Against the Gods

Chapter 1216 - To Solve Hatred

Jun Xilei’s action hadn’t just surprised Yun Che. Everyone—be they old or young—were either frowning or taken aback by the scene before them. They just couldn’t understand why Jun Xilei would go so far.

“Jun Xilei, you… are you sure you want to do this?”

The one who spoke up was none other than Honorable Qu Hui. He was the impartial judge who never interfered with the Conferred God Battle, but even he couldn’t stop himself from dissuading Jun Xilei.

“Lei’er,” Jun Wuming sighed, “I can replenish the vital enevery and blood essence you used during the first two strikes, but… there will be no turning back if you swing that weapon for the third time.”

Jun Wuming was speaking in a calm tone with his eyes closed, but there was no mistaking the blood dripping from his words, “You can kill him, but you’ll be burying your own future and my hopes with it… all this for one moment of indignation. Is it truly worth it?”

Jun Xilei’s arms were shaking violently, her face was completely bloodless, and her white clothes had turned completely red… However, the power that she gathered never wavered for even an instant. She continued to lock on and suppress Yun Che with the sword.

Her vitality was still decreasing, and her eyes were close to losing all focus… but her absolute hatred for Yun Che still didn’t change one bit.

Yun Che had exhausted most of his profound energy, so he was utterly incapable of escaping from the sword’s oppressive power. In fact, He could barely move a muscle as he was left kneeling on the floor. In his current state, he couldn’t escape the Conferred God Stage even if he wanted to.

Yun Che gritted his teeth while breathing heavily as he stared Jun Xilei… he knew very well that there was no way he could endure another strike. If Jun Xilei was allowed to swing her sword, he would die, unless he used Moon Star Restoration or someone interfered with the battle.

But this was the Conferred God Battle. No one was allowed to interfere, even if a God Child would perish as a result.

As for Moon Star Restoration… it was a trump card he absolutely couldn’t use unless it was a life-or-death situation! He especially couldn’t use it when every pair of eyes in the Eastern Divine Region were on him!

In comparison, Jun Xilei would most likely die the moment she swung her sword and tried to kill him… even if she somehow managed to survive the ordeal, she would remain a cripple until the day she died.

Suddenly, Yun Che felt a twinge of regret over his choice to humiliate Jun Xilei.

He regretted it was because Jun Xilei was a complete lunatic!

She was just as crazy as he was!

If his goal was to preserve his own life, the only choice he had left seemed to be surrendering immediately… that would allow Mu Bingyun, Jun Wuming, and the others to interfere directly and save him from his plight.

But...

“Brother Yun, she has gone insane. You really will die if you don’t surrender now!” Huo Poyun hastily shouted.

“...” Yun Che’s breathing grew heavier and heavier, but his gaze didn’t waver one bit.

“Yun Che!” Mu Bingyun flew up into the air and shouted, “You are the biggest winner of this Conferred God Battle already. If you lose your life for one moment’s pride everything will be lost… surrender now!”

Yun Che, “...”

“I order you to surrender now!” Mu Bingyun spoke in the most severe tone she could muster.

“Big Brother Yun Che…” Shui Meiyin was curled into a ball, her face white with anxiety. It was at this moment that she suddenly noticed that Yun Che had been staring at Jun Xilei’s eyes all this time. A brief moment of confusion later, the light of comprehension abruptly entered her eyes.

Right now, everyone was staring at Yun Che. In their opinion, surrendering was the best and only choice Yun Che could make in this situation. Jun Xilei might have lost her sanity completely, but not him. If he refused to surrender, the Eastern Divine Region might lose two God Children at the same time. If he surrendered, Jun Xilei would be saved from her chosen fate, and no one would look down on him just because he lost. In fact, it was highly doubtful that anyone would think that this constituted as a loss.

The opposite was also true. If he were to die here, under Jun Xilei’s sword, all for one moment of pride, he would definitely be ridiculed for many days to come.

But despite countless persuasion attempts and Mu Bingyun’s harsh orders, Yun Che’s expression didn’t change at all.

“The Sword Sovereign’s succesor has gone insane, sure, but what on earth is Yun Che doing!?”

“Just what kind of grudge exists between those two? To think that things would escalate this far.”

“Is the Eternal Heaven Realm really not going to do anything to stop this? Yun Che and Jun Xilei… they are both God Children of the Eastern Divine Region. It’ll be a huge loss to this generation of the Eastern Divine Region if they both perish here.”

“The honor of the Conferred God Battle supersedes everything, and this battle is currently being watched by the entire Eastern Divine Region. They will uphold the rules no matter what happens… Sigh.”

Mu Bingyun grew more and more anxious when she saw that Yun Che had ignored their pleas completely. “Yun Che!”

It was at this moment that Yun Che suddenly broke his silence and lifted his left arm. His pupils flashed, and the profound handle and the Ice Phoenix’s soul flew out of his palm. However, the two things didn’t transform into an Ice Phoenix Manifest God. Instead, they flew towards Jun Xilei like a meteor and hit her in the glabella.

The Nameless Sword had suppressed Yun Che’s mobility and strength, but it couldn’t suppress his soul completely.

Jun Xilei had drained herself dry and poured every ounce her strength, vitality, and spirit into the Nameless Sword all for the third and final attack. She didn’t have a shred of soul defense left inside her body. As a result, the Ice Phoenix’s soul riding inside the profound handle was able to invade her mind with near perfect ease.

BOOM

There was a loud boom in Jun Xilei’s mind, and a shade of dreamlike blue flooded her consciousness completely. As the Nameless Sword’s power fell apart, and the weapon itself fell away from Jun Xilei’s arm, the girl fell backwards like a doll who had suddenly lost her soul.

“Waaahhh!!”

“What… what happened?”

Now that the sword was no longer suppressing him, Yun Che immediately dashed towards Jun Xilei at top speed.

As Jun Xilei’s figure rapidly grew closer, her deathly pale complexion, lightless pupils, blood drenched lips… and an expression of hatred and shame that refused to fade even after she lost consciousness, entered his gaze.

Suddenly, Yun Che felt something touch his heart.

Is the hatred between us so deep… that it can only be resolved with death…?

She was the successor of the Sword Sovereign, but she was forced to kneel and apologize to a middle star realm disciple in the Snow Song Realm...

During the Conferred God Battle, he had tricked her, defeated her in a most ugly fashion and shamed her again, right before everyone’s eyes, in order to take revenge for himself and Huo Poyun. After that, he even ridiculed her pitilessly and shattered her pride as the Sword Sovereign’s disciple to pieces.

Was she really at fault for escalating this battle to this extent...

Or was it me…?

Was Jun Xilei a bad person? No, she was just too prideful for her own good. At the very least, she wasn’t a disgusting person like Luo Changan at all, or the Sword Sovereign would never have taken her in as his disciple in the first place.

To vent her hatred, she had defeated Huo Poyun in one strike and humiliated him so badly that he had nearly lost his conviction. To vent his hatred, he had done onto her many, many times worse what she had done to Huo Poyun.

He was this close, this close… to destroying this Sword Sovereign’s successor who should’ve had a bright future ahead of her.

Did it really have to escalate this far?

If I was in her place...

Yun Che blanked out a little, and before he knew it he had allowed his profound energy to sink back into his body. He was going to push Jun Xilei off the stage, but instead he stretched out and caught her gently just before she fell.

Jun Xilei’s limp body entered the crook of his arm, her blood dying his sleeves red in almost no time at all. Yun Che withdrew the Ice Phoenix’s soul and stared at her with a complicated look in his eyes.

As Jun Xilei’s pupils slowly regained focus, she discovered to her shock that she was being embraced by Yun Che. Shaking all over, she threw a punch straight towards Yun Che’s face. However, she had lost most of her vitality, and her profound energy was in shambles. Yun Che easily blocked the powerless punch and said slowly,

“Jun Xilei, you and I share a small grudge between us, but there was never anything big enough to warrant a life.”

“I’ve gone overboard today. I could’ve defeated you fair and square, but I didn’t. I shouldn’t have trampled over your pride in front of everyone either… I’m sorry.”

He stared straight into Jun Xilei’s eyes as he said this. Not only were his words completely sincere, they were infused with profound energy so that every spectator—stunned as they were—could hear them clearly.

Jun Wuming trembled as his eyes rippled with emotion… he knew better than anyone what this apology meant to Jun Xilei...

In the Snow Song Realm, after she had offended Yun Che… she was forced to kneel and apologize to him before the people of the Snow Song Realm and the Flame God Realm.

Today on the Conferred God Stage, after he had trampled over her pride… he chose to apologize to her sincerely before the entire Eastern Divine Region.

It was like an indescribable cycle of life.

“...” Jun Xilei opened her mouth slightly. Her eyes looked misty, but the hatred behind the fog still existed, “Do you think… I’ll… forgive you… because of this… Yun Che…”

It was at this moment a look of shock and fear suddenly sprung to her face as she shuddered… Her clothes hadn’t just become drenched in blood while she was battling Yun Che, they had in fact crumbled completely into bits. The only reason they were still intact was because her profound energy was holding them together. However, she was about to run out of profound energy… and it was only a matter of time before her naked body would be completely exposed to everyone’s eyes.

Yun Che raised his eyebrows, but quickly noticed what was wrong and swiped his palm across her body. He resealed her torn clothes with whatever little profound energy he had left before grabbing his own snow colored clothes from the Sky Poison Pearl and putting it on Jun Xilei, just in case.

“...” Jun Xilei breathed weakly, but there was no gratitude in her eyes whatsoever. A solid block of hatred that looked like it would never melt still lingered in her misty eyes, “I… will… kill… you…”

“Sure. You can come at me anytime you want.” Yun Che nodded before a smile suddenly sprang to his face. “Before that though, you should take care of your own body.”

After that, he touched and stroked Jun Xilei’s hair gently, “For now, you should take a good nap. You don’t have to look brave all the time, you know… be good.”

His eyes were kind, and his voice was gentle. It was almost as if he was trying to sooth a willful cat.

“You…” Jun Xilei’s lips parted, and her gaze suddenly turned completely confused. She trembled all over as if she was trying to struggle out of Yun Che’s arms. It didn’t last long, however. Her head touched Yun Che’s chest, her consciousness winked out completely.

Only she knew whether it was because of her wounds, or because she couldn’t endure Yun Che’s words and actions any longer.

“Phew…” Yun Che let out a heavy sigh of relief. What a terrifying and troublesome woman.

Hopefully, this was enough to melt some of her hatred… otherwise, she’d be huge trouble after she got out of Eternal Heaven Divine Realm.

Every profound practitioner in the spectator stands were exchanging glances with one another. Just a few breaths ago, the atmosphere was oppressive, and everyone had turned pale with shock… but Jun Xilei failed to swing the Nameless Sword a third time, and the battle had ended in a most unexpected fashion.

“Jun Xilei has fainted… Yun Che is victorious! He will join the final battle of the Losers Group three days from now!”

A cheer broke immediately after Honorable Qu Hui had made his declaration.