Against the Gods

The Endless Fog was cold and deathly silent. The roar of the abyssal beasts had not been heard for a long time.

This was because all the abyssal beasts in the surrounding three hundred meters had been eliminated by Hua Qingying, yet this had not calmed her anger in the slightest.

Hua Qingying’s sword heart that had been steady for thousands of years had collapsed.

Four hours had passed. This was also the most difficult four hours of Hua Qingying’s life. In this brief moment, she had shuffled around several hundred times already.

Hua Caili’s identity, her engagement, the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God and Boundless Kingdom of God she was tied to, and the secret oath of lifetime protection…

However, she had personally given her over…

At this moment, she had no idea how to face Hua Caili, how to face Hua Fuchen, and how to live up to her endless guilt for Qu Wanxin.

Yun Che slowly got up inside the barrier and firmly locked onto the young woman before him.

Her flawless white body was like the most perfect jade, exquisite and delicate. The Endless Fog was gray but her jade-colored skin was lustrous, like flowing light over snow.

As if sensing it, the unconscious young woman’s lips opened and closed and her slender waist slightly shifted. Even beneath the clothes, that waist was still as perfect as if it had been poured with all of the efforts of the creator.

Yun Che moved his gaze away and gently exhaled.

Four hours were enough for Yun Che to recover a considerable amount of strength and profound energy. Hua Caili’s extremely grievous internal injuries had also been slowly eased by his light profound power.

He stood up and walked toward the barrier with extremely light footsteps. He reached out to touch it and his fingertips passed through without any obstruction.

This barrier isolated all senses but did not isolate the body.

After leaving the barrier, everything around him was terribly quiet. He instantly knew that the abyssal beasts of this area had undergone a great calamity due to the Sword Fairy’s endless resentment.

They were a bunch of obedient, useful children. What a pity.

He looked around but did not catch Hua Qingying’s figure anywhere.

It was obvious that she still didn’t know how to face everything that happened even after four hours of “calming down”.

The Sword Fairy could also escape.

Yun Che sat on the ground and looked ahead, remaining silent for a long time.

“Everything went as expected. There were no accidents and no loopholes left behind, so why aren’t you happy?” Li Suo’s voice sounded.

Yun Che responded indifferently, “It’s all within expectation so there’s nothing to be happy about.”

Li Suo immediately replied, “Feeling guilty?”

“Guilty?” The corner of Yun Che’s mouth twitched. “Would someone who has vowed to thoroughly turn this Abyss upside down feel guilty about this vicious scheme? How else can I be worthy of being a calamitous demon god.”

“…Your heart is in such turmoil you forgot that our souls are connected. It is impossible for you to hide every trace of your emotion from me.”

Yun Che stayed silent for a while. His mouth twitched again and revealed an ugly smile. “Probably because I’m not used to it yet.”

He stretched out his hand, gazing at his palm. “There was once a time when I was filled with the desire to escape all the grudges and strife, to not even taint myself with killing anymore… because when I found my daughter who had been lost for ten years, she was so beautiful that I didn’t want to embrace her with my blood-stained hands.”

“And now, these hands are stained with more than just blood.”

Li Suo frankly summarized, “Your current state of mind is proof that your nature is not evil.”

“Ha… haha… hahahaha!” Yun Che laughed quietly, and then manically, “A devil who has just plotted and harmed others with despicable and insidious means, he can be at peace just because he feels guilty about it? He can be forgiven just because of that?”

“You really are overflowing with holiness, you half-amnesiac Creation God. Hiss!”

His trembling laughter tugged at the wounds all over his body, causing him to suck in a sharp breath.

Li Suo, “…”

“But you did remind me.” Yun Che continued, “These extra emotions are unnecessary and redundant. It’s true that I’m still not fully accustomed to them, and I can’t do what the Demon Queen did.”

“However, humans will always grow, and so will the devil.”

“If you are determined to be a disaster bringing devil god, you must be thorough. If you succeed, you can save the world from danger. If there is retribution…” He closed his fingers together and smiled faintly. “All the evil deeds are done by me alone, so naturally they will only be retribution to me alone.”

“Quite cost-effective.”

Li Suo was silent for a long time before she voiced another question, “What are you going to do next?”

Yun Che raised his eyes. “Enter the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God.”

“Are you not afraid of being instantly killed by the Heart Painter Divine Regent?” Li Suo quietly asked.

“Then wouldn’t I have plotted all this in vain?” Yun Che was heart not flooded with the slightest bit of worry due to Li Suo’s words. “She will live and die with me. In that case, do you think that the Heart Painter Divine Regent would actually harm me?”

Li Suo was unsure.

“The Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God is just a springboard.” Yun Che said unhurriedly with a deep, strange light hidden in the depths of his eyes. “I need the Heart Painter Divine Regent to guide me somewhere.”

“Where?”

Yun Che was just about to reply when exceptionally light footsteps came from behind him.

His expression stilled, but he did not look back and just remained sitting there as if he had not noticed.

The footsteps approached with a soft delicateness but Hua Caili’s voice never came.

Hua Caili’s aura brushed against her body with a bit of yet to be dispersed lewdness that tainted her purity.

A pair of jadelike arms gently encircled Yun Che’s waist as she leaned her head against him.

The originally weak and powerless fingers were grasping the edges of his clothes tightly, as if she were afraid that he would leave as resolutely as he did last time.

Not a word was said but the action itself was worth a thousand words.

Yun Che’s entire body froze in place.

He had long anticipated Hua Caili’s various emotions, reactions, and possible words. At this moment he suddenly did not know how to respond or what to say.

Hua Caili had undoubtedly experienced the greatest disaster and most drastic change in her life and it was normal if she exhibited intense or uncontrollable emotions but she didn’t feel lost, sad, or cry. She didn’t even vent at all and only quietly snuggled against him.

Hua Qingying watched from afar and did not approach for a long time.

She was too embarrassed to face her.

She was the one who insisted on letting Hua Cailin train alone, and she was also the one who failed to protect her.

Yun Che quietly turned and looked at the young woman at his side. Her eyes were closed, her stunningly beautiful face was as serene as a painting, and her long eyelashes did not flutter in the slightest, revealing dependence, peace of mind, and insatiable contentment that did not have even the slightest bit of caution.

As if somewhere in his heart had been silently touched, he finally spoke, “Your… internal injuries are extremely serious. I just temporarily lowered your sensation of pain with my light profound energy. You need to recuperate for a while.”

Hua Caili did not respond to his words and still quietly leaned on him.

Yun Che did not speak again. After a long time, the girl beside him finally opened her beautiful eyes.

“Now it’s time for me to treat you to a meteor shower.”

“…?” In Yun Che’s stunned gaze, Hua Caili gently opened a pair of eyes that carried the delicate and charming bewilderment of newly bearing rain and dew, poignant and heartbreaking.

She raised her hand and the Glass Cloud Sword flew up in the air, and instantly disappeared into the gray sky, submerged in the layers of abyssal dust.

Soon, a beam of white light glinted like a star that suddenly appeared in the distant sky. After that, the ray of light flew down, leaving long trails of light, falling straight toward the two in a tender embrace.

Just when Yun Che thought that it was a sword beam from the Glass Cloud Sword, the light suddenly split into two, intertwining while falling.

They passed through layers of darkness, layers of abyssal dust, layers of haze, and still did not diminish in brightness.

Drawing two intertwined lines, they finally flew down to the mortal world, slowed down, and came in front of Yun Che and Hua Caili, obediently landing in Hua Caili’s outstretched palm.

These were two small jade beads shining with an endless warm white light.

They were soul light with a soul aura completely identical to Hua Caili.

“I was doomed to die when I was born.” She looked at the white light in her palm, her voice as misty as smoke, “Fortunately Father and Aunt both had Heaven Prayer Jades given to them by Uncle Abyssal Monarch. These two Heaven Prayer Jades were what saved my life.”

“After the power of these two Heaven Prayer Jades dissipated, Father attached my soul to them and asked me to carry them with me at all times as ‘longevity beads’ that protect me. As long as my soul remains intact, they will shine eternally.”

“So…” She looked on without blinking, “the light of a meteor shower is not always fleeting. As long as it is cared for with enough care, it can… live until the end of its life.”

“…” Yun Che opened his mouth.

A touch of warmth covered the palm of his hand. It was Hua Caili’s hand and she had placed one of the longevity beads in his palm. Her movements were gentle but they carried her unending determination.

“Now, I’ll entrust half of my life to you. You can’t leave like that again, okay?”

The hand that gripped the corner of his clothes quietly tightened some more, fearing his rejection.

The warmth of another soul traveled from the palm of his hand to the bottom of his heart, and along with every word she said, it touched—no, collided with his soul.

He looked at Hua Caili, completely senseless. At this moment, her reflection in his eyes was no longer clear but gradually grew hazy.

“Okay…”

When this incomparably short word came out of his mouth, he abruptly froze in place.

It was because this word totally did not pass through his awareness and rationality but was whispered in a daze that shouldn’t have happened.

The watery mist that had been trembling slightly instantly melted away in Hua Caili’s beautiful eyes, shimmering with endless brimming ripples.

The smile that bloomed lightly between her lips seemed like she did not just experience the greatest disaster of her life, but had instead entered the most beautiful dream.

She looked at the longevity beads that were each shining in the palms of their hands and murmured, “You know, when they came down like stars, I suddenly thought about our child’s name.”

“…” Yun Che painstakingly turned his head, as if he had heard an otherworldly sound.

Our… child…

What is she talking about…

“If it’s a girl we should call her Xinluo, if it’s a boy we should call him Xingchen… okay?”

She looked like she was completely immersed in a beautiful dream. The smile on the corner of her lips and her soft voice had a hazy feel when it reached Yun Che’s ears.

Thump…

Thump…

Thumpthump…

He finally realized that his heartbeat was in disorder.

He had also finally realized that he had been looking at her smile and eyes for a very, very long time, fully immersed.

……

“From the moment you set foot in the Abyss, every thought that passes through your mind, and every action that you choose to take, will directly affect the life and death of this world!” “That is why every connection you might make in the Abyss—friendship, master-disciple relationship, romance, and even kindness—are only tools to be exploited to your advantage. You must never allow your true feelings to spill over to these relationships; not even a little. Do you understand?” “You know the kind of person you are. If you allow those relationships to become real, then you cannot help but guard those bonds with your life. But the price you’d have to pay to secure those bonds… might mean the end of yourself and this entire universe!” The end! The end!! The end!!!

……

“All beings of the Abyss are my enemies. As the emperor of this world, I bear the fate of this world.”

“Any relationship made in the Abyss is no relationship!”

……

Little by little, the mist in his eyes almost forcefully turned into cold sobriety as severe pain and blood filled his mouth.

He curled his fingers and carefully took Hua Caili’s longevity bead into his hand. Then, he nodded heavily and responded with a voice much clearer than hers, “Okay.”

But he immediately tilted his head up again and looked at the dim lightless sky above. “If this moment is a dream, I wish I could sleep forever. But you will soon have to return to reality and go back to the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God.”

“I know.”

She leaned her head closer into him. “I am Hua Caili, a divine daughter who shoulders the future of the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God. I was personally granted an engagement to the divine son of the Boundless Kingdom of God by the Abyssal Monarch.”

She personally voiced each and every one of these previously heavy to the point of suffocating burdens, but her tone was so soft and calm, as if all of that was no longer heavy or important.

“But I’m not afraid anymore.”

She gently moved the longevity bead in her hand next to the one in Yun Che’s. “I have already died once and you are the one who saved my life.”

“You were willing to sacrifice your life to save me so how can I be afraid of these small obstacles?”

She raised her eyes and locked onto Yun Che’s gaze, letting him see every ray of light in her bright eyes. “So, let’s work together, okay? You told me back then ‘so long as I am still alive, then I will never give up!’ You just promised me, so you can’t run away again, you can’t.”

The intentions and determination of her remaining life were all unreservedly displayed before Yun Che without any sort of hesitation.

……

In the skies above, Hua Qingying silently watched on and listened in, her heart in turmoil.

Hua Caili was inexperienced and simple-minded but she was definitely not foolish. She was well aware of what she said and what this promise meant.

She was born in the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God and had lived in the Pure Land for a long time. She had even set foot in every kingdom aside from the Eternal Night Kingdom of God so she knew what they were better than anyone.

She naturally also knew what she was facing with this determination.

Yet she…

Hua Qingying lowered her head and let out an exceptionally arduous breath.

……

“Wanxin, you’re actually not afraid of my Father. This is the first time I’ve seen someone who didn’t lose their spirit in front of him with cultivation only at the Divine Master Realm.”

“Hehe, I have no parents, no clan, and only a sinful body. If worst comes to worst, I’ll die so what is there to be afraid of?”

“So there’s nothing in this world that you’re afraid of?”

“Of course not, except being separated from Fuchen.”

……

Wanxin…

Since she met Yun Che… I see so much of you in her.

What exactly should I…