Against the Gods

Chapter 174 – Fierce Storm Hawk

“Not only do you not hesitate in killing, your expression did not change either…. Have you killed many in the past?”

Little Fairy’s voice came from somewhere unknown, but it rang near Yun Che’s ears. Yun Che’s footsteps faltered slightly, and he replied, “Indeed, I’ve killed many…. You won’t feel repulsed by me just because of this, will you?”

“You’ve only killed those who are evil, and you even help those who aren’t of your own accord. I won’t feel disgusted by this. However, the ones who disgust me are those who are irresolute, those who pardon evil on the basis of kindness and benevolence.”

Thinking of Little Fairy’s killing methods that night, Yun Che couldn’t help but shiver. Setting fire with the flame of the phoenix could at least leave some charred debris, but the elderly who died at Little Fairy’s hands that night, died without any remains left behind…….

Yun Che sped up and continued towards the depths of the Wasteland of Death.

The deeper he went, the less people he met. As he neared the fringe of the Spirit Profound Beast’s territory, there were already no practitioners in sight. At the same time, with each step deeper in, the profound beasts Yun Che met grew increasingly high leveled. Their numbers also grew denser and it gradually began to feel like a strain on him.

BANG BANG BANG BANG…..

A series of explosions and a dozen Armored Lizards were sent flying with a swoop of Yun Che’s sword. The defensive armor on their bodies were all smashed to pieces. Yun Che had just withdrawn his sword when yet another dozen or so Armored Lizards appeared from the surroundings. With a frightening sound, they closed in on him.

The strength of each of these Armored Lizards were equivalent to a profound practitioner at the eighth level of the True Profound Realm.

A sweep of these Armored Lizards’ gigantic tails was like that of a mace. Yun Che jumped up, and before he reached the tallest height, he suddenly used “Star God’s Broken Shadow”, and rushed down in defiance of any physical limitations. Phoenix flame shot out like arrows and instantly knocked over the nearest Armored Lizard.

These Armored Lizards seemed to be ill-fated with the blaze and the lizard that was hit by phoenix fire let out a long, pain-filled screech as its life force quickly diminished. Yun Che’s gaze concentrated. Then, he rushed into the midst of the Armored Lizards like lightning. His body was aflame with phoenix fire and the large sword in his hands became a rising, surging crimson flame dragon. With every fall of his colossal sword, flames shot out in all directions, gradually lighting a large area aflame and quickly melting the defensive armor of each and every Armored Lizard…

In the time it took for a few dozen breaths, Yun Che had made two round trips amidst the Armored Lizards and annihilated all the Armored Lizards which had just swarmed up.

“Phew….”

Yun Che stood his sword on the ground and exhaled a long breath. After resting for a bit, he resolutely moved onwards and set foot into the Spirit Profound Beast’s territory.

Climbing over a low mound, seven Ironback Blue Wolves with ruthless auras appeared in his line of sight. These Ironback Blue Wolves’ sense of smell were especially sensitive. The moment they smelled a stranger’s scent, seven pairs of blue eyes basically fixated on Yun Che’s location at the exact same time. Then, one by one, they howled and rushed up manically.

Seven Ironback Blue Wolves with the strength of a profound practitioner at the first level of the Spirit Profound Realm…. This was undoubtedly the greatest line-up Yun Che had faced up until now.

Yun Che didn’t have the slightest intention of backing down. He drew the heavy sword from his back and was about to forge ahead when suddenly, he heard waves of wolf howls that seemed to be in response. Following which, a few dozen light blue shadows appeared from every direction and rushed towards this location.

They were all were Ironback Blue Wolves.

“F*ck…..” For a moment, Yun Che’s hands, which were gripping the heavy sword trembled, and cold sweat flowed out. Almost without thinking, he turned tail and fled…. What a joke. He could finish off one with ease, seven would still be manageable with some effort, and he might even get injured a little. But he shouldn’t hope to handle more than ten, and with so many…. the only action for him to take was to flee.

Straight away stepping out of the Spirit Profound Beasts’ territory range, the wolf howls behind him slowly died down. Leaning on a rough, dried up tree, Yun Che wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Why are the profound beasts in the Wasteland of Death so concentrated?” Jasmine suddenly asked.

“I’ve heard that a long, long time ago, this was the Profound Beasts’ territory. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have been termed a heaven for profound beasts.” Yun Che answered.

“Profound beasts crowd together, crowd out foreigners and stay for a long time without dispersing. This is definitely not without reason. There is an extremely large number of profound beasts in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range and they are extremely xenophobic. The reason for this is obvious; it is because the aura of the phoenix exists in the heart of this mountain range. As profound beasts, they would naturally fear and revere this sort of aura from a divine beast. The aura of the phoenix will become an existence like a firm conviction in their hearts, and thus, tens of thousands of beasts will gather and if any human sets foot on their holy ground. They will naturally do their utmost to attack.”

“Yet the profound beasts here actually number more than the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, and are manically anti-foreigner. Could it be that within the heart of this Wasteland of Death, the godly aura of beasts similar to the phoenix exists?”

Yun Che did not take Jasmine’s words too seriously. He regained his calm, and after making adequate mental preparations, immediately dragged his sword and rushed back right into the Spirit Profound Beasts’ territory.

By then, the Ironback Blue Wolves had already dispersed. This time, without waiting for the Ironback Blue Wolves to start their howls, he rushed up in the blink of an eye.

“Sky Wolf Slash!”

Within Yun Che’s arsenal of profound techniques, the Sky Wolf Slash consumed the most and had the most power, so it had been a carefully kept secret. It was a hidden trump that he had only demonstrated in front of Ling Jie before. With this attack of his sword, it could be said that the momentum was enough to cause the heavens to fall and the earth to rend. In a moment, a long gorge of nearly sixty six meters appeared from flat solid ground. Where the gorge passed through, the impact caused six stiff Ironback Blue Wolves’ bodies to split into twelve sections.

In one move, nearly a third of Yun Che’s profound energy was consumed, but he did not retreat. Rather, he rushed into the midst of the Ironback Blue Wolves which were quickly gathering. He brandished the heavy sword extremely berserkly, and along with waves of wolf howls, the entire sky was filled with splattering bloody stars…

After an hour, Yun Che was already two and a half kilometers away from his original position. He sat on the floor and carefully sprinkled the medicinal powder on the big and small wounds on his body. The longest extended from his left chest all the way to his right rib, that was deep enough to see bone.

And behind him, a few dozen Ironback Blue Wolves’ carcasses were strewn evenly within the two and a half kilometers; every wolf carcass was utterly crushed.

After sprinkling the medicinal powder, Yun Che sat on the floor and closed his eyes. The Great Way of The Buddha operated and to the naked eye, the injuries on his body healed up extremely quickly.

He knew clearly in his heart that the area he was currently in, was already the greatest extent he could reach. If he continued forward and came across a pack of profound beasts whose strength were above the second level of the Spirit Profound Realm, the only thing he could do was run.

After his injuries took a turn for the better, more wolf howls sounded in Yun Che’s vicinity. Yun Che opened his eyes, and without even changing his clothes, immediately pulled at the tattered clothes on his body, grabbed his heavy sword, and stared coldly at the dozen or so Ironback Blue Wolves which had yet again appeared out of the blue.

A single Ironback Blue Wolf was not scary; what was scary was a pack of them attacking or a never-ending stream of them.

Two days and two nights passed and Yun Che had fought here in close quarters for two days and nights. Countless Ironback Blue Wolves had died under his sword, but it was almost as if the number of Ironback Blue Wolves here was endless. Everytime he finished killing all the blue wolves and sat down to treat his injuries, another large pack of Ironback Blue Wolves would appear in front of him within a quarter of an hour.

Within these two days and two nights, under the constant thrill of fighting hand-to-hand, and under the pressure of medication, Yun Che’s profound strength grew increasingly stable.

Just when Yun Che was about to consider going further in, a resonant hawk’s cry came from above the skies.

Yun Che subconsciously lifted his head. Above the skies to the east, a large, pitch-black hawk was flying at a low altitude. Even with such a large distance between them, Yun Che could clearly see its extremely sharp hawk eyes as well as the cold wintery light reflected on its talons.

But this large hawk, was not a new sight to Yun Che, who shouted its name……

“Fierce Storm Hawk!”

Because New Moon City’s Xiao Branch Sect had been rearing a Fierce Storm Hawk. It was when Xiao Zaihe mounted that Fierce Storm Hawk that day to give chase to Lan Xueruo and him who were atop the Giant Snow Eagle which ultimately forced them to fall into the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.

Amongst profound beasts, the Fierce Storm Hawk’s strength was akin to that of a practitioner at the second level of the Spirit Profound Realm. However, its strongest aspect wasn’t its aggressive nature but rather its air dominating abilities. Whether its flight speed or altitude, no other creature could best it even in the Spirit Profound domain, or even the Earth Profound and Sky Profound domains.

When Yun Che had discovered the Fierce Storm Hawk, it was gliding, and it was gliding slowly. However, just when it was flying above Yun Che, its gigantic frame suddenly slanted and it fell abruptly as two frightening talons came clawing straight over.

Yun Che didn’t think it would actually suddenly attack him, and responded in a flash. He raised the heavy sword and sent a ferocious wave of sword energy rushing towards it……

However, just when he was swinging his sword, he suddenly realized that these two talons that belonged to the Fierce Storm Hawk seemed to not be heading for him, but rather, for the area to his left. His gaze tilted to the left and he saw the carcass of an Ironback Blue Wolf that dripped with fresh blood. Immediately, he understood. What it meant to grab was the carcass of the Ironback Blue Wolf!

But Yun Che’s heavy sword was already raised in midair and he was unable to withdraw it. It fell ruthlessly on the Fierce Storm Hawk’s body and made flip in the air for a few somersaults… while also immediately and thoroughly attracting its hostility.

The Fierce Storm Hawk gave a long cry that was brimming with outrage as it locked its hawk eyes onto Yun Che. The flapping of both of its wings gave rise to a whirlwind that completely enveloped Yun Che as it also personally swooped down like lightning with its talons aimed at his chest.

The blades of wind that came straight at him slashed many gashes in Yun Che’s clothes, but were unable to harm his body. Yun Che neither dodged nor tried to avoid it and welcomed the whirlwind with an explosive strike of his sword…. However, like before, he underestimated the Fierce Storm Hawk’s speed, and this was in addition to the stifling of the storm. When this blow exploded, the Fierce Storm Hawk’s talons were already close to his chest. The glittering talons were even already pierced into his clothes…..

Bang!!!

The Overlord’s Colossal Sword heavily smashed onto the Fierce Storm Hawk’s large body; the smash caused it to cry out in agony. It was sent flying while tumbling in midair with immense speed, and it was only after tumbling out for a few tens of loops and almost hitting the ground did it barely manage to stabilize its body in levitation.

This one vicious blow was enough to strike fear into the Fierce Storm Hawk’s heart. After swaying in midair for a long while, it finally regained its balance and flew off into the distance, not daring to attack Yun Che again.

“Hmph, I guess you’re smart, else I’d be forced to let you taste some fire.” Yun Che pulled at the clothes at his chest. Looking at the four hawk claw marks that had pierced holes, he exclaimed in his heart about how dangerous it had been.

The clothes on him were already extremely tattered, and also splattered with too much wolf blood. The smell also stung his nose a little, and he was simply unable to continue wearing them. Therefore, he quickly tore off the tattered clothes on his body and changed into new clothes…

The moment he finished changing his clothes, his expression changed slightly. As fast as lightning, he reached his hand out to check at his own neck, and all at once, his expression grew much worse.

This was because the pendant that he had always been wearing since young, had actually disappeared.