Against the Gods

Chapter 2016 - It Won’t Hurt

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

The Helian Empire, Boulder Profound Sect, Thousand Blade Sect and Qilin Worship Alliance groups were well separated and well defined.

Yun Che swept his divine perception across the area. He counted all nine hundred and eighty five of them.

When the thunderous rumblings finally came to a stop, the group just realized that it was the sound, no, the storm of someone punching through space at an unbelievable speed.

What followed next was a deafening, suffocating silence. It was because the pressure pressing down on them was so heavy that their heads hurt, and their spines threatened to break.

“Close your eyes,” Yun Che whispered.

Yun Xi ignored him.

Rumble!

The deafening noise erupted once more, and this time it appeared right next to their ears.

Before the Boulder Profound Sect profound practitioners could make sense of what just happened, the world they knew had already transformed into a fiery sea of gold that consumed everything.

He could execute the Nine Suns Heaven’s Fury to annihilate all of them at once, but that would deplete much of the Qilin God’s divine origin. So, he chose to teleport four times.

First, he teleported to the Boulder Profound Sect profound practitioners. Then, he ignited them all with Yellow Springs Ashes instead.

When he appeared above the Thousand Blade Sect next… the Boulder Profound Sect profound practitioners’ screams hadn’t even made it into his ears yet.

The greatsword swung, and thousands and thousands of shattered bones were flung into the air. Another swing later, they were all buried in the sea of sand.

Every Thousand Blade Sect disciple was dead just like that. They never reacted to the attack, much less knew why Yun Che had killed them all.

Even the screams they let out at the last moment only lasted for an instant.

It all happened in just the blink of an eye. Yun Che offered them neither sign nor word.

The Qilin Worship Alliance was luckier than most because they at least had the time to look shocked and horrified… but that was it.

A red lotus bloomed in the sky, and what came after that flash of beauty was an infernal burial.

Over three hundred Qilin Worship Alliance hallmasters, helmsmasters and disciples were engulfed by the fiery lotus. Not a single one of them managed to escape in time. They were all turned into scarlet ash.

Young Master of the Qilin Worship Alliance? Son of an Abyssal Knight? They were all no different from grass to Yun Che; no different from the ash they gave off after they were evaporated by the flames of the phoenix.

Three instantaneous movements later, the Helian Empire's profound practitioners finally reacted. They let out bloodcurdling screams and flew away from Yun Che as quickly as they could.

Helian Lingzhu was the only one who remained where she was looking like she had fallen into an inescapable nightmare.

Yun Che didn’t move. He simply raised the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword and activated his crimson lightning. Hundreds of tribulation lightning fell from the sky at once.

Crack!

An equal number of cracks appeared on the blue sky above their heads. It would not fade for a very long time.

After the thunderclap, the world suddenly turned silent. The screams, the yells, the sounds of running, the whooshes of flying… they all came to a stop. Then, a series of thuds followed. It was the sounds of bodies hitting the ground.

They hadn’t been annihilated like the rest of the factions, but every vein and organ in their body had been obliterated by the Heavenly Law Tribulation Lightning.

After that, there was only the howl of the wind, the shuffling of the sand, and the cracklings of the flames. Nothing else.

No. There was still one alive on the ground.

She was Helian Lingzhu.

“... Why…”

She was still standing there blank without any blood in her face. Her eyes had lost all their light, and she looked like a doll that had lost its soul.

He didn’t answer her. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword vanished from his hand, and he slowly raised his palm toward Helian Lingzhu.

In the end, he had succumbed to a flash of pity and did not annihilate Helian Lingzhu with the rest of them. However, that flash of pity also caused his soul to twitch painfully.

It was Chi Wuyao’s words stabbing his heart and soul like spikes.

…

“That is why every connection you might make in the Abyss—friendship, master-disciple relationship, romance, and even kindness—is only a tool to be exploited to your advantage.”

…

“Never forget who you are and what your mission is when you arrive at the Abyss. In that place, kindness, mercy and compassion are all sins!”

“Any reluctance of leeway you show your enemies might mean the end of yourself, the loved ones awaiting your return, and your universe!”

“If you ever feel hesitation, then remember my words: any shred of pity you show the denizens of the Abyss may become the butcher’s knife that kills us all!”

…

“Don’t be scared,” Yun Che said quietly, “It won’t hurt.”

Ding!

Helian Lingzhu turned into ice in an instant. A soft crack later, she crumbled into a pile of sorrowful ice dust.

With this, all one thousand people who entered the Qilin God Realm except Yun Che and Long Jiang had been killed.

No one would know what happened besides the two of them.

Their deaths would be blamed on the collapse of the Qilin God Realm.

Yun Che finally canceled God Ash, but the Qilin God divine origin imbued on the Heretic God Seed had lost seventy percent of its potency.

A terrible weight and rebound struck Yun Che then. His flesh, blood and bones were shaking, and blood was leaking out of the cracks on his body and his blood vessels uncontrollably.

Yun Che didn’t say anything. He silently sealed his wounds while doing his best to suppress his aura.

Ruthlessness was a must in the Abyss. Once he was forced to bear his fangs, then he must clean up so that he would not leave any loose ends behind. But behind the mask of Emperor Yun… was still a man who must endure the weight and sin of his actions for eternity.

Sins… it’s not like I’m not drowning in them already…

Back in the Northern Divine Region, when hatred was the one thing that filled my heart… this is just the beginning…

I’ll get used to it… I must get used to it.

His breathing slowly calmed, and he looked at the woman in his arms.

Her eyes looked as indifferent as a pool of dead water.

There wasn’t the slightest tinge of sympathy or discomfort. He couldn’t even glimpse a hint of shock or puzzlement.

It was as if Yun Che really had just massacred a bunch of grasses.

At the Qilin Abyss Conference, everyone could tell that he was close with Helian Lingzhu. Later, it became clear that he was the reason Helian Lingzhu was made the leader of the Helian group, not to mention that Helian Jue only wished he could make Helian Lingzhu his wife before everyone.

In fact, the biggest reason he hadn’t killed Helian Lingzhu immediately wasn’t himself, but Yun Xi.

But…

When he disintegrated Helian Lingzhu into dust, he couldn’t feel the slightest bit of emotion from Yun Xi.

His shock quickly turned into fear.

What on earth had happened to her during these decades?

The spatial tremors were getting worse. Cracks were literally spreading before Yun Che’s eyes.

The Qilin God mentioned that the secret realm would crumble in six hours, but that could mean a couple hours later, or one minute from now. Between treating Yun Xi or escaping the secret realm as soon as possible, Yun Che ultimately chose the latter.

“We’re heading out… just pretend to be unconscious.”

“...” As expected, she didn’t answer him.

He moved Yun Xi to his back and released his seals on his wounds so that the blood would pour freely. Then, he sped straight toward the exit.

The burning wind was howling beside her ears, the sea of sand was sinking behind her back, and blood was dripping down the man’s body. When some of it made contact with her fingertips, it gave her an unfamiliar… yet undeniably warm feeling.

For an instant, she was lost in her memories.

…

“... among the ‘knowledge’ that you have imparted to me, there is a part of it that mentions that every living being will not only have a mother but a father too. Furthermore, the father and mother will be together forever. However, why is Mother all alone by herself? Could it be that I don’t have a father?”

…

“Then… what does Father look like? Will he be just as gentle and just as good looking?”

“That’s something you will need to see with your own eyes and your own heart and soul.”

…

“If father doesn’t love mother… will he not love me as well?”

“Of course not… he will do anything for you even if he has to go up against the entire world… not just because you’re my daughter, but also because you’re his daughter.”

…

Suddenly, she felt a different kind of warmth on her fingertips. She realized that a bead of water had appeared beside the bead of blood.

When the bead of blood and water touched each other, they actually pulled into each other as if pulled toward one another. Together, they formed a single bead of warm, inseparable blood.

The Qilin God Realm’s exit was right in front of him. Yun Che didn’t slow down in the slightest. He plunged downward and passed through the exit in an instant.

Bang!

Space warped, and the world abruptly changed. Seemingly incapable of catching himself, he hit the ground like a rock and skidded for a long, long time before he finally came to a stop.

Ximen Boyun was beyond anxious at this point, and he wanted to say something when he saw it was Yun Che and Long Jiang who had come through the entrance. Yun Che preempted him by shouting, “Ximen Boyun! The Qilin God Realm is collapsing everywhere! You need to—”

He was so “panicked” that he accidentally addressed Ximen Boyun by his name.

Ximen Boyun couldn’t care less about that. He shouted back, “Where are the others? How did you two escape? The entrance isn’t damaged yet, so where is the Qilin—”

Yun Che allowed a pant to escape his lips before interrupting, “Spatial storms were happening everywhere! Everyone was swept inside of it! Some were crushed instantly, and those who weren’t were swept away to god-knows-where!”

Yun Che’s words and his wounds deeply shocked Ximen Boyun. Over half of Long Jiang’s body was drenched in blood, though he couldn’t tell where her wounds were. However, the cracks all across Yun Che’s body were definitely caused by distorted space.

“Long Jiang and I happened to be close to the exit, which was why we were fortunate enough to escape!”

Ximen Boyun felt chilled to the core. For a long time, he couldn’t say a word at all. A spatial storm. And not just one, but multiple spatial storms!? The situation was far worse than he had hoped. No, it was basically the worst case scenario.

The secret realm created by the Abyssal Monarch himself was obviously high level, so the spatial streams and spatial storms it created after it collapsed must be unbelievably powerful.

Yun Che had to take a deep breath every time he finished a line. His face was full of lingering fear and relief as well. It was at this moment he recalled something and roared, “What are you waiting for, Ximen Boyun? Tear open the space and rescue the others already! The First Princess and the others are still inside!”

Ximen Boyun uttered, “If I could do that, I would’ve done so already!”

“You’re an Abyssal Knight!”

“And this secret realm was created by the Abyssal Monarch himself!” Ximen Boyun roared. He was so angry that his black hair was literally standing on end.

Yun Che was even angrier than he was, “If it wasn’t for the ‘Abyssal Monarch’, Long Jiang and I would never have deigned to participate in this dog shit Qilin Abyss Conference! To think we almost died because of this!”

Ximen Boyun yelled, “I don’t care what your background is, Yun Che, if you dare insult the Abyssal Monarch again—”

“You should focus on thinking of a way to save the Qilin Worship Alliance!” Yun Che interrupted rudely while doing his “best” to seal his wounds, “Long Jiang and I saw with our own eyes the sect master of the Thousand Blade Sect being ripped into pieces by a spatial storm!”

“Unless your people happened to be swept near the entry like us… even so, they’d be lucky to escape! Your people are about to be exterminated, and instead of thinking of a way to tear open this secret realm, you’re thinking about defending the Abyssal Monarch’s honor? Are you serious right now!?”

His words were so provocative that it was a surprise Ximen Boyun hadn’t blown his top. He immediately turned back to the quaking entrance of the Qilin God Realm and began trembling like a leaf.

Yun Che picked up Yun Xi and scoffed angrily, “To think that a small place like the Qilin Abyss Realm would almost cost me my life… I’ll never get near this shitty place again!”

“Let’s go!”

Bang!!

Ximen Boyun was so anxious that he launched a palm strike at the entrance. As expected, he was blown away by a massive force that numbed his right arm for a very long time. Terrible pain followed after the numbness had subsided.

As for Yun Che and Long Jiang, he was far too worried for the fate of his family and his people to care about their departure.

The final outcome didn’t exceed anyone’s expectations. Almost two hours of useless rage later, the entrance of the Qilin God Realm abruptly bent like a lightning bolt and disintegrated. Not a single person had managed to escape during this time.

And so a terrific spatial wind blew at the center of the Qilin God Realm, accompanied by the helpless roars of an Abyssal Knight.