Against the Gods

Hua Caili pushed herself up and wiped away her tears strongly. It was as if she was trying to prove her determination.

“I understand, aunt.” After she had wiped away the last streak of tears on her cheeks, after she had carefully stowed away the sorrow in her eyes, she declared, “I will get better. It will be just like the wounds I got when practicing the sword. It will hurt at the beginning, but… it will get better… it will get better…”

There was a difference, however. A sword wound was painful, but she could grit her teeth and endure it even when she was still a child. A wound that pierced the heart and soul… she wondered why, but why did it get worse the more she tried to endure it?

As if she could see through her heart, Hua Qingying said, “You don’t need to try and forget him deliberately, Caili. Yun Che is an extraordinary person. He is so extraordinary that he has astounded me multiple times. I am not surprised that you would fall for him so thoroughly in such a short time.”

“The fact is, he is deserving of your love.” Hua Qingying did not try to avoid Yun Che’s name. In fact, she was paying him extremely high praise. “He was the man who provoked your tears and drew you into the pit of love. Even so, I cannot blame him one bit. His final choice was one of rationality and a desire to protect you… His sincere feelings toward you move even me.”

“I know. I know.” Hua Caili just barely managed to get rid of her tears, and now her eyes were watering again.

The Sword Fairy patted her trembling shoulders. “You have three months left on your journey. These three months should be enough time for you to heal your heart. When the time comes, I’m sure you’ll be able to face your marriage with Dian Jiuzhi with a brighter, more complete version of yourself.”

“I cannot say that you won’t recall this memory many years later without remorse or sorrow, but I am sure that your gratefulness will outweigh it many fold. You… the daughter of Qu Wanxin… deserve such a life.”

She had never said so many words to Hua Caili in one sitting.

If Caili wasn’t the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter…

Hua Qingying recalled the “Heaven Breaker Divine Son” who once knelt in front of the divine hall, begging to have his title revoked…

He hadn’t gotten his wish.

And so the once proud, unruly, and unfettered Heaven Breaker Divine Son became the Heart Painter Divine Regent, a man so cultured, refined, and old, you wouldn’t believe who he was before.

She remembered even clearer how he had reacted when he learned that Hua Caili had awakened not just any divine essence, but a perfect divine essence that had never happened in the history of the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God.

It wasn’t joy or pride. It was pain and sorrow that nearly pierced through his impeccable mask.

That was why he had engaged his daughter to his best friend’s son as soon as he was able. In his opinion, Dian Jiuzhi was the most excellent and compatible man for his daughter. He believed that he would give her the best possible treatment.

Most importantly, he believed that this engagement would sever any possibility of his daughter going “astray.”

She couldn’t accept it.

For the past ten thousand years, Hua Fuchen had not mentioned Qu Wanxin’s name even once.

She too had never forgotten about that day or forgiven herself.

Hua Caili nodded weakly and engraved her aunt’s words into her heart. “I will, aunt. I am… an adult now.”

A memory…

Is that all it can be? A memory?

Or maybe… maybe I am lucky to be able to have such a memory at all.

Suddenly, she understood what people meant when they talked about the love between man and woman.

Suddenly, she realized just how heavy the engagement that she had accepted without a thought really was.

Suddenly, she knew that with great status came many, many, many chains.

Suddenly, she understood why her aunt had asked all those questions perfectly.

If she could choose, she would rather stay ignorant.

If she could redo it all, she would rather not have…

No… no. Even if I had the chance to redo everything, I would still rather meet him than not…

Hua Qingying knew just how confused and pained Hua Caili was feeling right now despite her best attempts to convince her aunt that she was alright. Her eyes said it all. So, she didn’t say anything.

Yun Che had meant to give Hua Caili one final goodbye with his final message, but it was obviously too much for the young woman to bear right now.

All she could do now… was to leave it to time.

The good news was that their time together was short, and their feelings—as much as it hurt them—weren’t really that deep. It was neither an unforgettable relationship nor one that was forged in blood and brimstone. It would take months at most for it to fade completely into memory.

“I will accompany you for the next three days. But only three days,” Hua Qingying declared.

“Okay.” The young woman nodded. “Thank you, aunt.”

“Let’s go.” She grabbed Hua Caili’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction of Yun Che.

Hua Caili did not leave immediately. Instead, she carefully folded the belt etched with Yun Che’s final message to her.

“Throw it away,” Hua Qingying ordered. “Once you’ve made up your mind about something, you should set yourself to it with all you’ve got—just like he didn’t look back even once after he made up his mind to leave you.”

Hua Caili froze. For a while, she just stood there like she was lost in a daydream. Finally, she bent down and placed the belt on the snow-covered ground.

Hua Qingying nodded imperceptibly. The duo slowly began walking away from it.

They had just taken a few steps when Hua Caili abruptly wrenched free from Hua Qingying’s grip.

She raced to the belt and seized it in one swift motion. Her hand was pale as snow to begin with, and now, it looked like the color of a corpse. She was gripping it so tightly it was as if she wanted to fuse it into her flesh and blood.

“…” Hua Qingying looked back at her and sighed. “This is not a good choice.”

The young woman who usually obeyed her every whim did not loosen her grip even a little, however. She said quietly, “Mother was gone for many, many years, but I know that Father often checked out her portrait when he thought someone wasn’t looking. Each time he did this, he would be lost in her visage for hours.”

“The two of you are not the same,” Hua Qingying replied. “Your father and mother went through life and death and fought against tradition and fate with their life on the line. Their relationship is one that is forged in fire and brimstone; molded into their very marrow and souls. However, your relationship with him is just the product of an accident and mutual attraction… there is no better time to sever it than now.”

“But it can’t be severed. Not completely. Never completely.” Hua Caili stood up and looped the belt around her wrist, stretching her senses to the extreme to perceive its lingering warmth. “After all, he and I will surely meet again someday.”

“He is a man with a countenance that surpasses all Divine Sons, a Divine Master who rivals a Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioner, and an elemental master who is greater than even Grandma Ling Xian… try as he might, how can he possibly remain unknown for long?”

“…” Hua Qingying couldn’t refute that.

“Besides, my fate will have been decided by then. It is likely he will have found someone else who wasn’t me as well. All I will have left of him… is this belt.”

“Just… give me this ‘memory,’ please?”

She stared at her aunt with a tear-streaked face, looking oh-so-pitiful and fragile. However, anyone who looked into her eyes would find a smoldering determination that would rather break than bend.

Hua Qingying could not say anything. In fact, her vision seemed to be growing blurrier and blurrier…

……

“Sister Qingying, Fuchen said that you cultivate the Heartless Sword and so have severed your Seven Emotions and Six Desires a long time ago. Hahahaha! I can’t believe it. What is the difference between a human and an abyssal beast? Emotions! If you truly are devoid of emotions, then you might as well be an abyssal beast, no?”

“In my opinion, the Heartless Sword is more like love for the sword so pure and devoted that you are unwilling to spare even a sliver for anything else. Of course, that can never be me. I am born to love, you see… since way back when, I have always loved the world and sworn to explore every inch of the Pure Land and the land beyond the Endless Fog. That was how I encountered Fuchen.”

“Hehe. Fuchen was such a cute little boy back then, or at least, he seemed like it. In reality, he’s a troublemaker. After I left his side, everything seemed so boring and uninteresting even though I was standing in the place of my dreams. Worse, I can never stop myself from thinking about him. It eventually got to the point where I hung up my shoes and orbited around him like a star, desiring only to stay by his side.”

……

“I envy you, Qingying. You do not feel, you do not miss. You are a free soul, which is why you are unaffected by love or pain… even so, I would never want to be you. This pain and suffering can be ten thousand times worse than they are, and I still won’t ever regret meeting Fuchen…”

……

“I am a lone woman, and he is a Divine Son… I never once thought that I deserved him…”

“But even if the people accuse me of greed and malice… even if a Divine Regent personally descends to break my bones and shatter my soul… so long as he does not give up on me, I will never let go of him… Never!”

……

“Fuchen… Qingying. Don’t hate him, and definitely don’t take revenge for me… he is… your Father after all…”

“Especially you… my sister, Qingying… you cultivate the Heartless Sword, no…? How can someone like you shed tears… you weren’t wrong, you were never wrong… I won’t allow you to blame yourself… it wasn’t your life after all…”

“To have you, my love, and you, my dearest sister… I have… no regrets…”

……

“Aunt? Aunt… are you alright?”

A young woman’s worried cry finally jolted her back to reality, and Hua Qingying realized that she had become absorbed in memory for far too long. She swiftly withdrew her gaze and said indifferently, “It’s nothing. If you wish to keep it, then do what you want.”

Suddenly, Hua Qingying began regretting her decision. In fact, tendrils of fear were beginning to creep into her heart.

If… if Caili’s personality is the same as her mother…

She shook her head. No, no. It couldn’t be. Even if she was her mother’s carbon copy in soul, she and Yun Che’s relationship were far, far from Fuchen and her mother’s.

It wouldn’t come to that. It wouldn’t.

……

In another space, Yun Che was standing quietly in place. He had been gathering his concentration for a while now.

“Why is your heart beating so quickly?” Li Suo asked.

“Because I’m nervous, of course,” Yun Che answered.

Li Suo fell silent for a moment before commenting, “It looks like you are plotting something big.”

“Very.” Yun Che’s eyes were dark and solemn.

“How confident are you?” Li Suo asked.

“I’m ninety percent sure it will work,” Yun Che answered without hesitation.

Li Suo fell silent for a moment as if she was speechless. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that she asked another question, “In that case, then why are you still nervous?”

“Because the price of failure, however unlikely it may be, is annihilation.”

He promised Chi Wuyao that he would never risk his life.

However, the woman standing in the way of his shortcut was also the number one profound practitioner beneath the gods, the woman who could kill him in an instant if she wanted to, the one they called the Sword Fairy Hua Qingying.

Yun Che clenched his fingers until they popped and cracked audibly in his ears. As he felt the flow of the abyssal dust around him, the light in his eyes grew dimmer and dimmer as if it was hiding amidst the abyssal dust as well.

“Let’s begin.”

……

“The core of the first sword of the Heaven Breaker’s First Sword Style is ‘intent’. With the intent as the base, one may generate infinite possibilities. You may assimilate the techniques of the Heaven Challenging Sword, Heaven Subjugation Sword, and Heaven Controlling Sword into it as well. Once you are familiar with them, you may forget about technique completely and execute any move you want depending on the circumstances.”

A young woman was swinging the sword. Her sword streaked through the air like a rainbow, and her form was like a beautiful dream.

Hua Qingying was observing the young woman’s every move. It was still a little slow and messy compared to her peak. It was clear that she hadn’t quelled the ripples in her sword heart completely.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew. Hua Qingying narrowed her eyebrows a little.

The wind of the Endless Fog was eternally dark and oppressive, but just now, she actually felt a brief but undeniable chill.

She immediately unleashed her divine perception and checked her surroundings.

As if on cue, a yin wind rose.

Hua Caili abruptly stopped dancing and looked up. Hua Qingying too turned to look at the sky.

What surprised them wasn’t the wind, but the black fog churning before their eyes!

When did the sky less than five kilometers above the Endless Fog become so dark? It was like black clouds were rolling in from the distance…

No, it was abyssal dust!

The center of the Endless Fog was the Primal Abyss of Death. The closer one got to the center, the thicker the abyssal dust became. But outside of that, abyssal dust usually existed in loose, invisible quantities like air. They would only condense into a visible form when an abyssal beast or abyssal ghost was near.

The black fog in front of them was without a doubt abyssal dust. It was a level of concentration that should never appear in this area. It was almost as thick as the abyssal fog deep, deep within the Endless Fog.

“What is that, aunt?”

Hua Caili quickly ran up to Hua Qingying, eyes still affixed to the unusual phenomenon in the distance.

Hua Caili never needed to fear anything while her aunt was by her side. That was why she didn’t notice the ice nestling within Hua Qingying’s eyes.

The thick, concentrated abyssal dust was rolling in a certain direction. Scratch that, it was rolling straight toward them.

Hua Qing stabbed her divine perception into the thick layers of abyssal dust… but all she found was even thicker abyssal dust. Not even her powerful divine perception was able to pierce it completely.

Just when Hua Qingying was about to withdraw her perception, a low, dignified voice came from within the thick fog:

“The Fog Monarch patrols the Endless Fog. Back off if you know what’s good for you!”

Each word stunned the soul like a devilish scream of the Abyss.

The abyssal beasts fell silent, the Endless Fog turned still, and the grayish sky looked as if it would collapse on everyone’s head.