Against the Gods

Chapter 1984 - Erosion

Partially Edited - Rubble

An unknown amount of time had passed in peace and silence when a timid figure suddenly entered Yun Che’s vision. He was an unhealthy-looking boy who looked to be in his early teens at best. His face was gaunt, and his skin was coarse and dark in a way that didn’t fit his age.

He flinched when he saw Yun Che lying on the bed looking bruised and battered, but he did not leave immediately. He swept his gaze across the room quickly as if he was looking for someone or something. When he couldn’t find it, he hesitated for a moment before gathering his courage, “Big b—I mean, senior, do you know where Senior Sister Lingzhu is? I heard that she’s back from her trip.”

Yun Che shot him a warm look and answered, “She is back, but she isn’t here right now. She’s probably meeting her master right now.”

The youngster looked disappointed, but he replied politely, “God it. Thank you for telling me, senior.”

Judging from his cautious demeanor, it was clear that he wasn’t supposed to be here. Dejected, the young man was about to leave when Yun Che added, “However, she should be back very soon. If you wish to see her, you might want to stay here for a while longer.”

The youngster’s eyes immediately lit up. He nodded strongly and said, “Okay! I’ll wait as long as it takes to see Senior Sister Lingzhu!”

A second later, he dropped his head and muttered, “... As long as I’m not caught.”

Back to Mo Cangying and Helian Lingzhu, the duo were going to return to the empire immediately after bidding Ku Xian goodbye, but in the end they decided to inform Yun Che about their departure before doing so. It would bring shame to the empire if they couldn’t even practice proper etiquette—or so Helian Lingzhu claimed. Mo Cangying had no choice but to accept.

When they got close to the room, they heard a young man’s voice saying,

“In the Qilin Abyss Realm, ninety-nine percent of our cultivators cultivate the earth profound energy as their primary element, and wind profound energy as their secondary. I’m the same, and I can summon a pretty big sandstorm!”

“According to my master, the reason the Qilin Abyss Realm is the center of attraction of all earth profound practitioners is because it is the place with the greatest amount of earth profound energy in the entire world. Very few people cultivate it beyond the Qilin Abyss Realm, though my master said that it was mainly because everyone looks down on earth profound energy. They believe that people who cultivate to become good at defense are cowards… which is a lie!”

The youngster’s voice took on a tinge of indignance. “There are plenty of amazing people who cultivate earth profound energy! We’ve even produced an Abyssal Knight in the past!”

The young man’s eyes lit up with admiration when he said the words “Abyssal Knight”, “I even heard that he was made a pioneer by the Abyssal Monarch himself!”

“His name is Mo Beichen, and he is the seven hundred and seventy ninth Abyssal Knight titled the ‘Dust Guardian’. He’s a member of the Abyss Qilin Realm!”

The youngster was practically oozing pride with every word. Yun Che’s smile didn’t change, but his pupils contracted just a little when he heard the familiar name.

Mo Beichen… It seems that you and I are tied by fate.

He was the man who nearly drove the God Realm to a dead end. He had taken Qianye Ying’er’s grandfather and great grandfather from Qianye Ying’er, and the three Yama Ancestors and He Ling from him. How could he ever forget Mo Beichen?

“Senior,” the youngster’s voice abruptly grew small and forlorn. “Do you think the ‘Eternal Pure Land’ really exists in this world?”

“I heard that it’s a place where abyssal dust doesn't exist. I heard that it’s filled with green grass, tall trees, and something called a flower that has a lot of colors.”

“I heard that the sky is blue, and the children who live there do not need to be ‘protected’ from birth. I heard that they do not need to worry about erosion even if they do not cultivate, much less discarded just because their talent is weak. Those children are free to grow however they like.”

“Does a place like this truly exist, senior?”

What he described was the “norm” to Yun Che. In fact, it was so normal that few people in his world would even think about it, much less consider it a luxury. But to the youngster, it was a beautiful dream that only existed in fantasy. It was so beautiful that he literally couldn’t believe that it was real.

“Of course it exists,” Yun Che replied firmly.

Outside the room, Helian Lingzhu unconsciously stopped in her tracks.

Surprise flickered behind the youngster’s eyes, but it dimmed as quickly as it came. “What, have you seen the Eternal Pure Land before?”

Yun Che smiled. “It’s not a matter of whether it’s real, but whether you believe it or not.”

“Believe?” The youngster had lived under his betters’ “protection” from a young age. Therefore, he wasn’t nearly mature enough to understand what Yun Che meant.

“Belief is one of the greatest powers in the world,” Yun Che said gently yet firmly. “If one day you need a miracle to save you, the only way it might happen is if you believe that it will happen.”

“If you desire the Eternal Pure Land, then you should believe that it exists and strive toward it. Only then there is a chance you might find it in your lifetime.”

“Even if you fail to find the Eternal Pure Land in the end, you will have spent your whole life working toward a beautiful, noble goal. In that sense, you would have built an Eternal Pure Land that belongs to you and only you in your soul, am I right?”

The youngster’s eyes glittered like stars as he listened to Yun Che’s words. This time, the light in his eyes didn’t fade.

Outside the room, Helian Lingzhu was speechless and unmoving for a long time as well. It wasn’t until Mo Cangying stepped forward and opened the door that she finally returned to reality.

The youngster looked back and spotted Helian Lingzhu immediately. Let out a cry of pure joy and surprise, “Senior Sister Lingzhu!”

He jumped to his feet and pounced over to Helian Lingzhu immediately, but Mo Cangying caught his shoulders and wheeled him toward him. “Qi Chuan! Did you sneak out of the Earth Palace? Do you know how dangerous it is to leave the barrier at your current strength?”

The youngster withered like a leaf. It was clear that he was very afraid of Mo Cangying. “I… I just wanted to meet Senior Sister Lingzhu.”

“Hmph!” Mo Cangying rebuked him harshly, “If you really want to see her, then you should be cultivating as hard as you can to reach the Divine Soul Realm! At that level, you will be allowed to leave the Earth Palace for an hour every three days! Instead, you chose to break all the rules just to satisfy your personal desire! Words cannot describe how deeply you’ve disappointed me!”

“Have you forgotten that anyone who fails to reach the Divine Tribulation Realm before they are fifteen will be discarded? If that happens, not even your ‘Senior Sister Lingzhu’ will be able to save you!”

Yun Che’s expression didn’t waver, but he was shocked on the inside. A fifteen-year-old Divine Tribulation Realm profound practitioner would’ve been heralded as a once-in-a-lifetime genius in any Divine Region, but here, they were just good enough to avoid being abandoned.

There was no such thing as sympathy and tolerance toward the young. Everyone here must face the cruelest law of survival since they were born—everyone, except those who were chosen by the Kingdoms of God.

Yun Che suddenly recalled the memories Chi Wuyao had pried out of Mo Beichen’s soul fragments. His two daughters had died from erosion because they were discarded. If he had to guess, the only thing Mo Beichen felt toward the Qilin Abyss Realm after the tragedy… was hatred.

“Enough.” Helian Lingzhu stepped over and pulled the rebuked youngster to her side. “Qi Chuan is just a boy. Your rebuke, while true, is unnecessarily harsh.”

Mo Cangying was unrepentant. “I would be killing him if I pampered him. Trash does not have the right to live! Laziness and indulgence is a shortcut to a swift death! If there is one law they should remember from the moment they were born, it would be this!”

“I… I know.” The youngster wasn’t offended by Mo Cangying’s reprimands. There was only remorse and shame. “I just missed Senior Sister Lingzhu too much. She reminds me of my dead sister, and she is, in my heart, my only family left in this world. I just wanted to see her once and pretend that my sister… was still alive…”

“I promise that I won’t do this anymore. I’ll do my best to cultivate, and...” His voice grew a little more determined. “I think I’ve found my direction.”

Helian Lingzhu snuck a glance at Yun Che before replying smilingly, “That would be for the best. Qi Chuan, you will become a great man in the future, but you will lose your talent if you are exposed to too much abyssal dust at your age, so go back to the Earth Palace as soon as possible, okay? I promise I’ll visit you the next time I come to the Heavenly Palace.”

She patted Qi Chuan’s shoulder when she finished, but the youngster abruptly flinched away from her and gasped in pain. Helian Lingzhu looked caught off guard, and Mo Cangying’s frown turned into something darker. He abruptly grabbed the young man’s arm and shattered his sleeve in an instant.

This time, the young man let out a pained scream. His face was scrunched up together in agony.

The blood drained away from Helian Lingzhu’s face when she saw the state of his arm. Mo Cangying somehow managed to look even grimmer than before.

Qi Chuan’s right arm was grayish dark in color. There were many long black scars on his skin as well.

“Qi Chuan, you…” Helian Lingzhu’s voice trembled. There were multiple times she wanted to touch his arm, but in the end, she didn’t dare to.

Yun Che stared fixedly at Qi Chuan’s arm. Is this how the abyssal dust eats away at the body?

“When did this happen?” Mo Cangying asked in a frigid voice.

“I… I…” The youngster’s face was deathly pale. It was impossible to say if it was because of the pain, the shock of being discovered, or both. “It’s okay… I’ll be fine…”

No one believed him. A couple of long, tense seconds later, Mo Cangying exhaled and declared in a grim voice, “The only way to save you now… is to cut off your right arm!”

“No! You cannot!” Helian Lingzhu shook her head immediately. “He’s still far from the level where he can regrow his right arm. If he loses it, he… he may be discarded long before his time is up.”

“At least he would still have a chance.” Mo Cangying shook his head firmly. “If we do nothing about this, then it will spread to his whole body and kill him for sure!”

“Master can remove the abyssal dust from his arm!” Helian Lingzhu hurried toward the exit, “I’ll visit him right—”

“Master will not deny any request from you,” Mo Cangying interrupted calmly, “but are you sure you want to do this? To start a precedent that will only end in disaster?”

Helian Lingzhu froze in her tracks.

Mo Cangying continued, “Forget the Abyssal Qilin Realm, there are countless people in this Helian Heavenly Palace who are being eroded by abyssal dust every day.”

“It is impossible to stop the erosion of abyssal dust. An exception could be made if you were anyone else, but you are the First Princess of the dynasty. Once you’ve set a precedent, everyone will think it’s okay to bring their kids to master to treat their erosion.”

“Master already doesn’t have much time left. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“...” Helian Lingzhu slowly closed her eyes. For a time, she could only bite her lip in silence.

“Senior Sister Lingzhu,” the youngster gently pulled Helian Lingzhu’s sleeve, “I will never forget what you’ve done for me. It’s my own fault that my arm is like this, so how can I trouble you to cure my arm, much less ask the palace chief to shave his own life to help me?”

His eyes were tearful, but he was smiling. “Senior Brother Mo is just like everyone says. You act stern, but you’re really a very, very good person. I was afraid I would be discarded immediately when you found out, but you gave me a way to save myself.”

“I’m glad you can think this way,” Mo Cangying nodded slowly and firmly. “Just because you’ve lost an arm doesn’t mean that your life or your future is over. If you can reach the Divine Tribulation Realm before fifteen, you won’t be discarded despite your condition. If anything, the Helian Heavenly Palace would be very proud of you.”

“I will do it,” Qi Chuan declared, though there was a hint of uncontrollable tremor in his voice. The loss of an arm affected more than just the body, and considering how cruel the laws of survival in the Abyss were, even Qi Chuan knew that his future was bleak no matter how Mo Cangying tried to dress it.

The youngster mustered as much courage as he could and stammered, “P-Please cut my arm for me, Senior Brother Mo.”

“Brave man!” Mo Cangying nodded.

The youngster closed his eyes immediately. Helian Lingzhu let out a sigh and closed her eyes as well.

Just when it seemed like Qi Chuan’s fate was inevitable, Yun Che said, “Wait. I would like to see his injuries.”