force and soul by taking the denser than normal heaven and earth’s energy from the extremely dense dark world… Gradually, as the mini golden pagoda spun noiselessly, the devouring and recovery finally reached an unique equilibrium.

  Just like that time within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, except that it took much longer this time.

  “Huff…”

  Yun Che opened his eyes and let out a long breath of stale air. His gaze and consciousness finally returned to normal but he did not feel one bit of joy within him. Instead, his heart sank even more.

  Darkness devil aura that was at least ten times more dense than the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest… This was a world so frightening that no normal person could imagine what it was like. Not just normal people, even those as strong as the Little Demon Empress or Feng Xue’er, if they were to fall into this world, they would undoubtedly lose their lives within fifteen minutes.

  He possessed the Evil God’s profound veins and Rage God’s strength. The former resisted the suppression of profound strength while the later maintained his vitality and soul force. That was the only reason why he could stay in this world for so long… and it was only him that could do such a thing in this world.

  If Su Ling’er were to fall into this world, even if she did not fall to her death, she would definitely not be able to survive in such a world.

  Being only in the Spirit Profound Realm would be instant death in such a world.

  However, why…

  Yun Che opened his palm, the soul crystal that had been held firmly by him all this while was still shining with a faint purple glow.

  The soul crystal has not shattered, which meant that its owner was still alive.

  However, Su Ling’er had jumped down Cloud’s End Cliff before him and would have descended into the same world. With her physique and profound strength, there was no chance of her survival…

  Just what had happened?

  Could it be… that this was not Su Ling’er soul crystal?

  It couldn’t! It definitely couldn’t… Yun Che shook his head hard to reject the idea… This was handed to him personally by Su Hengshan and he had held it tightly with him for dozens of days when he was in jail. It could not be wrong!

  It definitely couldn’t be!

  Ling’er must be safe, it’s just that I haven’t found her yet.

  Yun Che stood up, the Golden Crow flames on his body burned strongly but barely illuminated a fifteen meters radius around Yun Che in the extreme darkness.

  Beneath his feet, the floor was flat with an occasional bump here and there. The entire area was black and did not contain any other color. Not far away, at the sides, the mountain side along which he descended could be seen. He tilted his head and looked down, recalling the attractive force which he could not resist. His heart tightened and he jumped up with all his strength, flying into the air.

  He continued flying for several hundred meters but there was still no change.

  However, just as he was about three kilometers off the ground, the extremely frightening attractive force suddenly gripped him from thin air. Yun Che was prepared and immediately opened the Purgatory gate. The surge in profound energy brought his body up with full strength…

  However, the strength of his full power seemed like a piece of leaf within a huge wave, under the effects of the attractive force and instantly… Simply instantly, he was flung violently down to the ground just like before.

  Bang!!

  With a loud noise, Yun Che was smashed to the ground and even somersaulted a few times. His entire body nearly fell apart and the flames on his body extinguished. However, the ground remained perfectly fine and there was not one bit of damage on it.

  “Hsss…”

  Yun Che grimaced in pain. As he looked up into the dark sky, his heart heavily sank.

  Now, Yun Che already understood why if someone fell down Cloud’s End Cliff, there would be no return. It was certain death. This exceptionally frightening darkness devil aura was something that the profound practitioners of this world could not resist. Even if they were so strong that they could resist it temporarily, with such a frightening attractive force, there was essentially no escape.

  This also meant that anyone who came into contact with the dark world within the deep abyss would instantly be attracted in. There was no chance of any struggle, let alone escaping.

  This was also why… Jasmine warned him to never ever try and explore the world below Cloud’s End Cliff.

  Yun Che did not attempt to challenge that frightening attractive force because no matter how hard a leaf struggled, it would never be able to overcome the huge wave. He lifted up his hand and looked sternly at the soul crystal that was shining purple… In such a world, how could Ling’er possibly be alive… Once she came into contact with this world, in less than a breath of time, she would be completely devoured by the darkness leaving no trace behind…

  How could she still be alive…

  Could it be that Su Hengshan really had mixed up the soul crystals?

  That’s not right… I cannot think this way… How could I possible think this way… Yun Che shook his head miserably, closed his palm and held the soul crystal tightly… I need to believe this soul crystal, I need to believe in Ling’er… and I need to believe in miracles! Ling’er, whom I have already lost once, could appear yet again in my life… What reason do I have to not believe that she could be safely alive still!?

  With his head filled with thoughts that Su Ling’er must still be alive, Yun Che stood up once again and ignited his Golden Crow flames. He took each step slowly, searching in the darkness of this creepy world. Even after walking for sometime, the scene that he saw remained the same… Eerie, dark, empty and lonely.

  This was simply like an empty world of death. Other than darkness and exceptionally strong devil aura, there was nothing else.

  “Ling’er! Ling… Er!!!”

  Yun Che started to shout loudly, hoping for the appearance of a miracle. His shouts did not transmit too far in the deep darkness. As he carefully went forward hoping to find something, he started to focus his profound energy on shouting.

  “Ling’er!!”

  “It’s Yun Che! Where are you… I know you’re here!!”

  He proceeded forward step by step and shouted continuously. In the extreme darkness of the world, the light from the flames on his body seemed exceptionally eye catching.

  In the darkness, he did not know how far he had walked. He had already shouted more than a thousand times but each time, the reply he got was still darkness and silence.

  Finally, Yun Che stopped… subconsciously, he already knew that Su Ling’er could not survive in this world. Within this entire plane, other than him, there was no one nor any living being that could survive in this world.

  However, he dared not and was unwilling to accept this cruel truth. He struggled internally to believe that this was definitely Su Ling’er’s soul crystal and struggled to chase after the slim chance of a miracle occuring…

  He looked up. All he could see was just pure darkness. His heart sank so much that he felt like his chest was exploding. His entire body shuddered as he sucked in a huge breath of air and let out a scream with all his might:

  The air vibrated and the shout passed through the darkness, travelling a long distance.

  “ROARR!!”

  At this time, a long distance away, there was suddenly a dull roar.

  This roar came from extremely far away, possibly thousands of kilometers away. However, Yun Che’s body was stunned, he temporarily lost his hearing, his chest felt as though it had been smashed by a huge hammer, his organs trembled and a mouthful of blood back flowed through hi
s throat.

  This… this was?!

  Yun Che retreated several steps before he managed to stabilize himself as his heart was completely shocked… this sound was obviously the cry of a beast!

  In this place… there were actually living profound beasts?

  In such a world, there were actually living profound beasts?!

  Simply having living beings surviving here was enough to shock Yun Che but what shocked him the most was that just the roar of a profound beast from such a distance away was enough to cause him to suffer internal injuries.

  It was as though a level eight Monarch had struck him on the chest while he was defenseless.

  What kind of frightening strength and what kind of frightening being was that!?

  Chapter 882: The Girl in the Abyss (2)

  “HSSS—”

  “AOOUU!!”

  “ROOAR!”

  ………………

  After that terrifying roar, large numbers of roars resounded from much further away, one after another. In an instant, the previously dead silent, dark world began to slightly tremble and even space itself was faintly shaking. Yun Che quickly channeled his profound energy to resist but his entire body was still numbed by the shock wave from the overbearingly horrifying roar, sending his mind into a daze.

  There were living creatures in this place and not only was there more than one, they existed in large numbers!?

  After the heaven-shaking roars, Yun Che began to feel the earth trembling. The dark ferocious beasts faraway were evidently quickly approaching… And their speed was incomparably fast.

  Though Yun Che really wished to personally witness just what kind of monster could actually survive in this dark world, the strength of a monster that could injure him with just the shockwave from its faraway roar was basically not something that he could retaliate against… No, it had already completely surpassed his range of knowledge and imagination by countless times.

  It was possible that it might not be that much weaker than Jasmine herself.

  With a monster like that, if he entered its attack range, he basically would not have any possibility of surviving… With his strength, in the face of such a monster, he might not even be able to struggle for a mere instant.

  Yun Che hurriedly calmed his energy and blood. Not hesitating any further, he fled in the opposite direction at his fastest speed.

  The Extreme Mirage Lightning Yun Che executed with all his might, could be said to be speed at the extreme limits of this plane. However, the beast roars behind him were clearly getting closer and their immensely loud footsteps, that were capable of moving mountains, were becoming even more startling to the ears as well.

  The monster behind him not only possessed power, its speed was something he had never seen before either.

  Just what in the world is that thing!?

  What is going on with the world in this deep abyss?

  Why does such a place exist in the Azure Cloud Continent!?

  Yun Che’s inner heart was filled with the same doubts as Jasmine had back then.

  Presently, he was beginning to understand why Jasmine had warned him with an especially stern tone, to never investigate the world beneath Cloud’s End Cliff.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!

  The sounds of the footsteps of the monster behind him drew closer and finally, every step it took was as if it was stepping on his heart itself, greatly messing up the rhythm of his heartbeat, making his entire body feel incomparably uncomfortable.

  It was extremely rare for foreign bodies to enter the world within this deep abyss and since Yun Che was found to be a completely foreign entity, naturally, he would attract the dark ferocious beasts here and be wildly chased by them.

  The pressure coming from behind continued to grow and accompanying it was an unprecedented sense of danger. Though Yun Che had been resisting it with all his might, streaks of blood still began to trickle down from the corner of his lips.

  Yun Che glanced behind him. What entered his eyes was still plain darkness and not even the monster’s huge silhouette could be seen.

  Yun Che forcefully wiped the corner of his lips, his complexion gradually darkened… This can’t do. If this keeps up, it will be certain death. Just what should I do?

  Turning back was just seeking death, he would be immediately caught by moving forward and going up was even more impossible…

  It seemed like he had to first leave this place immediately. No matter how, it was impossible for Ling’er to be in this place.

  Yun Che did not hesitate any further. He immediately summoned the Primordial Profound Ark and directly jumped a vertical distance of forty-five kilometers.

  Although he was unable to resist against the strange attractive force of this dark world, he could still directly escape by jumping through space with the Primordial Profound Ark. Going up a height of forty-five kilometers was the distance he estimated that could allow him to return to the edge of Cloud’s End Cliff.

  The Primordial Profound Ark appeared and then disappeared amidst the ripples in space… However, the layers of spatial ripples were a little frail and they disappeared immediately after.

  The Primordial Profound Ark’s jump was complete. Yun Che left the Primordial Profound Ark and arrived at the outside world… Then, he instantly blanked.

  The place he was in, was still the incomparably dark world and his surroundings were filled with an extremely dense amount of dark devil energy. Beneath his feet, it was still that incomprehensibly firm dark ground.

  “What’s going on?” Yun Che repeatedly confirmed his surroundings, the haze in his heart instantly grew several times heavier.

  The approaching terrifying roars had disappeared and his surroundings were dead silent. This proved that he had indeed left the place he was previously at, as he was completely unable to hear the roars of those dark monsters. At the very least, he had traveled several hundred or even several thousand kilometers. However, he had clearly steered the Primordial Profound Ark to jump upwards and it was not even a distance of sixty kilometers. However, his vertical position evidently had not undergone any change!

  “…” Yun Che heavily frowned. Not giving up, he once again summoned the Primordial Profound Ark. This time however, the jump coordinates he directed, was a vertical jump of exactly sixty kilometers.

  The Primordial Profound Ark appeared and disappeared, completing its second spatial jump.

  Leaving the Primordial Profound Ark, Yun Che’s feet directly stepped onto the cold hard ground and the terrifying dark devil energy, like the breath of a fiend, blew straight towards his face.

  The two consecutive vertical spatial jumps, both ended in failure! Furthermore, there was not a single change in his vertical position during these two times, though an uncertain degree of offset had appeared in his horizontal coordinates.

  Yun Che’s mood quickly sank… He suddenly recalled Jasmine had once described to him the spatial laws. The spaces in different worlds and different planes were different and like other elements, they were ranked from high to low. The realm of the spatial laws in the Profound Sky Continent was very low, enabling one to tear through it and undergo spatial jumps rather easily. However, in a world which possessed a high realm of spatial laws, tearing space and undergoing spatial jumps were much more difficult.

  Jasmine had also once mentioned that the realm of power of the Primordial Profound Ark itself was extremely high, however, with only the Jade of the Nine Suns as its sole energy source, it was basically impossible to unleash its full strength. It could make whimsical jumps in a world like the Profound Sky Continent but within a high level space, the trajectory of the jump could be really easily twisted, which might even make short distance jumps impossible.

  These two completely failed spatial jumps had undoubtedly proven to Yun Che that the spatial laws of this dark world were far from being comparable to the world outside.

  Very evidently, the jump trajectory of the Primordial Profo
und Ark was being severely twisted in this world!

  However, if he was unable to rely on the Primordial Profound Ark to leave this place, then… would that not mean that he had no choice but to be trapped here for all eternity!?

  Yun Che’s expression changed. He opened his hand and on his palm, was still that complete soul crystal, emitting a warm purple glow.

  No, I must find a way to leave this place!

  I have not gotten to see Ling’er and I have yet to pull Xuanyuan Wentian down to purgatory along with me!

  I can die but I can’t die for naught!

  Though I can no longer leave by going up, there might be other exits somewhere.

  Yun Che knew in his heart that this possibility was basically close to non-existent, however, since he was still alive, there was no reason for him not to search and try.

  Presently, he was completely unaware of where he was in this dark world and he was unable to discern the direction he was facing either. He could only randomly choose a direction and walk forward with heavy steps.

  Though this place was covered in absolute darkness, with Yun Che’s eyesight that transcended the realm of humans, he could still caught a few blurry silhouettes in the darkness after gradually adapting to it. After walking for a good while, he ignited the Golden Crow flames, brightening up the surrounding space.

  “Whoosh~”

  Not too long after the Golden Crow flames started burning, a heavy breathing sound suddenly came from behind Yun Che… And after this breathing sound, was a sudden explosive roar.

  “Aoouu!!!”

  This roar was different from the ferocious beast that was chasing after him earlier, however, it was similarly terrifying beyond compare. Yun Che’s body trembled immensely, his vision instantly darkened and he was so close to spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  The previously silent and dark world, was suddenly enveloped by an evil air that could shroud the heavens and the roaring dark ferocious beast stood up from its silence. Amidst the loud resounding roar that could shake the sky and earth, it pounced towards Yun Che’s location.