Against the Gods - Volume 09 - Realm of the Gods

by Mars Gravity

  The ice wolf shrieked and flew out under Yun Che’s strike, fiercely smashing against the icy wall. The shock made the entire space vibrate slightly. Yun Che looked at his fist that had just landed on the ice wolf and a flash of shock appeared in his eyes… because he clearly felt the bones of the ice wolf cracking in that punch just now.

  The attack of the ice wolf was extremely terrifying and it made him felt like he was going to suffocate every single time but its body didn’t seem to be very tough.

  The ice wolf stood up but its body was already wobbling slightly, proving that the bone cracking that Yun Che felt was not an illusion. The expression in Yun Che’s eyes turned from cautious to dangerous and he rushed towards the ice wolf himself.

  “Aa… aoooo!!”

  The injured direwolf became increasingly more aggressive and a murderous, bloodthirsty light was released from its eyes. It howled in anger, leaped about thirty meters, and charged towards Yun Che with a frantic ice-cold current of air. More than half of the Ice Profound Realm was instantly drawn into the icy wind storm.

  Yun Che also leaped straight up to it. When he got close, his figure swayed and appeared above the ice wolf like a ghost. Using his hand as a sword, he struck downward.

  “Falling Moon Sinking Star!!”

  Bang!!

  Crack!!

  With a loud sound, Yun Che smashed his palm down with all of his power onto the back of the ice wolf. What followed after was a crisp, ear-splitting cracking sound.

  Yun Che’s physical strength was incredible. Under this strike, the spine of the ice wolf was broken into several pieces. It howled in pain as it fell to the ground. After it rolled several times, it lay on the ground like a lump of mud and wasn’t able to stand up anymore. Not long after, it slowly disappeared in a ball of blue light.

  Yun Che landed slowly, took a small breath and flicked his palm that was a little sore. He said in a low voice, “so it was merely this.”

  “But, this is just the beginning. To be able to pass, I have to at least hang on for more than fifteen minutes. It will definitely become harder later on,” Yun Che said to himself. “I better conserve my strength.”

  In the Profound Sky Continent, as Xuanyuan Wentian’s divine soul perished, there was no one else with the strength of the divine way. Therefore, even though Yun Che’s strength had increased at a tremendous speed, he couldn’t find anyone to compare his strength to.

  Including when he was fighting against Xuanyuan Wentian, he didn’t know what plane his strength was on—after all, he didn’t know about the existence of the “Seven Divine Profound Realms” back then.

  So, it wasn’t that the Winterfrost Direwolf was “merely this,” but that he didn’t know he had already reached a realm far beyond his expectations…

  Chapter 953: Impossible Result

  Within the Ice Profound Realm, Yun Che, who had eliminated the first Winterfrost Direwolf did not relax in the slightest after having killed it. Instead, he waited for another enemy to appear. But after a good while, his surroundings were still silent. Right when he began to have doubts, a dangerous aura finally appeared once more.

  This time, two streaks of blue light appeared before him at the same time, projecting the silhouettes of two Winterfrost Direwolves.

  Two!?

  He was slightly stunned but his nerves and body had already reacted at the very first instant, thunderously dashing at the Winterfrost Direwolf up ahead. Just as it appeared, before it even had time to see its surroundings, the Winterfrost Direwolf had been punched in the head by Yun Che amidst a violent explosion of Golden Crow flames.

  “Aooo!”

  The Winterfrost Direwolf let out a wretched cry and was flung away, its entire body covered in flames. At the same time, a dangerous aura suddenly closed in from Yun Che’s rear. Not having enough time to turn around, Yun Che instead rolled on the ground, sliding over lightning quick. When the Winterfrost Direwolf behind him pounced on him, his hand ferociously shot upward with a chop.

  Crack!!

  Compared to their dangerous, bloodthirsty aura, these Winterfrost Direwolves were a bit “weak.” Upon receiving Yun Che’s chop, the second Winterfrost Direwolf’s right hind leg was immediately snapped apart and fell to the ground amidst its miserable shrieking. Yun Che’s body quickly came to a stop before throwing himself forward. Just as he was about to take that chance to deal a heavy blow to its vitals, an icy wind attack suddenly blew over.

  The first Winterfrost Direwolf that he had blasted away using Golden Crow flames was filled with burn injuries and a savage excitement. It howled as it pounced at Yun Che’s back.

  Yun Che’s brows sunk. His hand posture immediately changed. He grabbed the broken hind leg of the Winterfrost Direwolf before him and turned around, smashing it behind him.

  Bang!

  Even though Yun Che executed a simple swing, it had several hundred kilograms worth of power. The two Winterfrost Direwolves heavily collided, bringing the bloom of two bloody flowers. Following the miserable howl of the two Winterfrost Direwolves as they flew away, a terrifying rain of blood began to fall in the Ice Profound Realm.

  Yun Che stretched out both of his hands. At the same time the two Winterfrost Direwolves landed on the ground, several blasts of Golden Crow flames were released in succession.

  Boom boom boom boom boom boom…

  The continuous flame explosions which contained the Golden Crow’s flame power momentarily dispersed the Winterfrost Direwolves’ cold energy. Once he stopped his assault, the two Winterfrost Direwolves had already stopped their shrieks and quickly dissipated within the flames.

  “Phew… it’s pretty easy.” Yun Che let out a breath of air.

  Could it be that there are only these kinds of ice wolves in the Ice Profound Realm? Or will stronger profound beasts appear… Yun Che couldn’t help wondering.

  After eliminating those two Winterfrost Direwolves as soon as they appeared, he had to wait quite a while yet again before a dangerous aura approached.

  This time, three streaks of blue light flashed at the same time. What appeared were three Winterfrost Direwolves with bloodthirsty auras.

  Three!!

  Upon seeing the three Winterfrost Direwolves appear at the same exact time, not only did Yun Che not get nervous, his expression had even relaxed somewhat. The first wave had one, the second wave had two and the third wave had three and they all appeared at around the same time.

  This meant that this test most likely spawned Winterfrost Direwolves at set intervals and the next wave would have one more Winterfrost Direwolf.

  He also had a rough understanding of a Winterfrost Direwolf’s strength and threat. Added to the fact that they appeared in the same exact intervals, this was enough for Yun Che to believe that being able to hold on for fifteen minutes here wasn’t that hard of a task.

  The test here couldn’t even be said in the same breath as the trial in the Dragon God’s secret realm where the enemies doubled every wave.

  Three sinister bone-chilling violent auras firmly locked onto Yun Che. Right when all three Winterfrost Direwolves were about to attack, a huge blaze had already erupted from Yun Che’s body. Beneath the firelight, the Winterfrost Direwolves’ bloody pupils contracted as they suddenly fell back, even letting out sinister hissing sounds.

  Yun Che had just discovered that Winterfrost Direwolves feared fire. As ice type profound beasts, being afraid of fire couldn’t be any more ordinary. Fire and ice originally suppressed one another… but for Yun Che, it had clearly become a one sided restraint.

  While the Winterfrost Direwolves were backing away, Yun Che made the first move and violent firelight once more exploded within the Ice Profound Realm…

  Bang!!

  The examination profound formation echoed once more and the second profound practitioner was ejected. Mu Xiaolan subconsciously went forward but quickly noticed that it was still not Yun Che.

  As time passed, more and more examinees died within the
Ice Profound Realm and were immediately ejected. The speed in which the examinees were ejected became even quicker the later it was. There were sometimes where a dozen or so people were ejected within several breaths of time.

  The states in which they were ejected from the Ice Profound Realm were all especially similar. Their faces were all deathly white and they all possessed frightened expressions and sweated due to debility. However, the moment they woke up from within death’s shadow, they realized that they hadn’t actually been torn apart. Not even a scar or bruise was on their bodies but what greeted them was another cruel fact.

  “Hurry up and leave using that profound formation, losers! Stop taking up the space here!”

  Ji Hanfeng’s said rather coldly with narrowed eyes, “Our Ice Phoenix Divine Sect never takes pity on losers, nor will we waste any more attention on them! Hurry up and leave, I don’t have the patience to say it a second time!”

  Being the first nine hundred profound practitioners to die in the Ice Profound Realm meant that they had failed the final test. This also meant that their dreams of joining Freezing Snow Hall had become an illusion. The faces of the losers turned ashen but none dared to disobey Ji Hanfeng’s order as they all left dragging heavy footsteps.

  Right, in this cruel and competitive God Realm, no one would take pity on trash or losers, nor would anyone bother to look at them.

  “Weird, how come that brat named Yun Che isn’t out yet? Ji Hanfeng muttered in confusion.

  “It… it’s not him again? Ah? So strange, more than six hundred people have come out already, why hasn’t he come out yet?”

  More and more people were being ejected out of the Ice Profound Realm yet Yun Che, the one who should’ve been the first one to fail due to his profound strength being the weakest still had not appeared. The Snowstorm Realm test could be “cheated” through but the Ice Profound Realm was a “projection.” It was an genuine strength assessment which was impossible to be cheated on in any shape or form… It was fundamentally impossible to withstand a single blow from a Winterfrost Direwolf with profound strength at the fifth level of the Sovereign Profond Realm, so how could he possibly persevere until now?

  Ji Hanfeng was indefinitely bewildered, Mu Xiaolan was stupefied and the expression of Mu Sushan, who had been spectating through the entire process continuously fluctuated.

  As the final exam progressed, more and more examinees were being ejected from the Ice Profound Realm. In the end, following the sound of the profound formation, the nine hundredth examinee was ejected out amidst a terrible scream.

  Clang!!

  The profound formation’s light suddenly began to violently fluctuate at this time as its deep blue light became a luminous white.

  Bang!!

  The nine hundredth and first examinee was ejected out of the profound formation but the difference was that this examinee’s body was surrounded by a layer of white light, its color the same as the profound formation. This white light was proof that he had successfully passed the Ice Profound Realm trial… which also mean that he had passed Freezing Snow Hall’s final examination and was qualified to become a disciple of Freezing Snow Hall.

  When he saw the white light on his body, that profound practitioner instantly forgot the terror of his death. In his excitement, he shook his arms and shouted wildly. After him, more and more examinees were consecutively ejected. Every one of them wore the white light, which proved that they had successively passed the exam, on their bodies. At this moment, those who were still in the Ice Profound Realm had all passed the exam. The final competition was now seeing who was able to obtain the title of number one and obtain the “Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet” which was like a sacred treasure in their eyes.

  But Mu Xiaolan still did not see Yun Che.

  “What’s going on here?” Ji Hanfeng paced back and forth, his brows pressed together. The first examinee to get ejected not being Yun Che was already enough to shock him into bewilderment. However, every examinee being ejected afterwards gave him even more shocks, one after the other. At this moment, he was already doubting whether there was an issue with his eyes or his memory.

  “Could it be that the brat didn’t enter the profound formation earlier and used some kind of method to secretly slip away?” Ji Hanfeng inwardly pondered. He couldn’t find any other possible explanation aside from this one.

  “Senior Sushan, did… did you see if Yun Che really went inside the trial’s profound formation?” Mu Xiaolan had almost the same exact thoughts as Ji Hanfeng. “He couldn’t have… used some kind of strange spatial profound artifact to secretly leave before the start of the exam, could he? Otherwise, why hasn’t he come out yet?”

  Even if she were to be beaten to death, she wouldn’t believe that someone at the fifth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm could stay in the Ice Profound Realm for that long. Though Mu Bingyun praised him many times, saying that he was a genius… he was still only at the Sovereign Profound Realm. She had also fought with Yun Che once…

  In the Snow Region of Extreme Ice, when they first met, a casual slap from her had sent Yun Che flying…

  Mu Sushan did not directly reply. He held his chin with his hand and said with obvious surprise, “It seems like your Master has brought back a considerably gifted fellow, hoho. It’s been many years since I’ve had such a feeling of expectation.”

  “Ah?” Mu Xiaolan didn’t get him at all.

  Bang… bang… bang….

  While they were talking, several more examinees shot out.

  As time progressed, the difficulty of the Ice Profound Realm trial would increase. At this moment, examinees would be ejected once every few breaths.

  Eighty…

  Ninety…

  Ninety five…

  Ninety eight!!

  When the ninety eighth person was ejected with white light swirling around his body, the profound formation finally quieted. A long time passed and no other examinee had been ejected.

  And with the number ninety eight, this obviously meant that there were still two people inside the Ice Profound Realm!

  Li Mingcheng had not come out, which meant that one of them was Li Mingcheng… this was not unexpected.

  But who… could the other person be?

  A full one hundred breaths had passed since the previous examinee had been ejected but the profound formation still showed no movements. “As expected of Li Mingcheng, to actually persevere so long without dying,” quietly exclaimed a profound practitioner who had passed the exam. They had all just recently experienced the terror of the Ice Profound Realm trial. Each Winterfrost Direwolf was a nightmarish existence.

  “It’s expected that Li Mingcheng is able to last this long. After all, he definitely has that kind of strength. But… who is the other person? To actually persevere without coming out until now?

  “I don’t know. There didn’t seem to anyone who was on par with Li Mingcheng in the Snowstorm Realm trial.”

  “Could they have been hiding their strength?”

  “Hmph, there’s no need for you to randomly guess.” Ji Hanfeng snorted coldly. At this point, he completely believed his own guess and said indifferently, “At the moment, there is only only one person in the Ice Profound Realm, not two. Because a certain trash was scared he would fail too miserably so before the Ice Profound Realm even started, he used a some kind of spatial artifact to escape… he probably used the same thing he used to cheat through the Snowstorm Realm.”

  Ji Hanfeng’s words immediately allowed the group of examinees to “see the light.”

  Chapter 954: It’s Hard to Die

  In the Ice Profound Realm, Yun Che was still in a harsh battle against the Winterfrost Direwolf without knowing that the examination was already approaching the end.

  After fighting eleven waves of Winterfrost Direwolves, Yun Che was already covered in wounds and blood but the overflowing aura in his body didn’t seem to decrease at all. It was even more berserk than before. Even his eyes reveale
d a light that was even more violent than the Winterfrost Direwolves.

  “Die… Red Purgatory Lotus!!”

  BOOM!!

  The Golden Crow flames exploded crazily in the narrow space and the Winterfrost Direwolves that were charging towards him all shrieked and was swallowed by the exploding fire lotus; a large half of them directly burnt into pieces.

  Sss~~

  In the sea of fire that spread out, a dangerous aura suddenly approached and an undead Winterfrost Direwolf jumped out from the sea of fire with flames all over his body. The wolf claws that were tainted with blood clawed towards Yun Che with a terrifying power and hatred.

  Ssss!

  The afterimage was ripped apart in an instant. Yun Che reached out his palms after teleporting and condensed the air into ice. An ice cone almost two meters long merciless stabbed directly through the flame covered body of an Winterfrost Direwolf.

  The Winterfrost Direwolf was already severely wounded from the burning and upon being stabbed through by the ice cone, it shrieked and disappeared in a light before it even landed on the ground.

  At this point, the eleventh wave, an entire group of eleven Winterfrost Direwolves was killed by Yun Che.

  Phew…

  Yun Che took a deep, long breath. There were wounds on his body everywhere but if one looked closely, one would notice that even though these wounds looked frightening, none of them were deep enough to reach bone.

  His energy consumption was extremely small because he hadn’tused the Heaven Smiting Sword. Up to now, he was only slightly short of breath.

  “Roughly fifteen minutes should’ve passed by now,” Yun Che said to himself. While he was fighting against the Winterfrost Direwolves, he had also been estimating the time in his mind because Mu Sushan told him that fifteen minutes was roughly the time he had to stay alive for him to barely make it through the final examination.

  “But…” Yun Che knitted his brows and mumbled, “Was that person called Mu Sushan trying to trick me? Lasting for fifteen minutes seems a bit too easy. This kind of challenge shouldn’t be too hard for those one thousand strong divine way practitioners who made their way through the Snowstorm Realm. It shouldn’t be too difficult to last fifteen minutes even for the weakest person, right?”