Against the Gods

Chapter 182 – Phoenix Break

As the Star Scorching Demon Lotus’ flame slowly extinguished, more than two hundred Stone Dragon Warriors were charred as they broke and fell into pieces along with their weapons. Peace returned to the area once again as only Yun Che’s heavy gasps for breath and the “drip” sounds from the fall of his sweat and blood could be heard.

With a “boom”, the heavy sword fell onto the ground. With great effort, Yun Che straightened his back to allow Little Fairy to lean on his shoulder. “Are you alright? Are you injured?”

Little Fairy was unharmed. Let alone injured, those creatures couldn’t even touch her. Looking at Yun Che’s pale face, she knew clearly that if it hadn’t been for Yun Che protecting her, he wouldn’t have been injured at all, and the two hundred or more Stone Dragon Warriors from before wouldn’t have almost pushed him to the edge.

“Your… hands…” Little Fairy mumbled with difficulty.

Yun Che’s left hand was in unbearable pain. Although he could barely embrace Little Fairy, wielding the heavy sword was already impossible. He shook his head and laughed effortlessly, “I’m fine, their blades are made of stones and are blunt. I’d only received some superficial injuries.”

“Let me go… or else… you will die!” Little Fairy’s voice was cold and weak. Although her body was crippled and her aura was weak, her five senses were fine. The sound of the three swords cutting into bone had rang by her ears just now, so how could she not have heard it clearly?

After popping an Intermediate Profound Recovering Pellet into his mouth, he reached for some ointment and spread it across his wounds on his left arm. Without the body strengthening from the Great Way of the Buddha, his left arm would’ve definitely been chopped into pieces. Upon hearing what Little Fairy had said, he shook his head. “Unless I’m dead, I will never abandon you. Don’t think yourself as a burden. In this situation, the will to protect you is my greatest motivation to move on. Besides, haven’t we already managed to pass? This trial’s first stage, we should have already……”

Before he finish his sentenced, a large wave of Stone Dragon Warriors…. larger than the one previously, appeared after a bright flash of yellow light.

Dragon God Trial’s first stage, ninth wave…… five hundred and twelve Stone Dragon Warriors!!

Yun Che’s voice stopped there, as he was unable to continue saying a single word. His hand pointing downwards, he grabbed at the heavy sword’s hilt, pulling the heavy sword that had sunk in from the ground again.

Within his line of sight, there were twice the number of Stone Dragon Warriors as before, and there were even more than the total of the previous eight waves……. If this wasn’t a delusion, then it was a nightmare; a well and true nightmare.

Amongst these Stone Dragon Warriors, the ones in front held broadswords, swords, and spears, while those at the back no longer wielded meteor hammers. What they held in their hands were obviously especially massive longbows!

Stone Dragon Archers!

Bows and arrows that could shoot further and were a bigger menace than the meteor hammer!

“…..Little Fairy, can you tell me….. your name, now?” Yun Che asked as he embraced Little Fairy, supported himself up with the heavy sword, and watched the streaming group of Stone Dragon Warriors closed in.

The surrounding noises informed Little Fairy of the unfavourable situation they were currently in. She had already lost track of how many years it had been, but she had never revealed her name to outsiders, let alone to a junior. But at that moment, when hearing Yun Che’s voice, she couldn’t muster the strength to reject him no matter what. Within the footsteps that cause the ground to shudder, her weak voice slowly spread:

“Chu….. Yue….. Chan…..”

“Chu Yuechan….” Yun Che recited softly. Then, he started smiling, “Chu —— Lovely and moving, Yue —— The beautiful and bright moon in the sky, Chan —— A beautiful woman, a beauty that resides in the moon, lovely and touching. In this world, there is no other name that suits you more. I’ve always been calling you Little Fairy, and I have not been calling you wrongly at all….. So in future, I shall still continue to call you Little Fairy.”

Chu Yuechan: “…”

“Now that it has reached to this point, I’m already unable to tell if this is a trial or a completely unsurpassable trap.” Yun Che lifted the heavy sword, and pointed it at the Stone Dragon Warriors that had reached a distance within fifteen meters from them, “But, whether it’s me or you, we can’t die for nothing here….. I won’t die, nor will I let you die……. So, you’ll have to use your strength to… give me strength!!”

“Haah!!!!”

With a loud roar, Yun Che’s aura went berserk in a split second; his gaze grew extremely blood-thirsty and the blood in his body frantically boiled. His spirit, willpower, conviction, and soul also seemed to come ablaze all at once….. In these two lives, the number of dangerous situations he’d encountered had been too many to count; the number of impossible situations, had also been far too many. But the formation in front of his eyes that made men despair, made his heart palpitate….. But the reason for this throbbing was all because of Little Fairy; throwing away the need to protect Little Fairy, a flame ignited in his heart with unexpected slivers of excitement.

A sort of twisted excitement rose in his soul after encountering countless thrilling impasses…

“Come as much as you want… No matter how many that come, I’ll kill them all!!”

Yun Che gave a low growl, and after releasing the “Star Scorching Demon Lotus”, a berserk energy that came from somewhere unknown, was produced once again from his originally exhausted body. He didn’t retreat. Rather, he hugged Little Fairy tight and rushed into the massive procession of Stone Dragon Warriors.

Bang!!

In a swoop, an entire four Stone Dragon Warriors were sent flying.

Boom!!

Another strike, and five more Stone Dragon Warriors were chopped into ten segments, and even a section of Stone Dragon Warriors in the rear were knocked down.

He, who should clearly have been exhausted, was currently actually wielding his sword even faster than before, and his strength had actually grown more ferocious. His heavy sword was like the Death God’s scythe that did not stop rotating as it crazily reaped the lives of many Stone Dragon Warriors.

Jasmine, who was within the Sky Poison Pearl, felt a burst of shock. She was the clearest on Yun Che’s body state. How could he, who previously could not even hold the heavy sword steadily, suddenly explode with this force that far outmatched his previous output. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she delicately perceived Yun Che’s current condition. Her small face revealed shock, and her shock also expanded subsequently.

This wave of energy was actually from his willpower; it was actually squeezed out forcefully from his vitality!!

Jasmine had no way of knowing how exactly he managed this; to have extracted strength from his life force. It was unknown what a gigantic amount of willpower and perseverance it would take to achieve this, but she was clear that this would have incomparably severe consequences….. Because Yun Che’s current actions, was clearly using up his life crazily!! The most direct consequence would be that his lifespan would reduce greatly, and after today, he would fall gravely ill and if lucky, he would even be completely powerless for as long as months without being able to leave the bed. But if he was unlucky, all his bodily functions and organs would fail and never recover.

The current Yun Che, was just like an enraged lion rushing into a flock of sheep. Wherever he rushed to, large piles of carcasses would be left behind.

The skies were filled with piercing sounds and a large volley of arrows spread through the skies as a large range of arrows rained down.

Swoosh…..

Yun Che’s right arm was shot by three arrows.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh……..

Yun Che’s back was hit by another three arrows, and amongst them, one of these arrows dangerously hit the vital center of his back.

Reaching this sort of impossible situation and facing more than five hundred Stone Dragon Warriors, Yun Che made the most correct, as well as the most crazy decision; that was to concentrate mostly on his attack, and as for defense, it basically stopped at Little Fairy. Because the faster he killed, the less pressure there would be. Traveling through the enemy ranks, he crazily chopped and cleared the Stone Dragon Warriors like a hurricane rushing through fallen leaves. The sounds of roars, crashes and explosions were ear-splitting, yet they never ceased.

Before two minutes had even passed, Yun Che had already been hit by twelve arrows, pierced by twelve spears, and hacked at by nine swords and thirteen blades at his back, shoulder and chest. More and more wounds opened up, and following his violent actions, these wounds no longer just bled, but were continually gushing blood. Horrifyingly, his shirt had long been completely dyed red by his blood.

The greatest threat to Yun Che was undoubtedly the Stone Dragon Archers in the rear. The wounds on Yun Che’s body were mostly the outcome of trying to escape lethal attacks from the arrows. These Stone Dragon Archers were also the most critical targets to be killed. However, there were layers after layers of Stone Dragon Warriors, and he was inhibited from directly rushing to the Stone Dragon Archers. Out of all the profound skills he had, the one that could attack the furthest, was the Sky Wolf Slash… but the Sky Wolf Slash’s consumption was far too large. If he really used it, he would be completely spent through and through.

He had to dispose of these Stone Dragon Archers. If he didn’t, and continued to get injured this way, he would die before killing all the Stone Dragon Warriors here…..

Fixating his gaze on the Stone Dragon Warriors outside, Yun Che’s gaze grew more and more solemn. On the surface of his body, a ring of fire began to rise and burn. Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and the flames on his body all rushed towards his heavy sword. Following which, along with the brandishing of his heavy sword, the fire was flung out far away.

Scree~~

In its wake, a resonant phoenix cry sounded and an enormous blazing phoenix flew from Yun Che’s heavy sword. Passing through the Stone Dragon Warriors’ carcasses, it fell sixty five meters away in the middle of the pack of Stone Dragon Archers, and then exploded; in the rocketing blaze, a dozen or so Stone Dragon Archers were sent exploding into the sky as their bodies smashed into powder in midair.

“He….. He went as far as to merge the World Ode of the Phoenix’s residual formula into the Prison God Sirius’ Tome’s fundamental formula… to give rise to a profound skill that combines the heavy sword with phoenix fire!” Jasmine blurted out in surprise from within the Sky Poison Pearl, and then mumbled, “To actually combine the two divine arts that normal people might never be able to fully grasp in their lifetimes, and to do so in under this nearly impossible situation, and to be successful on the first try… How much of a monstrous perception does he possess!!”

This was Yun Che’s first self-made profound skill. Watching the dozen or so Stone Dragon Archers that had exploded, he mumbled this profound skill’s name quietly…

“Phoenix Break!”

The Phoenix Break was a large-scale burning attack that was no different than the Star Scorching Demon Lotus. Although it had a much smaller range, it could attack from a long distance and its consumption was much less in comparison. The corners of Yun Che’s mouth lifted. A wave of energy that came from who knows where, yet again welled up throughout his body and ignited the brandished heavy sword. He flung out a blazing phoenix that gave off a low cry one after another. These blazing phoenixes rushed close to the Stone Dragon Warrior’s body and flew to the Stone Dragon Archers far away, exterminating wave after wave of Stone Dragon Archers that were originally already not many in number.

As the injuries on his body grew more and more severe, the blood that had flowed out from his body had unknowingly become a third of the total amount of blood in his body. His clothes had been completely dyed and a large portion of Little Fairy’s clothes were also dyed red, yet his expression was terrifyingly calm. His movements were still fierce and it was as if he completely did not feel any pain, let alone know that his body had already sustained so many horrifying injuries.

Him squeezing out his life, was also squeezing at his limits. Where his limit was located… perhaps even he himself did not know.