Against the Gods

Chapter 1044 - Feathered Ice Spirit Flower

“Yun Che? You’re alive!?” Mu Yizhou’s eyes darkened but on the inside he was shocked by Yun Che’s appearance.

“Of course I’m alive. You on the other hand… may be dead very, very soon,” Yun Che sneered.

“You think the likes of you can kill me!?” Hatred flashed in Mu Yizhou’s eyes, “Very well! I was just regretting the fact that I wasn’t able to kill you with my own hands but to think that you would deliver yourself to me!”

“Don’t let him escape, Mu Heng! I must kill him with my own hands!”

Mu Yizhou was already clutching his sword when he gave the order. But the moment he unleashed his profound energy, he suddenly noticed that the scenery before his eyes was falling swiftly for some reason. Then, everything turned gray white before sinking into darkness...

The Ice Phoenix disciple called Mu Heng was just about to move behind Yun Che when he saw Mu Yizhou’s head suddenly flying away from its torso. The burst of profound energy caused scarlet blood to gush out of his severed neck like a fountain and sent the head flying dozens of meters away from the torso. Finally, it fell weakly and smashed into the snow next to Mu Heng’s feet.

Mu Yizhou’s expression was very calm because he never got the chance to show fear on his face. The only things that showed the fear and shock he was feeling during his last moments were his enlarging pupils.

“Ah… aaaaah!” Mu Heng was stunned for a long time before he let out a fearful shout. He stumbled backwards in great fear and nearly fell on his butt during the process.

Yun Che had hidden his body and his aura, detonated the profound energy in his Buddha Heart Divine Veins in an instant, moved at an impossible speed, and finally cut through Mu Yizhou’s neck with the Cloud Butterfly Blade… The assassination wouldn’t have been possible without any one of this elements and he had executed them all to perfection.

As a result, Yun Che at who was at the first level of the Divine Origin Realm was able to kill Mu Yizhou in an instant, a profound practitioner who was almost two realms stronger than he was!

It took the Cloud Butterfly Blade only a brief instant to pass through Mu Yizhou’s neck and the entire assassination process was so quiet that Mu Yizhou never even realized that he was killed until the final moment. In fact, he never learned how he had died at Yun Che’s hands.

“That’s… that’s the Cloud Butterfly Blade!”

When Mu Heng saw the gleaming ice blade in Yun Che’s hand, his pupils contracted slightly as he cried out the weapon’s name.

“Oh? You know it?” Yun Che withdrew the Cloud Butterfly Blade with a bit of astonishment. Although this person was far weaker than Mu Yizhou—he was probably just a normal Ice Phoenix Palace disciple—he actually recognized the Cloud Butterfly Blade.

It would appear that the Cloud Butterfly Blade was extremely famous in the Snow Song Realm.

“No wonder Senior Brother Yizhou was…”

Plop!

It was only now that Mu Yizhou’s headless body finally collapsed to the ground, spraying the floor with a shocking amount of blood. Judging from the sprayed blood, there was probably nothing left inside the body.

“So, do you want to leave or do you want to be… buried along with your senior brother?” Yun Che asked coldly. There was no reason to believe that a person who was exiled to

this place was a good egg but at the same time they shared no relations or grudges with each other. In a place like Mist End Valley, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Therefore, he wouldn’t waste energy trying to kill this guy if he did choose to leave.

Mu Heng’s took a few steps backwards but he quickly came to a stop once more. The initial fear and shock on his face were actually giving away to fierce ruthlessness, “You only killed Mu Yizhou because you ambushed him using the Cloud Butterfly Blade. Do you really think a mere Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner like you has the right to boast of his strength before me?”

Yun Che’s eyes narrowed, “So you choose to die, is that it?”

“Me? The one who will die is you!” Mu Heng’s face turned slightly distorted, “I’m going to die sooner or later anyway in this place! If I can drag you, the sect master’s direct disciple into death with me, hehehe, then my death will be totally worth it!”

“Mn.” Yun Che nodded in agreement, “It is a pretty good idea.”

If he was still an Ice Phoenix Palace disciple, he wouldn’t dare show Yun Che even a bit of disrespect even if he had all the courage in the world. But he was a fugitive in Mist End Valley, so Yun Che’s identity only invoked irritation and excitement in his twisted heart.

“Then die!!”

Mu Heng swung his sword at Yun Che, causing bone chilling air to enshroud Yun Che in an instant. He looked like he would freeze Yun Che in ice right there.

Yun Che raised his arms in front of himself with the Heaven Smiting Sword clutched firmly in his hands. His eyes turned gloomy as he detonated his profound energy, flames and sword force at once. Judging from the strength of Mu Heng’s aura, he was probably around the second or third level of the Divine Soul Realm. Although he was far weaker than Mu Yizhou, he still wasn’t an easy opponent for him.

Thankfully, Mu Heng’s whole life in Mist End Valley was spent running just one step ahead of certain death. Not only was he hurt all over, his vitality was weak and his profound strength was largely depleted. There was no reason for him to lose if he were to fight Mu Heng with full force!

Yun Che braved the cold wind and leaped into the air, instantly arriving in front of Mu Heng. His sword fell on Mu Heng’s head, as though it would flatten him like a pie.

Yun Che’s speed immensely shocked Mu Heng but he raised his own sword immediately afterwards, his profound energy surging. He had complete confidence that his slash would deal Yun Che a grievous blow.

Clang! A heavy sound resounded as Yun Che was knocked far, far away from the point of impact. However, Mu Heng’s sword was the one that broke as his hands turned numb and his feet sank deeply into the ground.

“Ah!?” Mu Heng’s pupils contracted abruptly as fear and shock appeared on his face, “How… how is this possible!?”

Before him, an oppressive feeling that shouldn’t belong to one at the Divine Origin Realm rushed towards him. Yun Che actually recovered with a roll through the air and swung his sword once more down toward his head. The flames enveloping the sword were actually stronger than during the first clash and threatened to suffocate Mu Heng.

Mu Heng clenched his teeth and threw away the broken sword he was wielding. Not daring to conserve his strength any longer, his entire body glowed icily as he roared and sent thirteen icicles stabbing into the air from the ground.

The thirteen icicles had appeared swiftly and unexpectedly, so Yun Che’s falling figure was instantly stabbed by two of the thirteen icicles at the same time. Mu Heng was just about to let loose a peal of mad laughter when he suddenly realized that the pierced “Yun Che” was dissipating swiftly into a cloud of thin ice mist.

Behind Mu Heng, a calamitous, burning power rushed ruthlessly towards his back. The only thing the he could do was to scream in terror before he was struck mercilessly by the attack.

Boom!!

The snapping sound of Mu Heng’s spine was so crisp that it was almost piercing to one’s ears. Mu Heng flew far, far away into the distance like a broken bag of blood before he crashed painfully into the frozen rock Yun Che was hiding inside earlier.

It was impossible for Mu Heng to stand up again after his spine was snapped in half. He wriggled painfully on the ground while continuously vomiting scarlet blood from his mouth.

“All bark and no bite, you are.” Yun Che taunted just before a dangerous, beastial roar followed his words. A dangerous aura swiftly approached towards Mu Heng.

It was only natural that the commotion had drawn the profound beasts’ attention. Putting away his sword swiftly, Yun Che withdrew his aura and escaped leisurely from the place, not bothering to spare Mu Heng even a second glance. After he moved a few hundred meters away from the place, he jumped soundlessly into the air and landed on top of a tall, dry tree. His figure slowly vanished after that.

It didn’t take long before the low growls of a profound beast and Mu Heng’s blood curdling screams of despair cut through the air.

——————————

Nearing the end of the third day since Yun Che was sent into Mist End Valley.

There were less than thirty minutes left before the seventy-two hour time limit was up. When the time was up, the dimensional profound formation Mu Xuanyin left on Yun Che’s body would teleport him away from Mist End Valley.

A cloud of thick mist scattered as Mu Xuanyin soundlessly appeared above Mist End Valley once more. She quickly spotted Yun Che after she spread her consciousness across the land. Then, her eyebrows became wrinkled a little.

Yun Che hadn’t hidden in the same spot and waited for the third day to pass. Right now, he was almost fifty kilometers away from his previous spot.

She could sense where Yun Che was but not see his person, so it was obvious that Yun Che was currently in that amazing state of Concealment. However, that wasn’t why Mu Xuanyin was surprised.

Mu Xuanyin was surprised because Yun Che was obviously moving slowly across the ground!

He was able to move despite being in the concealed state!

“...” The tiny ripple of emotion in Mu Xuanyin’s eyes lasted for a long time before it subsided.

Meanwhile, Yun Che was walking slowly across Mist End Valley while being invisible… he couldn’t speed up even if he wanted to anyway.

After a whole day and night of meditation, enlightenment, and experimentation, he was now able to maintain a perfect state of Concealment while walking slowly and not making any big movements. Although he had used it for less than a day only, it was without a doubt a large improvement compared to the time when he wasn’t able to move at all.

Now that he was able to move while being invisible, naturally Yun Che didn’t need to hide in the same place any longer. Instead, he started roaming around Mist End Valley and enjoying its unique scenery.

Yes, he was enjoying the scenery of Mist End Valley...

Of course, he was cautious even though he was invisible and he would do his best to walk out of a profound beast’s way should he noticed them. While it was true that the profound beasts couldn’t see him, they could unwittingly send a wave of profound energy in his direction and… reveal him instantly.

Mu Xuanyin watched as Yun Che strolled through layer upon layer of thick mists and past many violent profound beasts. He made it look so simple it was as if he was the only thing to exist in Mist End Valley. His temporary exile was supposed to be a severe punishment and test of his abilities but right now he looked like he was on a vacation or something.

It was just like the time he travelled to the Ice Wind Empire alone three months ago!

At this rate, Mu Xuanyin doubted that Yun Che could get into trouble even if he tried. But just when Mu Xuanyin withdrew her gaze and got ready to leave, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of something. She said softly to herself, “The Feathered Ice Spirit Flower?”

Yun Che’s footsteps had paused because an extremely dangerous aura was brimming ahead of him. Moreover, it was the most dangerous aura he had ever sensed since he entered Mist End Valley. When he came close to this intimidating aura, he could clearly sense some of the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

His gaze penetrated the thick mist and very soon he saw a huge, white figure.

This white figure was thirty meters tall and it had the outline of a giant ape. It was completely white in color but the color wasn’t like the snow white color of thick hair. Instead, it was an icy white color that gleamed intimidatingly even through the thick mist!

The ape wasn’t covered in hair but a layer of thick ice armor! Yun Che only needed to look at the light reflecting off its armor to guess just how tough it must be.

Worse, this giant ice armored ape wasn’t weaker than Mu Hanyi at all!

This also meant that its strength was the equivalent a human cultivator in the middle stage of the Divine Tribulation Realm… or the late stage even!

Yun Che stopped his breathing and slowed down his footsteps, backing away from the ape little by little. Although the giant ice armored ape seemed to be deeply asleep and he was currently invisible and undetectable by aura, he still acted with extreme caution. After all, the consequences of being discovered were unimaginable.

He could barely escape from the peak Divine Soul Realm Mu Yizhou.

But the same absolutely couldn’t be said for this Divine Tribulation Realm profound beast. Even the chance of escaping was miniscule.

No wonder this particular area was so quiet and devoid of profound beasts. It was the territory of a Divine Tribulation Realm beast… naturally, there were no profound beasts that dared to approach it.

Just when he was about to turn away and leave, a strange, white gleam suddenly caught his full attention.

Less than ten meters away from the giant ice armored ape, a beautiful white flower lay quietly in full bloom. It was completely icy white in color and the single flower above the stem looked so pure it was almost unreal. Its feather-like petals swayed to the wind.

A strange spirit energy filled the surrounding space and it was clear and rich despite the giant ice armored ape’s terrifying aura. It was only then that Yun Che realized that the spirit energy had come from this strange flower.

It was only natural for a flower in Mist End Valley to be icy and cold. But not only did this flower’s spirit energy not make him feel cold at all, it even warmed his heart for a very, very long time.

Yun Che stared fixedly at this strange white flower, so much so that he even forgot to move away from the giant ape. He had seen countless strange flowers and herbs in his life but there were very few that could strike a deep chord in his heart.