Against the Gods - Volume 10 - Snow Song Flame God

by Mars Gravity

  “Several thousand kilometers… several tens of thousands of kilometers… a completely white world.” Fei Yan looked up with a blurred gaze, before absentmindedly saying, “I’m already this old yet I’ve never seen snow before.”

  “Me too.” Qing Zhu nodded in agreement with a heart full of longing.

  Yun Che smiled. Then, he suddenly flew up and a blue light flashed in his hands. A huge expanse of fluttering snow that resembled goose feathers fell from the sky, accompanied by a cool refreshing breeze.

  “Waah!”

  Exhilarated cries overlapped as they all clasped their hands together. Bathing in the falling snow and sensing a coldness they had never felt before, they felt as though they had suddenly landed in a completely different world.

  The snowfall was gentle at first but it quickly changed to become a snowstorm. Yun Che’s finger moved slightly and a dozen blossoming ice lotus flowers instantly fell amidst the flying snow. The smallest one could be clasped in one’s palm and the biggest one made the two wood spirit girls fall over each other in their desire to sit inside it, to personally feel the blossoming of the ice lotus.

  Whoosh!

  Outside the flying snow, a faint golden colored flame ignited. It quickly condensed to become a huge, flaming Golden Crow silhouette, which then let out a sharp resonating long cry.

  “What a pretty fire bird!” He Lin shouted.

  “This is the Golden Crow, one of the most powerful fire divine beasts of the Primordial Era.”

  Yun Che’s thoughts moved slightly and the image condensed by the blaze quickly changed, becoming one of the ancient horned dragons that lived inside the God Burying Inferno Prison.

  “This is that flame horned dragon I mentioned to you guys earlier. Its entire body was covered in fire and its tail was longer than its entire body. Hm, it’s more or less like this.” Yun Che presented, then lamented, “I almost died beneath its claws back then.”

  “It looks really scary. I can tell that it must be a really really bad profound beast, in a single glance.” Fei Yan’s cheeks puffed, seemingly to vent the dissatisfaction she felt when she heard that it had nearly killed Yun Che.

  After the display of snow, ice and fire, Yun Che then showed them lightning and his profound handle. He played with them for a long while before he withdrew his hand, completely scattering all the wind, snow, lightning and fire along with it.

  Everything seemed to have just been an illusion.

  Beneath the excitement they had never before felt, the faces of the four wood spirit youths were all currently flushed. The eyes they looked at Yun Che with seemed to shimmer like bright stars—just a moment ago, they felt gratitude and curiosity toward Yun Che. What they felt now, however, was a sudden, intense, all encompassing worship.

  “I really… I really want to go see the place Big Brother Benefactor talked about,” Qing Zhu dreamily said as he looked up.

  “That day will definitely come,” Yun Che said.

  “Big Brother Benefactor… oh! Can we…” Fei Yan’s eyes were earnest, yet her entire face was filled with nervousness. “Can you tell us your name?”

  He Lin, Qing He and Qing Zhu also looked at him.

  Yun Che smiled and answered without hesitation, “My name is Yun Che.”

  “Yun Che…” they all said softly.

  “Big Brother Yun Che!” Qing Zhu hollered excitedly.

  “Y-y-you… big dummy! You stole my thunder again! I want to say it too… Big Brother Yun Che!” As Fei Yan called out, her eyes bent into thin crescents. Then, she tugged at the Qing He beside her. “Big Sister Qing He, you’re not talking much today. Hurry up and call him Big Brother Yun Che.”

  Qing He took a small step forward and still had yet to lift her head. Both her hands nervously pinched at her colorful sash, as she timidly uttered, “Big Brother… Yun Che…”

  “Qing He, what’s wrong?” Qing He’s strange actions began to worry Qing Zhu. “You… ah? Why is your face kind of red? Are you sick?”

  “Ah! I got it!” Fei Yan shouted. “Big Sister Qing He must have fallen for Big Brother Yun Che!”

  “N-no I haven’t!” The faint color of the red dawn instantly became a gorgeous sunset and immediately spread to her jade colored neck as her head drooped even lower. Then, she gently stamped her foot all of a sudden and turned to run like a startled butterfly… never daring to shoot Yun Che a single glance during the entire process.

  “Wahaha! I guessed right!” Fei Yan laughed with satisfaction. Then, she her bright eyes looked directly at Yun Che. “Big Brother Yun Che, Qing He ran away due to embarrassment, you’d better take responsibility!”

  “This…” Yun Che pressed his nose, troubled.

  Wood spirits bore the purest of nature energy. As a result, the females tended to be gentle and beautiful, while the males extremely pretty. However, because of this, they would lack masculinity. To wood spirit girls who were accustomed to male wood spirits, the moment they got close or became curious, Yun Che’s manliness, along with his sharpness tempered by countless hardships, would produce an attractiveness that would most likely be fatal.

  He Lin didn’t laugh. Ever since Yun Che gave his name, he had been staring at him in a daze, the corner of his mouth slowly biting down.

  When Yun Che sensed his unusual condition, he heavily kneeled before Yun Che.

  “Ah? Young patriarch!” Fei Yan and Qing Zhu exclaimed in great shock.

  “He Lin, you?” Yun Che quickly stretched out a hand, intending to lift him back up.

  Yet He Lin stubbornly persisted to kneel in place.He lifted a pair of slightly trembling eyes. “I… I don’t want to call you Big Brother Yun Che, I… I… I want to call you Master.”

  Yun Che, “...”

  “Master! Can you be my master? I want to be as strong as you… I… I’ll work hard, I’m willing to endure hardships. No matter how tough it gets, I’m willing to take them all in. Please accept me.”

  He Lin wasn’t asking but pleading… pleading with an intense longing.

  “He Lin.” Yun Che pressed a hand on his little shoulder. “You are a wood spirit and I am human. Even though we look alike, our powers are different, so I can’t be your master.”

  “No! Master can teach me. We can also use the same way of utilizing profound energy as humans do. Father and mother personally told me this,” He Lin said with determination. “Because father and mother were really powerful, they were able to defeat many strong bad guys and protect tons of our clansmen. I want to be as powerful as Master, I want to be able to protect my clansmen like father and mother did. I… I’ll listen to Master’s every word, I’ll do anything Master wants. Please accept me.”

  “...’ Yun Che crouched down, a softness in his gaze that he only showed in front of close relatives appeared in his eyes. “He Lin, one person’s power will eventually reach its limits. Even if you become ten times as strong as me, you would not be able to alter the wood spirit race’s fate. What you need to rely on is your entire clan working together to overcome this.”

  “You are the wood spirit race’s young patriarch. But don’t forget, you are still a child, you don’t have to put such a heavy burden on your own shoulders. What you need to do right now is to stay under the protection of your clansmen and peacefully, safely grow up. Once you’ve grown up, that is when you use your mature wings to protect your own clansmen, alright?”

  “I… I know…” Two streaks of tears slowly trickled down He Lin’s face. “I know that even if I become really strong, I wouldn’t be able to alter my entire clan’s fate. But… if I become strong, I would at least be able to leave this place one day to go search for my big sister and protect her… I promised my father and mother that I would definitely protect my big sister. But… But I couldn’t find her. I don’t know where she is, I don’t know whether she’s getting bullied by bad guys. I… I really miss her… I really want to find her. I really want to protect big sister, so that she will never get bullied by anyone… but�
� but…”

  The hand which Yun Che used to press onto He Lin’s shoulder slightly tightened, yet he couldn’t say a single world in response.

  When he was around He Lin’s age, because his profound veins were crippled, he received mockery and occasional cold remarks. However, he had Xiao Lie’s meticulous care and protection, had Xiao Lingxi’s close accompaniment and he was able to laugh and play around with Xia Yuanba. He was able to freely go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted and never knew what fleeing from death or terror was, let alone having to bear an entire clan’s heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

  Compared to those of the same age, him having crippled profound veins could be said to be pitiful.

  But compared to He Lin, it was no doubt that the him back then was living in paradise.

  Chapter 1077: Perfect Wood Spirit Orb

  “Haah!” A sigh could be heard as a tall middle aged wood spirit slowly came over, wearing a dismal and solemn look on his face.

  “Uncle Qing Mu!” Fei Yan and Qin Zhu both exclaimed at the same time.

  Qing Mu took a step forward, helping He Lin up and said “Young patriarch, you should stop inconveniencing our benefactor. What he said was entirely right. You are only a child at the moment and the most appropriate thing for you to do right now is to depend on us to grow up. Once you’ve grown up, you should then try your hardest to become someone on whom we can then depend, as well as repay our benefactor for saving your life. If you stubbornly choose to follow our benefactor, not only will the entire clan worry, it will also bring great burden and calamity upon our benefactor.”

  He Lin stared blankly for a while and eventually stood up with resignation. He wiped his tears and apologized to Yun Che, “Big Brother Yun Che, I’m sorry, I was.. too impulsive and too selfish. You saved my life and I-I...”

  Yun Chu shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “He Lin, what is your sister’s name?”

  “Ah?” He Lin was caught in a trance.

  “In the future, I should be able to travel to many places in the God Realm. If it’s fated to be, there might be a possibility of me meeting your sister. If that’s the case, I’ll be able to pass along your whereabouts or perhaps even be able to bring her here and let you siblings reunite.”

  “Ah!” He Lin’s eyes shone brightly and he started to tremble with excitement, “Big Brother Yun Che, my older sister… her name is He Ling... He Ling!”

  Exhilaration also showed on Qing Mu’s face.

  “Then… What does she look like? Is there anything different about her features with regard to other wood spirits?” Yun Che asked, while engraving the name “He Ling” deeply in his memory. By no means did he casually ask, just for the sake of comforting He Lin but because of his pleadings and tears, Yun Che felt like he couldn’t let him down.

  “Big sister is a very good-looking wood spirit and is the most beautiful sister in the world. She is prettier than any flower, prettier even than the stars and the moon in the night sky!” He Lin exclaimed with any hesitation.

  “...” Yun Chu nodded and gave He Lin a hopeful look.

  “Thank you benefactor, I truly don’t know how to say thank you enough.” Qing Mu was sincerely touched and expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart.

  While talking, he carefully raised both his hands. In his palms lay a pearl the size of a dragon eye fruit, which projected a bright, jade-green glow.

  It was a Wood Spirit Orb!!

  “This is…” Yun Che’s mind went in a turmoil.

  “This is the Wood Spirit Orb that my deceased wife left. Although many years have passed, the spirit energy within is still intact.”

  By placing the Wood Spirit Orb delicately into Yun Che’s hands, Qing Mu’s eyes became momentarily expressionless and blank, as if his soul had been cut off from his body. Then, a gentle smile promptly appeared on his face. “I hope you can make good use of it.”

  Yun Chu stored away the complete Wood Spirit Orb, as he solemnly offered his thanks, “My sincerest gratitude.”

  Yun Che stood there and after a brief hesitation, he asked, “Senior Qing Mu, junior has a question. I don’t know if it’s appropriate to bring it up.”

  Qing Mu smiled, “Benefactor, please speak.”

  Yun Che looked at the miniature world around him and stated “One simply cannot stay unsympathetic if they were to see your wood spirit clan’s current situation. From junior’s understanding, in the God Realm of today… at least in the Eastern Divine Region, poaching wood spirits is a clear violation of the code of ethics and is strictly forbidden. It is a joint ban placed by the Eternal Heaven God Realm and the other three king realms. If a king realm happens to know of anyone violating it, they will be severely punished. That being the case, in all these years, why have you not tried to seek a king realm’s protection? Instead, you’ve chosen separate yourself even further from a king realm and inhabit a lower star realm, making it harder for them to reach and to lend assistance.”

  When Yun Che finished speaking these words, he noticed that Qing Mu’s eyes had filled with violent turmoil. Then, he let out a heavy sigh.

  “We have tried,” Qing Mu replied. “However, humanity’s greed and evil are not related to strength or status—they are nevertheless just as scary.”

  Qing Mu’s words caused Yun Chu to abruptly lift his head. He said in surprise, “You mean… Don’t tell me…”

  “Do you know how our patriarch died?” Qing Mu closed his eyes, his hands trembling slightly.

  “...” Yun Che did not rashly assume.

  “During that year, the king realms did indeed impose a ban. However, the difficulties our wood spirit clan had suffered has never stopped. Thus, many years ago, my clan had started to seek out the protection of a king realm. Even if we had to become their slaves, at least our future generations would be able obtain peace and no longer live on the run.

  “Later, after countless untold hardships, the patriarch and his wife finally managed to get close to one of the king realms and had high hopes. However, little did they know, a disaster would soon suddenly descend upon them... During the calamity, the patriarch, his wife and thousands of our clansmen fell. Their desperate fight to the death allowed the young patriarch and the princess to escape… However, the heavens did not turn a blind eye on us, as among the chaos, we were able to find the young patriarch and desperately fought to protect the clansmen who had helped the young patriarch escape. Only three of them remained... One of them was my deceased wife.”

  “Then again, the princess and the clansmen who were protecting her got separated during the escape. Their whereabouts are uncertain. Their life and death…”

  Yun Che asked, “That group of people… Who were they?”

  “...” Qing Mu took a deep breath, “I… received the Patriarch’s soul sound transmission when he died—there were only four words.

  “Brahma... Monarch... God... Realm.”

  “W-what!?” Yun Chu was so startled that it seemed as though every hair on his body stood on end.

  Head of the Eastern Divine Region’s four king realms, it was rumored that the entire realm was so obsessed with the profound way that there are no weak experts there at all. The Brahma Monarch God Realm that never interfered in the arguments of other realms!?!?

  Qing Mu smiled bitterly, “As a human, I know it is hard for you to believe. As for this fact, out of whole tribe, only three people know the truth. The young patriarch doesn’t know and knows even less of the princess’ whereabouts. I can only pray that she never tries to seek a king realm’s protection again or any other star realms for shelter.”

  “Then you… Why are you telling me this?” Emotions surged up within Yun Che. He knew why the other wood spirits must not know the truth; because it would only bring them endless grief and despair.

  Qing Mu gave him a deep look, “Although I am not a human, I understand. The fact that you were actually able to rescue the young patriarch from Darkya City at such a young
age must mean that your cultivation, among peers of your generation, is at the very top. If you were able to reach this height, it must be because you cultivated with great obsession. For cultivators, the highest existence one can hope to reach is the king realms. With your current achievements, who knows, you may be qualified to touch the king realms in the future.

  Yun Che. “...”

  Qing Mu continued, “I don’t expect you to believe my words but I hope you will at least consider them or maybe even develop a sense of wariness. I don’t want to see humans as kind-hearted as you, having to look up to and trust a crowd of filthy and vile souls.”

  “...” Yun Che stayed silent for a long while. Even though he had never thought he would one day touch the supreme existence of the Eastern Divine Region, Qing Mu’s words... He believed them but it was indeed difficult to accept them.

  However, as he thought about how the Four Great Sacred Grounds were revered by the world, generation after generation, the concerns in his heart eased off and subsided a great deal.

  “The kind of realm they live in, is there still a need for Wood Spirit Orbs?” Yun Che grew pensive and started talking to himself in a low voice.

  “No, what they wanted was the patriarch’s Royal Wood Spirit Orb.” Qing Mu continued “Before he breathed his last breath, with his last ounce of strength, the patriarch completely shattered his Wood Spirit Orb, not allowing the wicked ones to succeed.”

  Qing Mu turned his head and glanced at He Lin, who was standing not too far from him, “Fortunately, they do not know of the existence of the young patriarch and the princess, otherwise…”

  His words made Yun Che feel a sinking feeling in his chest.

  He Lin carried the royal lineage. After his identity had been exposed at the Black Feather Merchant Guild, everyone present at the scene knew of it.

  However, everyone also knew that the news of the appearance of a royal wood spirit would completely shake the world, not to mention the colossal troubles and catastrophes such information would bring. Therefore, the Black Feather Merchant Guild would only take action in absolute secrecy. Leaking the information would invite trouble and those present at the scene were smart enough not to do that.