Against the Gods - Volume 07 - Heaven Smiting Shakes the World

by Mars Gravity

  In the eyes of the common man, it was the existence of the Four Sacred Grounds that ensured the peace and prosperity of the Profound Sky Continent.

  So Ye Guying’s “threat” was definitely not just a false alarm or pure bluster and bravado.

  “Haha.” The black-robed old man gave yet another tepid laugh, and he did not show any fury, but this laugh contained a trace of mockery. “There is nothing that happens in this Profound Sky Continent that can escape this old man’s eyes. Perhaps you can trick the entire world, but this old man knows all of the ugly things that you have done over the years. Just based on how many women your so-called young master has harmed over the years, that alone is already a sin that cannot be tolerated by the heavens!”

  “When we have returned, we will naturally convey the words of this distinguished ones to our Hall Master,” Ye Guying said without flinching. “Actually, this humble one has not left his Divine Hall for a very long time, so I have always been ignorant and ill-informed when it comes to worldly affairs, so I do not know where this distinguished one hails from. May I be so daring as to ask where this distinguished one is from.”

  Ye Guying’s words clearly showed his intense desire to retreat… This was an individual with a terrifying profound aura, so the only thing he needed to do now was ensure that he could leave as quickly as possible with his young master in tow! Facing this dreadful aura, he knew that every second they remained here exponentially increased the danger that they faced.

  “This old man’s name has long ago faded into dust…” the black-robed old man said with a slight pause. Following that, he raised his head slightly and suddenly let out a long and heavy sigh, “Ah, the world of mortals is vast and boundless, and their quarrels never end. I have already sworn to never again stain myself with the affairs of the mortal realm, and I definitely should not get involved in its quarrels… All of you should leave, this old man does not want to break his long tradition of not taking a life because of you.”

  As the words of the black-robed old man fell, the initial response of the members of Sun Moon Divine Hall was not relief. Instead, they looked at each other with strange expressions on their faces, and they felt the pressure on their bodies and the anxiety that was plaguing their minds dissipate.

  Even the faces of the ladies of the Frozen Cloud were colored with a clear disappointment… and anxiousness.

  Yun Che’s master had appeared exuding an extremely alarming aura, but when the other party asked for his name, he did not reply, asking them to leave instead… anyone here would be able to see that this person was perhaps afraid of Sun Moon Divine Hall!!

  He did not dare let the members of Sun Moon Divine Hall know his name, and he also did not dare extend a hand against Sun Moon Divine Hall!!

  However, this was also something that was inevitable! In this Profound Sky Continent, no matter how powerful a person or a power was, they still would not dare act rashly in front of Sun Moon Divine Hall!! And if they dared to make a move against Sun Moon Divine Hall, they were courting their own destruction!!

  “Leave?” Ye Juanyun took a step forward instead with a bland smile draped across his face. Whether it was his expression or his gaze, both had undergone a noticeable transformation… Even though the mysterious black-robed old man in front of them had a shocking aura, it began to increasingly look like… the aura that was emanating from his person was fake… it was almost as if it was being released by some kind of special profound artifact! Because this aura was simply too incredible, it was strong to the point where it was far too unusual and unreasonable. If there was really someone who had such an aura in this world, then why would Sun Moon Divine Hall not know of him?! Also, if he was really as strong as he seemed to be, why did he not have the courage to present his name? Furthermore, before they had even begun to talk, he seemed to be urgently trying to chase them away.

  “We have come here just to seek justice for the dead servants of our young master. If we were to leave just because of a few words from this distinguished one, then how would we be able to face those two dead servants and our brothers from the Divine Hall?!”

  Ye Shuran narrowed his eyes as he spoke up as well, “That is right, we did not even hesitate to use the Sun Moon Sacred Ark to travel thousands of kilometers, all just to come to this place. It was simply a fortunate coincidence that we found Yun Che. So if we let him go just like this, won’t we lose a lot of face? Also, if word of this spreads abroad, then our Sun Moon Divine Hall is going to be ridiculed throughout the lands.”

  The black-robed old man did not move an inch, and his voice was still as calm as stagnant water, “So what are you intending to do? Will you definitely force this old man to kill once again?”

  “Naturally we would not dare to do so. Every single one of us here cherishes his own life,” Ye Guying said slowly as his eyes were far more relaxed than they were just a moment ago. “This distinguished one’s profound aura is so strong that this is the first time in my life I have ever witnessed such a thing. And I truly believe that you can easily kill any single one of us. But, after all, we are still a Sacred Ground of this continent… All of us are members of Sun Moon Divine Hall. This time, our young master has personally ventured forth while being accompanied by four elders. If we were to retreat just because of the words of this distinguished one, then what dignity will our Sun Moon Divine Hall still have left?! As members of this Divine Hall, how can we act in such a way which will destroy the dignity of our sect?!

  “However, we also acknowledge that we are not this distinguished one’s opponents, so the mission to kill Yun Che will more than likely end in failure. Yet we cannot leave just like this…” The depths of Ye Guying’s eyes shone with a deep craftiness as he continued, “But how does this proposal sound to you? Our Divine Hall’s Elder Ye Shi will spar with this distinguished one, and I believe that given the strength that this distinguished one has, that you can definitely easily defeat Elder Ye Shi. Since that is the case, we will know that our strength is inferior and we will retreat in defeat. But we will not leave just due to this distinguished one’s words, and this will allow us to return to our Divine Hall with our dignity intact.

  “This way, no one will get hurt, and our relationship will not be affected either. What is even better is that we will not cause this distinguished one to break his vow to not kill. So I believe that this distinguished one will definitely not reject such a perfect plan.”

  Following Ye Guying’s slow speech, Ye Xinghan, Ye Shuran, Ye Juanyun, and Ye Shi all laughed gleefully in their hearts… This was indeed the careful and meticulous Ninth Elder. What a wonderful plan he had devised! Because by forcing this black-robed old man to take action, there would be one of two conclusions. If he truly possessed a shocking power and was able to defeat Ye Shi, the restraint he had shown towards Sun Moon Divine Hall and his unwillingness to break his vow of not killing another would allow Ye Shi to survive this encounter and would allow them to retreat without losing a single member

  And if his strength was simply inferior and this bizarrely strong aura was only artificially manufactured by some special means… then they could do whatever they wanted to all of the people present!

  Of course, if he rejected this request… then it would completely confirm that he was all hot air!!

  So without even waiting for the reply of the black-robed old man, Ye Shi had arrived in front of him in an instant. As he drew close to the old man, that peerless and dreadful aura caused all the nerves in his body to spasm uncontrollably, but he immediately suppressed those spasms with all of his might. He gave a smile that did not reach his eyes as he said, “This humble one is the fifteenth elder of Sun Moon Divine Hall, Ye Shi, and I have come specially to experience this distinguished one’s unrivaled profound strength. This distinguished one only needs to defeat me and we will immediately leave this place and will never appear before this distinguished one ever again… I hope that this distinguished one will show mercy to my humble self.”r />
  “Hahaha.” The black-robed old man said as he gave a dull and emotionless laugh, “Since these are your intentions… then I will accept them.”

  Chapter 674: Absolute Deterrence

  “However, we do not need to spar,” the black-robed old man said as he lifted his left arm and a pale and slender white hand appeared from amidst that voluminous black sleeve. The hand slowly flipped open, and a cluster of flames that was only the size of a fist soundlessly appeared and began to silently hover there as it burned.

  This was a cluster of blue flames, and among the profound flames, blue profound fire was one of the lowest grades of profound flames. It was also a profound flame that belonged in the lower rungs of power. Above the Earth Profound Realm, all of the profound flames should be purple at least. So that was to say that blue profound fire could not even harm a Sky Profound Realm practitioner, much less these strong and mighty Monarchs.

  But what differentiated this blue flame from normal profound flames was the bizarre ice-blue tint that these blue flames had… and its color was almost exactly the same as that of extremely dense ice energy. What was even more bizarre was that one could not feel any profound energy emanations coming from this icy-blue fire. It was as if it was not even profound fire, but instead was the most ordinary and most harmless natural flame which could only be used to burn normal things.

  “You only need to be able to block this old man’s small cluster of starfire and this old man will leave immediately and never again meddle in the affairs of your Sun Moon Divine Hall. But if you cannot even handle this tiny bit of starfire… then all of you will have to leave immediately and never trespass in this place again!”

  The icy-blue flames gently swayed on top of the black-robed old man’s palm. While that heavy voice was still calm, it carried along with it an incomparably huge pressure, and the way the words were phrased made it obvious that this was not a discussion; instead, it was an unquestionable order… Furthermore, there was one more thing that was left unspoken but was clearly spelled all for all to see: You are basically not even to exchange blows with this old man. So if you can fend off this tiny cluster of flames, it will be counted as your win!

  Once someone becomes a Monarch, he would have reached the highest level of power in this world. So as an individual that could look down on the rest of the world, there was never a time when a Monarch had been so despised before. Ye Shi’s heart burned with anger and he gave a cold laugh, “Even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix God who is at the Divine Profound Realm would not dare to look down on an elder of Sun Moon Divine Hall. So this distinguished one, to speak in such a manner, you must truly be unafraid that your own words will come back to haunt you!”

  “Haha…” The black-robed old man gave an indifferent laugh and did not speak any further. He simply pushed his hand out slightly, and the icy-blue flames leisurely flew towards Ye Shi’s chest.

  The stronger one’s profound energy was, the stronger one’s comprehension of the natural laws would be, so the released energy would naturally become strong and dense. And once one had reached the level of Monarch, even the amount of energy it would take to lift a finger was enough to cause the air around to twist and tremble… This icy-blue flame flew out without a single vibration of profound energy, and there was no rippling or distortion in the space around… In fact, without even needing to mention space, even the natural elements in the area were not disturbed in the slightest.

  When it was still in the black-robed old man’s hand, they could still understand that this cluster of fire’s lack of aura was due to the old man using profound strength to suppress it, but now that it had flown out of his hand, it still did not have any energy aura to speak of… The only explanation was that this cluster of fire was not composed using any laws of fire, and it was merely the most ordinary of flames!!

  Besides this explanation, there was definitely no other possibility!

  Immediately, Ye Shi’s only remaining thread of anxiety vanished into thin air. At this moment, he could completely verify that the black-robed old man who had appeared out of nowhere was only bluffing, and that absurdly strong aura was definitely artificially created by some special method in order to scare others… that is right! In this world, besides the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix God, there existed no other person that could defeat the Saint Emperor, the Sovereign of the Seas, the Heavenly Monarch, or the Sword Master! To think they had almost been so scared that they were going to retreat!

  Ye Shi’s expression immediately grew dark, and he gave a cold laugh. He did not even bother to circulate his profound energy and simply sent a palm towards the incoming cluster of icy-blue flames. When his hand came into contact with the fire, he did not even feel the slightest bit of heat at all. That fire completely vanished from his view without leaving even a single mark behind.

  “Hahahaha!” Ye Shi began to laugh wildly, “And here I was, thinking that this was some noble individual that hailed from unknown parts, but it looks like it was only a mad clown who tried to use smoke and mirrors to trick us! Hahahaha, this is simply too hilarious!” As he continued to laugh, he turned towards Ye Xinghan. “Young Master, Ninth Elder, it looks like today we will…”

  When he had spoken up to this point, his voice suddenly came to a sudden halt. This was because he had discovered that Ye Xinghan, Ye Guying, Ye Juanyun, and Ye Shuran all looked like they were looking at something extremely terrifying as their eyes had opened to their widest degree and their pupils had completely dilated. As for the fifteen protectorates behind them… their faces were filled with abject terror and all the muscles on their faces and their entire bodies were trembling greatly… and as that trembling grew more and more intense, they opened their mouths as if they wanted to say something, but in their extreme terror, they could not voice their words.

  The entire world seemed to completely freeze at that point, and there was a momentary silence that was broken by Ye Guying’s desperate and hoarse roar, “Your hand!! Hand!!”

  Ye Shi involuntarily turned to look at his own hand… In an instant, his pupils had widened by many times, and his face had turned deathly white due to his extreme shock and terror.

  Because the arm that he lifted up… no longer had a hand attached to it!!

  His right hand… had disappeared!!

  And this cluster of icy-blue flames continued to silently burn on the arm that had lost a hand… No! His arm was not being burned. To be accurate, it was being devoured! And as the icy-blue flames spread, he witnessed his hand disappearing inch by inch… and in the blink of an eye, the flames had spread to near his shoulder and half of his arm had completely disappeared.

  During this entire process, there was no aura or sound that he could sense. In fact, he could not even feel the slightest bit of pain! There was no hint of something being burned… no one could see even a speck of ash being produced!

  It was as if his arm was being mercilessly devoured by an invisible and terrifying black hole!

  And what was being devoured was the mighty body of a Monarch at that!!

  This was something that all of them had never seen or heard of before. This was a terrifying scene that completely exceeded their knowledge. Ye Shi’s pupils had dilated to the point where it seemed like they were going to rupture as the greatest fear that he had ever felt in his life swelled up within him, causing him to let out a hoarse and distorted cry while he frantically focused all of his profound energy towards his right arm, as he was trying all means to suppress that dreadful “fire.” But the moment his profound energy came into contact with the icy-blue flame, it seemed to be swallowed up completely and disappeared in an instant. The blue flames did not even seem to be the least bit affected, much less suppressed, as it still unhurriedly continued to burn its way up slowly towards Ye Shi’s shoulder…

  There was no pain… not even the slightest hint of pain, but as he witnessed his body slowly disappearing, Ye Shi experienced a fear that was several times worse than be
ing plunged into hell. His whole body shook as shrill screams echoed from his mouth while his eyeballs practically protruded from his eyes in extreme fear and a web of blue veins could be seen scrawled across his forehead…

  But no matter how he screamed and struggled, that cluster of beautiful, crystalline flames that was even scarier than a demon continued to silently burn…

  “Save… Save me…”

  Shing!!

  Ye Shuran fetched a deep-purple longsword from his spatial ring, and as his body blurred, the purple sword made an arc through the air as it slashed down on Ye Shi’s right arm, fiercely cutting off the remains of the arm that had been infected by that icy-blue fire.

  But before the members of Sun Moon Divine Hall could breathe a sigh of relief, they discovered, to their horror, that even though Ye Shi’s amputated arm had completely disappeared, the icy-blue flames still remained, and it hung there in midair without dissipating until it separated into several smaller clusters… which all fell on Ye Shi’s body.

  In the blink of an eye, many holes appeared on Ye Shi’s remaining arm, his legs, his chest and his abdomen… and as the embers swifty spread and magnified, they whittled away at Ye Shi’s body as it began to be reduced to nothingness.

  Ye Shi’s screams of shock and terror grew more and more shrill as his entire body began to spasm and warp. His remaining arm was frantically flapping as if he was trying to tear apart his own body… but the moment his left arm touched the icy-blue flames, it began to shrink into nothingness as well. His frantic struggles caused the icy-blue flames to spread even faster to the entirety of his body as it caused this mighty Monarch’s body to be covered with holes…

  The weakest member of Sun Moon Divine Hall that was present was still an Overlord, and the strongest was a Monarch who had almost reached the late stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But every single one of them had expressions of deep shock and terror on their faces. The pretty faces of the ladies of the Frozen Cloud had paled in shock as well… because they were witnessing an event that was so dreadful that it was unfathomable! And at this time, Ye Guying hurriedly turned towards Ye Shuran and screamed, “Shuran, throw your sword away!!”