Against the Gods

“I’ll leave the issue of the name to you then.” Shui Meiyin giggled. “I’m guessing that you’ve already thought of an imperial title for Big Brother Yun Che back in the Northern Divine Region, correct?”

“Of course,” Chi Wuyao said with a small smile on her face.

Shui Meiyin stretched out a hand, and a cluster of red light that didn’t radiate any aura flashed in her palm. “The sacrifices and losses we suffered during this battle were far too great. What we need to do right now is to take a good long rest. Let’s cancel the seals of some of these small palaces first, and let them rest and recuperate here.”

As she said that, scarlet runes suddenly appeared on the six nearest palaces to the entrance of the World Dragon City. The scarlet runes slowly lit up row by row, gradually thinning out and disappearing into the ether.

Shui Meiyin lowered her hand and slowly exhaled.

“...” Chi Wuyao had been silently observing Shui Meiyin before she suddenly said, “I have many things I want to ask you, but you probably won’t answer my questions, will you?”

“Hee hee!’ A dazzling smile appeared on Shui Meiyin’s face. “I think it’d be better for Big Brother Yun Che to tell you himself… at a time that he deems fit.”

“Okay, I’ll be going off first to take care of Big Sis!”

Chi Wuyao’s gaze followed Shui Meiyin’s figure into the distance before looking back towards the divine palaces whose seals Shui Meiyin had so easily broken. After that, she recalled Yun Che’s extremely unusual change and a knowing expression soon appeared on her face.

Shui Meiyin had been right. The profound practitioners of the Northern Divine Region were in dire need of some rest and recovery time… No matter whether it was to heal their bodies or fix their spirits.

The Qilin Realm and the Blue Dragon Realm would concentrate on guarding the north and the west to prevent any possible incidents. Meanwhile, the sorely-wounded northern region profound practitioners would be loaded up into the World Dragon City.

As Yun Che held Caizhi, he slowly walked into one of the palaces inside the World Dragon City.

This place seemed to be a huge bedchamber, and it was far more extravagantly decorated on the interior than it had been on the exterior. It radiated an ancient but tranquil aura, but it showed no signs of age and not even a speck of dust.

However, Yun Che’s mind was far too preoccupied to appreciate these finer details. He placed Caizhi on the jade couch that was nearest to him. After that, he held her right arm in one hand while planting his other hand on her chest, causing the energy of the Divine Miracle of Life to circulate within her.

Under the effects of his light profound energy, Caizhi’s wounds, which weren’t that serious in the first place, started to heal at a speed which the eye could discern.

Caizhi’s breathing started growing more and more regular as her face regained its usual ruddy complexion.

Light profound energy dispersed as Yun Che exhaled softly. Maintaining the profound handle dragon god for such a long period of time had greatly taxed his profound energy and soul power, and now that he had finally relaxed, he felt his brain begin to fuzz over as a slight sensation of dizziness kept assaulting him.

At this time, he suddenly sensed someone looking at him. He turned around to see a pair of icy eyes, which were a lustrous and ephemeral blue, staring at him.

“It looks like she’s fine,” Mu Xuanyin said. Her attitude and gaze remained as cold and indifferent as ever, and she resembled an ice statue of absolute beauty which had been carved in ancient times.

Caizhi had known about Mu Xuanyin’s survival for a very long time. In fact, she had found out even earlier than Chi Wuyao had. The two of them had come to the Southern Divine Region much earlier to prepare the way for Yun Che and to help ensure that the threat of Nan Wansheng would be forever neutralized.

“You should focus on taking care of her,” Mu Xuanyin said as she turned to leave.

“Xuanyin!”

His soft cry rang in her ears as a warm energy assaulted her. She was grabbed from behind by a pair of arms… which hugged her very tightly.

“...” Mu Xuanyin’s body tensed up and she was just about to gasp when Yun Che’s body pressed against her. His wildly-thumping heart and his burning presence was communicated to her in an incomparably clear manner.

She closed her eyes and stopped struggling… The last time he had hugged her this tight was when they were about to be parted by death.

They simply stood there for the longest time before Yun Che’s whisper rang in her ears, “Was… Was it the Ice Phoenix’s… power of nirvana?”

“Yes,” Mu Xuanyin whispered back. “When I woke up in the depths of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, the memories the Ice Phoenix left me within that power of nirvana told me everything.”

“So it was just as I had thought,” Yun Che softly whispered. However, he did not show the smile he always did when he found someone he thought he had lost. His arms unwittingly started to tighten even further as a deep fear flooded his heart.

If the Ice Phoenix had not possessed the same nirvana divine power as the Phoenix...

If the Ice Phoenix divine being had not left the last of her power to Mu Xuanyin because of the guilt she felt toward her...

Then he would really have lost her… He would have lost her forever.

His arms gently grabbed her shoulders before he whirled her around. After that, he stared deeply into her eyes.

“...” Mu Xuanyin’s lips twitched.

“Xuanyin.” As he stared into her ice-blue eyes, Yun Che enunciated each and every word in a slow and clear voice. “From now on, you’ll never ever leave me again, right?”

He no longer called her “master” and no longer even looked at her as his master. Instead, his hot and passionate gaze, which was right in front of her, clearly conveyed his longing for her.

She was immediately flustered by his actions, and her heart was thrown into chaotic disarray… She was able to hide her mind and intentions to the point where she could perfectly assassinate the Crimson Destruction Dragon God before anyone even noticed. However, she had just been thrown into a new battle, one which was entirely new to her, so the defenses of her flustered and bewildered heart were crumbling away like brittle ice.

She fiercely turned her head away to avoid Yun Che’s burning gaze. To think that it used to be Yun Che who would cower and look away under her own cold gaze!

“No…” Yun Che slowly shook his head. He spoke as if he was talking to himself, “I shouldn’t be asking you this question. It’s one that I should be answering myself.”

“Back then, my weakness and my foolish naivete so very nearly cost me everything, I…”

He softly exhaled, but his gaze remained fixed on Mu Xuanyin’s face… In the past, he would never dare to look her in the eyes. He was afraid of seeing rebuke in those icy eyes, and he was even more afraid of seeing that look of cold disappointment.

However, when she had fallen into his arms outside the Blue Pole Star, those unfocused eyes were more beautiful than a million stars before they eternally faded from life and into his memories. Those memories had filled him with boundless yearning, but he knew that he could never touch her again.

Fortunately, now that she had returned to him in this most miraculous fashion, there was no way he would act as timidly as he did before! There was no way that he would ever let go of her again!

“Very soon, I will be the master of everything under heaven, and I will make sure that there is no person or power in this world that can ever take you away from me!”

After he said that, he suddenly leaned forward, his lips pressing against Mu Xuanyin’s lips.

“...” Mu Xuanyin’s icy eyes widened into saucers. As chaos and confusion raged in her heart, she suddenly felt a huge force press down on her. Before she had even realized it, she had been pressed to the ground by Yun Che.

“You!” Mu Xuanyin unconsciously struggled against him, but her power, which had surged out amidst her bewilderment, had been suppressed by Yun Che in an incredibly tyrannical manner.

“Don’t even think of fleeing.” Yun Che pressed down on her. “I want to make up for all those years that I lost you. Even more than that… I want to make up for the mistakes that I made in the past!”

He was behaving completely differently from how he used to in front of Mu Xuanyin… but in truth, his fear of his “master” still remained.

It was the existence of this fear that caused him to behave in this rough and brutish manner, because he was determined to overcome and extinguish it in the most brutal and violent way possible.

Back then, it was this darned fear and timidity that had nearly cost him the chance to even repent for his actions.

“Do… Don’t.” For some odd reason, she felt exceptionally weak and uncoordinated as she struggled against him. Even the sounds that escaped from her lips were, for some odd reason, nearly as soft and cottony as Chi Wuyao’s voice. “They… are all still outside… You are the Devil Master… You can’t…”

Yun Che waved a hand and a dark barrier sealed away the entrance to the palace. After that, he snarled in a fierce voice, “Let’s see which of them dares to approach this place!”

At this point, Yun Che had completely succeeded in his task of “bullying his master”. No matter how Mu Xuanyin tried to struggle, he would simply press down on her brutishly to stop her from escaping. “Xuanyin, remember this. I am no longer your disciple, and it seems that I have to burn the fact that you are no longer my master into your mind… As such, I won’t listen to you and I definitely won’t let you escape from me any longer!”

“There’s still Caizhi… Oh!”

Yun Che waved a hand again and a barrier the color of ice appeared around them, completely hiding their bodies and voices from the outside world.

Just as the ice barrier started to form, Caizhi, who had been lying on the jade couch, let out a soft groan before she started to blearily open up her blurry eyes.

Chi Wuyao’s body slowly drew near to the palace. When she saw the black barrier covering the entrance, she was stunned for a moment. But after that, she gently reached out with her devil soul and a naughty little smile appeared on her lips.

She immediately used her devil soul to send a sound transmission to everyone. “This is an order for the entire realm. The Devil Master’s soul and mind sustained some wounds in the previous battle, so he needs to quietly rest and recuperate for a while. No one is to disturb him for the next twenty-four hours.”

However, she did not leave after she sent that sound transmission.

Before too long, she saw Qianye Ying’er hurriedly fly over despite her own weak and thin aura, just like she had expected her to.

“What’s wrong with him?” Qianye Ying’er asked as her brows knit together tightly. “Why does he suddenly have to rest for such a long time? Was he really pushing himself just now?”

Given Yun Che’s powers of recovery, which completely defied all logic and common sense, twenty-four hours of recovery time was absolutely a “very long time”. It told Qianye Ying’er that he was far more exhausted than he had let on.