Against the Gods - Volume 10 - Snow Song Flame God

by Mars Gravity

  Although it was completely an accident, a grave error was a grave error all the same. The fact that he was alive despite committing a sacrilege like that was a miracle on its own.

  “I know that there’s no way you would’ve done it on purpose.” Mu Bingyun didn’t force the issue and looked away upon seeing that he was either reluctant or afraid to respond.

  Did he accidentally damage something very important to sister? That can’t be right… If sister could give him the Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections that she viewed to be as important as her life, then there’s no way she would want to kill him for a reason like that.

  Mu Bingyun was never going to find out what kind of grave error Yun Che committed because she wouldn’t have believed it even if Yun Che had told her the truth… After all, even if Yun Che’s strength were to be multiplied a thousand times stronger, he still wouldn’t be able to catch the corner of her sleeve, much less...

  “You may not know this but your master has always treated you specially, Yun Che. She has taken in a few direct disciples during the time she has been Realm King but there has never been anyone whom she gave such special treatment to, until now. Not only did she care deeply for your growth, she cares just as much for your safety too. A few months ago, when you were at the Ice Wind Empire… she never stopped worrying if you’d fall for Mu Hanyi’s schemes.”

  “...I know. It is I who disappointed her.” Yun Che bowed his head like a repentant child.

  “She has great expectations for you. She once told me that she would do everything in her power to raise you. Your master’s master lost her life to obtain the Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections before your master nurtured it with her own profound ice phoenix energy and the water from the heavenly lake for a total of nine thousand years… But in the end, she gave it all to you. You have no idea how surprised I am to hear this.”

  “...” Yun Che’s head drooped even lower.

  “Your master is the only family I ever had in this world and I am the one person who understands her the best. Normally, corpses litter the ground when she exudes even a tiny bit of killing intent. However, she ultimately chose to forgive you despite unleashing a level of killing intent that cowed even me. This outcome literally is the best scenario you can hope to get.”

  “Thank you, Place Master Bingyun.” Yun Chen looked up slightly and said gratefully, “If you hadn’t begged for me, I would’ve…”

  Mu Bingyun shook her head slightly, “You don’t have to thank me. After all, I would’ve died a long time ago if you weren’t there to save me. I wouldn’t have been here to beg for you if that had been the case.”

  She looked at the valley beneath them, “I won’t be able to help you after you enter Mist End Valley. Your master will notice it and she will only grow angrier as a result. Therefore, the only person you can rely on is yourself. I heard from your master that you possess a profound art that can aid you in concealing your presence and it is so great that it impressed even your master herself. I believe that it must be very extraordinary and it will be your greatest chance to survive three days in the Mist End Valley.”

  “Remember well. You absolutely must avoid or hide from all enemies while you’re in Mist End Valley even if it is only the weakest lifeform that exists, the Winterfrost Direwolf. This is because there is a high concentration of profound beasts in Mist End Valley and every one of them is incredibly violent. Any anomalies may draw an entire group of profound beasts that you cannot possibly go up against.”

  “Also, do not fly in midair unless you have no other choice. You will be a clear blip on the radar and those flying profound beasts especially have extremely acute senses. You won’t be able to hide anywhere the moment you’re found.”

  “Also, no matter how kind the Ice Phoenix disciples you meet in the valley act, you must never put down your guard for even a second… in fact, it will be best if you can avoid them altogether.”

  Yun Che nodded repeatedly and engraved Mu Bingyun’s advice deeply into his mind.

  “Take this with you.”

  A small and delicate blade appeared in Mu Bingyun’s palm. Its hilt was two inches long and its blade was only four inches long. It was shaped like a butterfly’s wing and it was completely icy white in color. A tiny ripple of light covered the weapon.

  “This blade is called the ‘Cloud Butterfly’. Your master herself holds the mate to this blade, called the ‘Sound Butterfly’. It is a weapon that has been passed down inside our family for many generations and it is quite famous in the Snow Song Realm. Your heavy sword is mighty but it also causes a lot of noise. This blade however, will enable you to kill your enemies without a sound. As for how powerful it is, you will know it when you use it… I hope that you will never have to.”

  Yun Che accepted the blade. He could feel an icy sharpness piercing all the way to his soul the moment he touched it. It felt as light as snow even though it was right within his palm.

  The fact that the weapon was an inherited weapon and that Mu Xuanyin held the other pair of the blade proved just how extraordinary the blade really was.

  “Thank you, Palace Master Bingyun.” Yun Che thanked her gratefully again after carefully putting away the Cloud Butterfly.

  “Your master is angry right now. She might perhaps change her mind and take you away ahead of time after her anger subsides a little… Take care.”

  Mu Bingyun sighed softly and pushed Yun Che gently into the valley. Yun Che’s figure vanished into the thick mist in the blink of an eye.

  Chapter 1040: Enemies Meet

  In a region with a great density of profound beasts, the unending cries of all kinds of beasts present across the place could be heard even from distant places. However, inside Mist End Valley, there was nothing like that, as the whole area was completely silent.

  When even the snowstorm came to a standstill, the place became extremely quiet, so much so that it could make a person's heart stop beating in anxiety.

  Having fallen into Mist End Valley, Yun Che was leaning against a thick and wizened tree, with his legs sunk deep into the snow. The first thing he did after falling here, was to immediately restrain his aura with Hidden Flowing Lightning. Afterwards, he didn't move in the slightest and perceived everything in his surroundings with his sight and spirit sense.

  Due to the icy mist being spread all over the place, it was only possible to see up to a few dozen meters away. The mist inside the valley was immensely denser than ordinary mis. Not only did it restrict sight but also spirit sense to a great extent. However, it wasn't a completely bad thing either.

  The fearsome calmness was so eerie that it could leave people absolutely terrified. He sensed danger from all directions, which made him realize that Mu Bingyun's description of Mist End Valley was definitely not fear-mongering. This was a ghastly place where the slightest bit of carelessness would cost your life.

  "*Sigh*... This is life, huh." Yun Che lightly let out a breath. In the morning, he was still feeling complacent about winning against Mu Xuanyin with his surprise attack... His plan might have turned out to be a success but he still had to face such an outcome.

  Staying still for a good while, Yun Che started to walk forward prudently. But just after talking a couple of steps, he suddenly felt his leg stepping on something hard. Pausing in his tracks for a bit, he lifted his leg and kicked the thing out of the snow...

  It was actually a stiff corpse.

  In this cold environment, it was difficult for a corpse to rot. As such, it was not possible to make out when the person really died. Based on how deeply they were buried, it must not have been that long. The body was gnawed and bitten to an indescribably miserable state and only the head was in a somewhat intact condition. One could clearly notice the expression of terror and despair on the face, as well as the relief of being set free.

  His outer garments were in tatters. A piece of his robe was hanging around his shoulder, with a small pattern of Ice Phoenix carved on it. And th
is Ice Phoenix pattern represented the... Ice Phoenix Divine Hall!

  The person turned out to be a disciple from the Divine Hall!

  The Divine Hall only allowed those disciples in whose profound powers had at least reached the Divine Tribulation Realm. But a person with such strength had unexpectedly died such a sad and miserable death.

  Yun Che took a step backward and lightly breathed in.

  Just as Mu Bingyun said, what he would rely on the most in this fearsome place was Hidden Flowing Lightning which could conceal his aura... Besides that, the extremely severe cold energy in here would quicken his profound power recovery rate, instead of influencing him negatively. Since all the profound beasts in the valley had the ice-attribute, their threat towards him would reduce by a large margin. These couple of things were also the factors he was relying on.

  It was far more difficult to overcome the difference of Divine Way's profound power,compared to that of the Mortal Way. When he was in the Sky Profound Continent, he relied on Evil God's power to directly raise his strength by two great realms. But upon reaching the fifth level of Sovereign Profound Realm, he had to forcibly use Rumbling Heaven to outmatch Ji Hanfeng, who was at the sixth level of Divine Origin Realm. Now that he had reached the first level of Divine Origin Realm, his ability to stride past realms was most likely limited to the first level of Divine Soul Realm.

  No... Following the transformation of his meridians and his newly gained understanding on sensation, he might be able to do even better.

  But if he were to come across a profound beast at the late stage of Divine Soul Realm, then he would be only left with the choice to flee with all his might.

  And if unfortunately he ran into some Divine Tribulation Realm profound beast... it might be extremely hard to even run away alive.

  Yun Che began to carefully move ahead. He was currently in a rather open area and so the thing he needed to do first and foremost was to find a relatively hidden place, that would be suitable for him to hide himself. Then, he would exert his all to keep his aura restrained... After all, the thing he needed to do at the moment wasn't to find a way out within three days but to stay alive during this period.

  And the safest method to go about that was to make use of Hidden Flowing Lightning to quietly spend his time in hiding, so as to keep out of danger.

  Sensing the dangerous aura drifting in the air, Yun Che didn't to make any sound while walking forward. Having walked some distance, he didn't perceive the aura of any other living being. Suddenly, Yun Che couldn't help but come to a halt... His feet sensed an unharmonious feeling that was difficult to put into words.

  Sensation...

  Even before Yun Che's brain could process the information, his body had already retreated backwards with the speed of lightning.

  Whoom!!

  The thick accumulated snow flew up as a white figure burst out of the layer of snow, after which a cold gleam flashed as it slashed through the air, producing an incomparably ear-piercing cry... The gleam passed less than three inches away from Yun Che's face.

  As he flipped backwards and landed on the ground, Yun Che's back heavily smashed against a thick three. He subconsciously brought his right hand to his face and traced the cuts from where drops of blood were slowly flowing out. Although the other party failed in coming into contact with his body, the sharp wind generated by the extremely fast cold gleam still managed to leave three deep bloody marks on his face.

  If it wasn't for him understanding and greatly raising his "sensation" under Mu Xuanyin's guidance and his body instinctively responding at once as a result, that fearsome cold gleam might have gouged out his eyes just now.

  It was a snow-white wolf with crimson eyes that had appeared before him. It was giving off a pungent smell of blood, amidst the ruthless and fierce aura emanating from it. The cold gleam that had just flashed past was in fact its claws on which a red and cold light was flickering from time to time.

  Its whole body was snow-white, similar to a Winterfrost Direwolf but there was no doubt that it was a different species. It was half the size but the ferocity of its aura was at least ten times more than a Winterfrost Direwolf. The prickling sensation of danger at his throat warned him that although the snow-white wolf might not look menacing due to its small physique... it was a beast at Divine Soul Realm!

  Such a terrifying white wolf... Yun Che shivered in fear inwardly. This wolf had jumped out of a place that was less than fifteen meters away from him but he didn't sense its existence at all until the wolf itself decided to come out.

  To hunt by lying hidden in the snow, with its aura perfectly concealed... The first profound beast he had come across had actually turned out to be such a fearsome creature. Was it due to him being out of luck... or were the profound beasts surviving in the cruel environment of Mist End Valley all such terrifying fellows?

  The fearsome white wolf had failed in his first attempt and ended up landing quite a distance away. Very soon, he turned around to face Yun Che but didn't continue to attack. A vigilant look had surfaced in its eyes that were releasing dense, blood-red rays of light. Yun Che made a grabbing gesture with his hands unconsciously... but at once abandoned the idea of summoning the Heaven Smiting Sword.

  I can't use it... Just an attack from that sword would cause a large-scale destruction that would attract the attention of other profound beasts in the surroundings. If that were to happen, I'd die for sure.

  Yun Che flipped over his palm and the Cloud Butterfly Knife, given to him by Mu Bingyun, appeared right at its center... Although it was disseminating a dreadful aura, he didn't feel too strong a sense of threat from it, so it should be suitable to deal with the situation at hand!

  Having sorted out his thoughts, Yun Che was fully prepared to attack and forcefully kill the white wolf. But the moment his profound aura erupted, he felt a faint, odd feeling on his back. The flow of the profound aura around him instantly reversed and he flashed far away with Moon Splitting Cascade.

  Ssswoosh!!

  Along with the similar tearing sound of air from before, one more white figure broke through the layer of snow as it pounced in Yun Che's direction. At almost the same time, the first white wolf that had been standing still during this short period, also made its move as it pounced towards Yun Che, without any hesitation.

  Thump!

  As Yun Che immediately used instantaneous movement, the surprise attack from the white wolf behind ended in failure. Due the distinct ability of Moon Splitting Cascade to leave behind one's aura, the first white wolf didn't charge in the direction of his landing point either but instead assaulted his afterimage, just like the wolf on the other side.

  The afterimage in his previous location was ripped into pieces and dropped a tiny fragment of ice-crystal.

  Activating Extreme Mirage Lightning under his feet, Yun Che's real body had already escaped into the distance like a thunderbolt and entered inside the dense, icy mist.

  He didn't have the confidence to face even a single white wolf head-on, without the Heaven Smiting Sword. Now that there were two of them... there was no way he wouldn't choose to run away, unless he was a complete idiot.

  The two white wolves didn't crane their necks and let out a long howl, as one would expect from wicked wolves. These terrifying profound beasts directly chased after Yun Che, running at a speed that make them seem as though they were two streaks of lightning sweeping past the ground.

  So fast!

  Yun Che was inwardly frightened upon sensing the auras of the wolves in hot pursuit. It was certainly true that running about such a place with all one's might was extremely dangerous but he was left with no choice in this situation; he couldn't even slow down a bit. He could only brace himself and dash as fast as possible inside the dense mist, aiming for the unknown place ahead.

  Tens of breaths later, the two white wolves that were pursuing closely behind him slowed down all of a sudden. Afterwards, they seemed to have forcefully brought themselves to a halt
and then disappeared from Yun Che's perception zone.

  Yun Che at once let out a breath in relaxation but his brows raised all a sudden... That's odd! Judging from their astonishing hunting style, the two white wolves had an extremely high spirit sense and wisdom. Their abrupt stopping in their tracks might not be due to giving up on the chase. It was also possible that... they were approaching some prohibited, dangerous place!

  The moment it popped up in his mind, Yun Che quickly stopped running any further and restrained his aura at the fastest speed.

  And the instant he was about to come to a standstill, he sensed an extremely great oppressive feeling, as of a mountain collapsing, coming from ahead.

  Inside the pale-white, dense mist, a dozens of meters tall gigantic white figure slowly revealed itself.

  Yun Che immediately looked above... to find a snow-white giant monkey, big as a small mountain, standing some distance in front of him!

  Like the white wolves from before, its eyes were also as red as thick blood. The moment it discovered Yun Che, it precipitously released an incomparably fiendish aura. Its muscular arms, which looked like heavy hammers that could weigh down the sky, firmly smashed down towards him.

  Attacking without uttering so much as a word... It seemed to be the sole rule for survival in this misty world.

  Yun Che knitted his brows. He leapt up sideways as he instantly opened Evil God's barrier.

  Boom-Bang!!

  An enormous sound, as if the sky collapsing and the ground sinking, reverberated throughout the area. The accumulated snow, layers of ice and trees were all sent several thousand meters high into the sky because of the huge shock generated by the monkey's attack. Yun Che immediately lost his balance in midair and the remnant shockwaves forcefully carried him far, far into the distance, as if he had been swept away by a storm.