Against the Gods - Volume 06 - Lordship in Illusory Demon

by Mars Gravity

  The unconscious Duke Yuan Que was carried out of the arena by the people from Duke Zhong Palace as they swiftly brought him out of the Demon Imperial Hall. If he did not receive medical attention soon, there was a very high chance that he would be crippled from then on. Duke Zhong did not leave with them, but the expressions on his and Duke Huai’s face had become grave and ugly… In each of Yun Che’s five matches, it was only after the match had concluded that they had realized how much they had underestimated Yun Che. This match was no exception!

  From the conclusion of Yun Che’s third match onwards, Duke Huai had wanted to kill him. But right now, he had never ever felt such an intense desire for someone to immediately disappear from the face of the earth!

  He had been shocked too many times by Yun Che and accompanying each shock carried with it an incomparably thick and heavy aura of danger.

  He had no knowledge whatsoever of Yun Che’s true origins, the only thing that he did know was that Yun Che was only twenty-two years old… what was twenty-two years old? The son with whom he was most pleased, Hui Ran, the publicly acknowledged future number one in Illusory Demon Realm, definitely did not have such strength when he was twenty-two years old!

  If he continued to mature, before long, he would even surpass Hui Ran! If he was allowed to completely develop in the future, he would completely transcend him.

  Someone of this caliber was even a foster child of the Yun Family! Someone who stood on the side of his enemies!

  Duke Zhong and Duke Huai exchanged glances, and they were both able to see the extremely intense killing intent in each other’s eyes.

  Thump….

  In the middle of the arena, Yun Che supported himself with his heavy sword as he gently knelt to the pockmarked ground. His entire body trembled faintly, and he continuously gasped for breath; the sound of each breath was extremely rough and heavy. His previous four battles, and especially the one with Hui Ye, had consumed a large amount of his energy. Furthermore, he had just crossed swords with Yuan Que for over one hundred rounds, and in the end, he had opened the gate of Purgatory. He had even activated ‘Sealing Cloud Locking Sun’ when he had activated Purgatory, so his energy consumption was incomparably immense. Now that he had relexed, he could feel a pressure that was as heavy as a mountain pressing down on his entire body. For him to even stand to his feet was an exceptionally difficult task.

  “Ah? Big Brother!” After seeing Yun Che kneel on the ground, Yun Xiao’s heart tightened and he hurriedly exclaimed, “Father, hurry up and ask Big Brother to leave the stage! Big Brother has already fought five consecutive battles and it is simply not possible for him to continue fighting… Moreover, the only one left on the other side is the most fearsome Hui Ran!”

  Hui Ran, the head of the Illusory Demon Seven Scions, eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm. He was an existence that completely surpassed the rest of the young generation and he was the undisputed number one, described as ‘obscenely strong’ by those who lived in the Demon Imperial City.

  Even though he, Hui Ye, and Yuan Que were grouped together in the top three ranks, his ability did not exceed Hui Ye and Yuan Que just by a little bit. Instead, it had surpassed theirs to the point where even if you added the strengths of Hui Ye and Yuan Que together, it would still be far behind the strength of Hui Ran.

  Even though the strength that Yun Che had displayed in his five consecutive victories had shocked all who witnessed it, those who knew the true ability of Hui Ran would definitely not think that Yun Che was Hui Ran’s match.

  More importantly, the Yun Che who had already fought five consecutive battles did not have much strength left.

  “Patriarch, quickly… quickly get him to leave the stage!” The Yun Family great elder Yun Waitian said anxiously, “If Hui Ran takes the stage, given Duke Huai’s temperament, he will definitely get Hui Ran to deal a killing blow to Yun Che.”

  “Patriarch, I have to concur! For Yun Che to be able to accomplish this much is already a great victory for our Yun Family! Right now, it is obvious that his strength is at an end and he needs to immediately leave the stage; if not, it will be too late. Given Hui Ran’s strength, if he wanted to kill the current Yun Che, he would only need the space of one breath! At that time, even if we were to try to intervene and save his life, it would be too late,” The second elder added hurriedly. Given the strength that Yun Che had displayed and his status as a foster child of the Yun Family, they had already realized that the fate of Yun Che was a huge matter that would likely concern the future of the entire Yun Family.

  Yun Qinghong was naturally more worried than anyone else when it came to Yun Che’s safety. He swiftly sent a sound transmission to Yun Che, “Che’er, let Father represent you and renounce the final match of this competition.”

  If he personally stepped in to renounce the match with Hui Ran, it would naturally protect Yun Che’s dignity to the greatest degree. But just as he had finished his sound transmission, he saw Yun Che tilting his head to look at him, and after that… Yun Che slowly shook his head. His entire face was covered in sweat and a fiery-red blush colored his face, but his eyes were as firm and resolute as iron.

  Yun Qinghong’s heart felt like it been struck heavily. He did not stand up, nor did he make a sound. Even if all the elders stepped forward to urgently advise him, and even if all the Patriarchs and dukes seated in the west wing incessantly used their expressions and sound transmissions to implore him, he remained unmoving.

  “Husband…” Mu Yurou grabbed Yun Qinghong’s arm, and the palm of her hand was deathly cold.

  Instead, Yun Qinghong grasped her hand and whispered to her in a low and gentle, but resolute voice, “Yurou, this is Che’er’s own determination, we have no right to arbitrarily make a decision on his behalf… but do not worry, he is our son, and even if I have to put my life on the line, I will definitely not let him fall into some wicked scheme.”

  But as he spoke, his other hand had already tightly clenched into a death grip, and a small cluster of frighteningly dense lightning was soundlessly gathering in the palm of his hand… if Hui Ran really attempted to murder Yun Che and Yun Che was not able to defend himself, even if he completely lost all of his standing and reputation, he would not hesitate to kill Hui Ran himself!

  Chapter 567: Original Win

  Not only was it the west wing, where the Yun Family was located, the whole hall was filled with the sound of people yelling for Yun Che to immediately abandon the competition. The whole world knew how terrifying Hui Ran was. Not only was his skill abnormally high, he was also extremely brutal and violent. People who faced him in the past were either killed or crippled; even a serious injury was considered as getting off easy.

  No one would be willing to see a genius getting crippled under the hands of Hui Ran.

  Those who knew about Duke Huai’s ambitions were extremely sure that if Hui Ran fought, he would definitely kill Yun Che right in the arena… now that Yun Che had almost used up all of his profound energy, he was half-kneeling on the ground. It would be impossible for him to even have any means to struggle.

  The attitude Duke Huai had earlier, as if he was in control of everything, and his slight smile had already long disappeared. Since Yun Che won the third round, his expression had begun to look uneasy, and now it was even worse. The reason he suggested the competition between the east wing and west wing was to expel the Yun Family completely from the lineup of the Guardian Families, and at the same time step all over the momentum and dignity of the forces that were loyal to the Little Demon Empress.

  After Su Zhizhan lost, he was laughing loudly in his heart, because everything was going just as he planned. This scenario of stomping all over his opponent had already made him picture himself becoming the Demon Illusory Emperor.

  But now, he could laugh no longer.

  The scenario of them enjoying the pleasure of torturing the other party and dominating was crushed single-handedly by Yun Che in an instant.

  His
Duke Huai Palace’s young duke and Duke Zhong Palace’s young duke used all of their powers and played all of their trump cards. However, not only were they unable to kill Yun Che as they wished, they all lost miserably, and were seriously injured by Yun Che.

  Even though with Hui Ran on their side, their east wing would still win in the end, their goal of completely demolishing their opponent had completely failed; instead, they increased the other party’s momentum, and they even increased the Yun Family’s momentum. Duke Huai, who always had everything under control, failed completely this time, and he even felt regretful. If he had another chance, he would absolutely not instigate this competition.

  While the whole audience was shouting for Yun Che to give up the last round, Duke Huai secretly gnashed his teeth. If they didn’t “accidentally” kill Yun Che in the arena today, where it would be “perfectly justifiable”, then it would be even harder to kill Yun Che with him standing with the Yun Family’s and with the Little Demon Empress’s most solid protection come tomorrow. By then, this Yun Che, whose talent and potential struck fear into even himself, Duke Huai, would certainly become a poisonous thorn in his heart. He wouldn’t be able to eat, sleep, or be calm for each day it still existed.

  But no matter how much the whole audience yelled, there wasn’t any sign of Yun Che surrendering. After he violently gasped for breath for a while, he grabbed onto the handle of his sword and stood up slowly. He looked at the east wing, and said without rush, “Isn’t there still another person? Why hasn’t he come out yet? Did you guys run out of people qualified to be sent out?”

  Once Yun Che’s words were spoken, everyone in the west wing was shocked. Even Su Xiangnan couldn’t care about anything else and started yelling loudly, “Yun Che, you have fought enough, don’t take on the last round.”

  Greatest Ambition Under Heaven yelled directly at Yun Qinghong, “Qinghong, why haven’t you pulled that boy down from there?!”

  However, Yun Qinghong did not speak.

  The Little Demon Empress’ crescent brows slightly slanted, then she suddenly opened her mouth and said, “Yun Che, the skill of the last person on the other side who has yet to come out yet is much stronger than you imagine. You have already fought for five rounds in a row, have exhausted most of your profound energy, and have almost no strength to go on. Are you sure you still want to fight the last battle?”

  Yun Che said without any hesitation, “Even though my strength was greatly exhausted, I haven’t lost yet. And since I haven’t lost yet, of course I will keep fighting! I, Yun Che, have lost before in this life, but I have never voluntarily surrendered before!”

  The Little Demon Empress’ crescent eyebrows locked tightly, and her eyes deeply showed a sign of warning, “You think your persistence is noble? Hmph! A true man knows when to resist and when to yield, when to advance and when to retreat. There is no value at all in depending only on a rash persistence. Most of the time, it is only an action of a foolish death wish!”

  The reminder in the Little Demon Empress’ words were clear enough, but Yun Che grinned and said, “I, Yun Che… have never thought of myself as a foolish person! Little Demon Empress, who are you to say that I will definitely lose my last round?”

  Even with facing the Little Demon Empress watching him intently, Yun Che wouldn’t back off at all. The Little Demon Empress stopped saying anything else, silently gave Yun Qinghong a look, and said softly, “If you insist, then go on ahead.”

  Duke Huai, whose heart was originally filled with hatred and annoyance, was relieved. He stared at Yun Che viciously, and started laughing coldly in silence, “This boy’s gifts and potential are really shocking, but he’s young and reckless after all. He doesn’t give up when there’s a way out… and deliberately courts death!”

  Yun Che is, after all, from outside of Demon Imperial City. It is very likely for him to be unaware of how scary Hui Ran’s strength was, so he dreamed of using the last of his energy to make one last-ditch effort… Having thought of this, Duke Huai’s eyebrow’s twitched again… Why didn’t Yun Qinghong come forward and forcefully pull Yun Che from the fight?

  Was it possible, that Yun Che still has a trump card?

  Duke Huai locked his eyebrows and thought deeply. From the overall strength Yun Che had displayed in these five matches, to the changes in his breathing, to his exhausted state for which it was absolutely impossible to be an act, he thought for a good while, but still couldn’t think of any possibility for Yun Che to beat Hui Ran.

  Unless the sky suddenly dropped a fierce lightning while the two of them were fighting and killed Hui Ran.

  At this moment, he suddenly noticed Yun Qinghong’s tightly held left fist. Even though Yun Qinghong had sealed his profound energy tightly in his palms, after Duke Huai scouted with his mind congealing, he was still able to clearly feel an extremely high density of thunder profound energy.

  That explained it. This Yun Che was too proud and arrogant, Yun Qinghong was afraid that if he forcefully pulled him out of the competition, it would hurt his dignity, and he would resent him, so he wanted to take action and rescue Yun Che the instant he was in danger fighting against Hui Ran…

  Duke Huai immediately started laughing coldly. Since he knew about Yun Qinghong’s actions, he had absolute confidence that he would be able to stop him before he rescued Yun Che… He would be stopping him from taking the liberty of interfering with the competition, and stopping him would be perfectly justifiable!

  “Ran’er… Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!!”

  Duke Huai sending three consecutive “kill him” sound transmissions to Duke Hui Ran in a deep voice showed how strong his murderous intent was. As Duke Hui Ran’s father, he naturally knew best of Hui Ran’s temper… he was naturally cruel and brutal, his greatest pleasure came from torturing his opponent, but at the same time, he was also extremely arrogant. He almost never truly took anyone seriously, and because of this personality, when he faced Yun Che, it was very possible that he would arrogantly give him time to regain his strength, and disdain fighting against someone who was exhausted.

  Therefore, he reminded him by saying “kill him” three times.

  Hui Ran’s eyelids twitched when he received Duke Huai’s sound transmission. He scoffed lightly between his nostrils, and stood up slowly. Step by step, he walked towards the arena without a hurry.

  From the moment that he stood up, he attracted everyone’s attention, and became the center of attention. He didn’t release any profound energy aura, but the people who were watching him clearly felt an extremely heavy pressure.

  The expression of the people in the west wing who knew well of Hui Ran’s strength had all become stiff… However, up to when Hui Ran was standing right in front of Yun Che, Yun Che still hadn’t made any sign of surrendering as they had hoped. Instead, he was standing straight, and he gazed right into Hui Ran’s eyes.

  “Please… do not get killed.” The several great Patriarchs could only sigh heavily in their hearts.

  Hui Ran stood in front of Yun Che. His slightly narrowed eyes were flickering with an extremely dangerous light. His body was already unusually tall, on top of that, every single one of his muscle were popping out. Just his figure alone already imposed a fearful pressure. Even though he didn’t release his aura, there was an invisible pressure, and it had already heavily pressured on Yun Che’s heart and soul.

  “This guy’s strength is no weaker than than that Number One Under Heaven from the elven race,” Jasmine said coldly. “You are far weaker than him. Even if you were in your best condition, there is no question that you would lose fighting against him, let alone now when you only have ten percent of profound energy and strength left.”

  “I am indeed not as strong as him,” Yun Che replied while gasping for his breath, “But that doesn’t mean… I can’t beat him today!”

  Jasmine scoffed softly and said, “Under the rule of leaving the arena would count as a loss, it is indeed possible for you to beat him… but you
will need enough luck!”

  “My luck has never been bad.”

  “Hmph.” Duke Hui Ran scoffed softly in contempt and arrogance. He crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at Yun Che indifferently, “Since you were able to beat this duke’s younger brother, you barely qualify to be this duke’s opponent. This duke had always disdained fighting against someone who had already almost used up all of their profound energy, but you… are even more not worthy for this duke to waste time on.”

  He didn’t take out a weapon, pointed at Yun Che with one finger, and ticked his finger in contempt, “You can attack now.”

  “Heh,” Yun Che laughed coldly, laughing with even more scorn, “As expected, you Duke Huai Palace people are only a bunch of trash who are just talk. Even though now I only have less than ten percent of my profound energy, it is enough to beat trash like you.”

  With Hui Ran’s strength and prestige, he had never had anyone say anything like that to him from birth to now. No one ever had the ability or the guts to be so presumptuous in front of him. Duke Hui Ran’s eyes slowly narrowed. He didn’t get mad, he just smiled lightly, as a cold glare of brutality flashed deep in his eyes, “With just you?”

  Suddenly, Duke Huai’s sound transmission was sent to his ears, “Stop chitchatting with him and kill him immediately!”

  “Yes! With just me!”

  Followed by a “clang”, Yun Che pulled out his heavy sword from the ground. A type of heavy yet insolent might was instantly released, and it made Hui Ran twitch his eyebrows slightly… but it merely made him twitch his eyebrows, it was still followed by a contempt wry smile.