Against the Gods

Li Suo remembered what Yun Che said, of course. After all, this was not the first time he mutilated himself for an ulterior motive. When he first entered the Abyss, he had pretended to be severely injured to attract Helian Lingzhu. Later, he took this tactic to the extreme during his encounter with Hua Caili. It was human nature to lower one’s guard and feel sympathy toward someone who was grievously injured, and this was especially true for womenfolk.

However... despite having watched Yun Che’s journey in the Abyss from the start until the end and knowing that his plots rarely missed the mark, Li Suo still could not help but warn him, “The loss of one’s memories does not necessarily mean the disappearance of one’s mental fortitude and cunning. Do not forget that she was the former emperor of a realm and the one who somehow rescued and rewrote the trajectory of your life despite the absolutely hopeless situation you were in. She even aided you in becoming the emperor of the whole world.”

“There is no way she would be as easy to deceive as Hua Caili.”

“Deceive?” Pop boom!

The abyssal ghost landed another heavy blow, breaking or crushing every rib on the right side of his body and causing his complexion to grow even paler. A painful, sorrowful smile tugged at his lips as he replied, “Every memory of the moon is etched deeply in my soul... the one thing I could never do to her is deception.”

Li Suo: “......”

“You’re right. Even if she lost all of her past, her heart and soul would not change. She had simply returned to her purest and freest state.”

“One of the biggest mistakes of my life was distrusting her like I used to. Now, I am certain that, despite the coat of Shenwu Yi she is wearing, her heart and soul... remain Xia Qingyue’s.”

Having said that, Yun Che abruptly charged into the fog. As his profound energy surged, every injury on his body split open and spilled countless drops of blood on the ground.

Li Suo said nothing for a long time. She realized she had unintentionally opened a wound with her words, sending waves of pain through his soul sea.

Shenwu Yi was sitting in silence when, suddenly, cold light lit up her eyes. The Exquisite Profound Worlds shifted, and she appeared high, high up in the sky. It took her one look to peer through the endless fog and spot the blood-drenched figure beating a hasty retreat while fighting against two rampaging abyssal ghosts.

The blood-drenched figure was clearly Yun Che of the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God, and the two abyssal ghosts were both in the third level of the Divine Extinction Realm!

At Eden’s Crown, he had defeated the level three Divine Extinction Realm Dian Sansi as a level four Divine Master. It went without saying that everyone was stunned by this feat. However, this was the Forbidden Zone of the Slumbering Gods, and abyssal dust had a profound suppressive effect against profound energy. Even if his talent was of a kind, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to win against two level three Divine Extinction Realm abyssal ghosts.

He fought as he retreated, dangers accompanying every step of the way. His whole body was drenched in blood, and his breathing was erratic and out of control... His eyes, however, were as determined as ever, and he never acted to touch the Void Breaching Divine Jade on his shoulder.

Not a single ripple could be spotted in Shenwu Yi’s eyes as she looked down on Yun Che. There was only infinite ice and cold.

She was dressed in black, and her black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She might as well be invisible as she stood without a sound in the grayish sky. However, Yun Che was retreating straight toward her.

Every time he retreated a step, the distance between them would shorten, and his injuries would grow a little worse. At the same time, crimson-gold fire began to flare from his person, slowly brightening the grayish-dark world.

When he was almost directly below her feet, Yun Che abruptly stopped in his tracks and launched a counterattack. A strange, icy silhouette abruptly flew out of his person and stopped between the two abyssal ghosts. At the same time, the fiery blaze he had been preparing for a long time exploded violently and bloomed into the divine image of a phoenix. It was so gorgeous that it scorched the eyes, and its long cry was as soul-shaking as it was proud.

The fire was still exploding and burning when the two abyssal ghosts rushed out of it. The icy silhouette dashed once more as Yun Che instantly got close to an abyssal ghost and let out an explosive yell. The next moment, the Divine Master power that made its appearance in Eden’s Crown and absolutely crushed everything everyone thought they knew about the profound way erupted.

Rumble!

The abyssal ghost snapped into two at the same time, and the bones in Yun Che’s left arm shattered from the backlash. However, Yun Che could not seem to feel the pain. He did not give himself even half an instant to catch his breath, either. Already, he was pouncing toward the other abyssal ghost and grabbing it with his right hand.

The phoenix’s cries echoed, and crimson gold flames burned the abyssal ghost violently... This lasted for several breaths, until the second abyssal ghost finally stopped moving altogether.

The fire gradually died out, and Yun Che looked utterly exhausted. He leaned against a pitch black abyssal rock and slowly slid down to a sitting position, panting. Blood quickly pooled and spread out around him. It was a shocking sight even in the cover of abyssal dust.

The icy silhouette and golden red fire continued to flicker in Shenwu Yi’s pupils even after the fire was gone. It wasn’t until a long time that the images finally faded away.

“I want you to kill Yun Che!”

“Kill Yun Che!!!”

Shenwu Yanye’s hoarse, maddened screams echoed inside her soul sea like a demonic voice of nightmares. The Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods was a place where no one could look inside. Right now, Yun Che was gravely injured and almost devoid of profound energy. Without a doubt, he had lost nearly all of his resistance.

In other words, there could not be a better time and place to kill Yun Che than here and now.

The Heartless Sword emerged, and Shenwu Yi descended from the sky. The cold light pierced through multiple layers of abyssal dust and stabbed straight toward Yun Che’s solar plexus.

It was at this moment that Yun Che slowly lifted his head, and their gazes met soundlessly amidst the cold light of the Heartless Sword.

He did not look shocked or afraid; panicked or horrified, however. On the contrary, his deathly pale face actually cracked a small... but infinitely warm smile.

Those bloodshot eyes had shot right past the life-taking sword beam and peered straight through the windows of her soul. They seemed to contain an infinite amount of love, and they were unwilling to look away for even a millimeter.

Chi—

The Heartless Sword tore through space and left behind a long scar in its wake, but it came to a stop when it was merely half an inch away from Yun Che’s solar plexus. Space and time seemed to freeze as Yun Che continued to stare dazedly at her pupils, heedless of the cold sword that was pointed straight at his heart.

Her pupils were oh-so-gorgeous and cold like frozen rivers of stars, reflecting not even a speck of mundane dust. Separated by only centimeters of space, their breaths mingled soundlessly with each other. This was the first time they were so close to each other in this world.

It was Shenwu Yi’s emotionless voice that broke the frozen silence first.

“Why didn’t you run away?” Her sword had descended from high up in the sky. Yun Che should have enough time to sense the danger and escape using the Void Breaching Divine Jade.

Yun Che smiled. He was still looking straight at her as if he was unwilling to look away ever no matter what. “Because I knew you wouldn’t kill me.”

Her lunar pupils narrowed slightly, and soul-chilling killing intent burst out. It pierced through the sword tip of the Heartless Sword and into Yun Che’s heart and soul.

Still, her outburst failed to elicit the slightest tremor or fear from him. The sword beam retracted before stabbing toward Yun Che’s solar plexus with bone-chilling, heart-freezing killing intent once more.

Yun Che finally made a move, and his decision... was to throw away the intact Void Breaching Divine Jade on his right shoulder.

Shiing!

The Heartless Sword stabbed half an inch into Yun Che’s solar plexus before stopping abruptly. In fact, the stop was so hasty that the slender blade visibly trembled and hummed with exertion. A droplet of blood slowly seeped out of the wound, catching Shenwu Yi’s gaze and causing the snow-white fingers gripping the hilt to tighten slightly.

The world seemed to freeze once more. The only thing that remained unchanged was Yun Che’s expression and gaze.

Bang!

The Void Breaching Divine Jade landed quietly in the distance. However, the noise still shook one’s heartstrings. Finally, Shenwu Yi furrowed her brow and looked away, avoiding Yun Che’s gaze.

“As I thought... You won’t kill me.”

His injuries were severe, and his complexion was turning white with every passing breath. However, the gentle smile touching his lips only grew warmer and more yearning. From the start until the end, his gaze never wavered as if he felt neither the icy blade piercing his solar plexus nor the excruciating pain affecting his heart.

Shenwu Yi’s eyes remained as cold and indifferent as a lone moon. A hint of scorn entered her gaze as she said, “Not only did you choose not to escape during a life-threatening danger, but you also put your life in another person’s hands. Even if you are the Dreamweaver Divine Son and someone who caught the Abyssal Monarch’s attention, it doesn’t change the fact that you have made an extremely foolish choice.”

“You’re wrong.”

Yun Che shook his head lightly. “The reason I know you won’t kill me... is because of our past.”

“I am confident that... even if fate has torn us apart, even if your memories are gone, even if time and space themselves were displaced, my Qingyue, my wife, still could never truly wish to kill me.”

Ripples appeared in Li Suo’s heart. (He actually...)

At this point, Li Suo truly understood why Yun Che had grievously injured himself. If he did not do this, the cold and aloof Shenwu Yi would never have chosen to come within touching distance of him or speak with him.

Bit by bit, Shenwu Yi’s gaze slowly shifted back to the center. For a few breaths, she stared straight into Yun Che’s eyes until finally, she asked coldly, “What... did you say?”

Yun Che reached out and tapped the sword that was embedded half an inch inside his body. His heartbeat seemed to be traveling along the blade and transmitting its pulse into Shenwu Yi’s perception. “What did I say? With your intelligence and insight, are you really telling me that you have no idea what I’m talking about? Haven’t the stirrings in your heart told you anything when you first laid your eyes on me?”

Shenwu Yi continued to look at him indifferently. She neither moved nor said a word.

“Back at Eden’s Crown, while I was enduring the punishment of devouring rage, I was doing my best not just to resist the pain, but also to spare some attention from you. I noticed your confusion, the occasional pain that flashed through your face... and the look you gave me before you left.”

Yun Che’s eyebrows curled into crescents. Despite his grievous injuries and a sword embedded in his chest, his smile looked unbelievably joyful, and his pupils resembled warm pools carrying the reflection of a warm moon. “Even if my Qingyue was hurt and betrayed by me, even if the whims of fate made her forget everything, her heart still aches for me. So... how could my Qingyue possibly bear to kill me?”

A piercing pain erupted from Yun Che’s solar plexus... It was Shenwu Yi losing control of her grip for an instant.

Chi!

The Heartless Sword withdrew, and blood spurted out of Yun Che’s solar plexus. The next moment, the blade was pointed at his neck.

Looking down from above with infinitely frigid eyes, Shenwu Yi said expressionlessly, “Are you trying to say that you know my past?”

“Yes.”

His injuries were worsening, and his breathing had grown labored. However, his gaze remained the same as ever. “I know everything about your past. Your name, your homeland, your—”

“So what??”

A heartless voice interrupted him, and the Heartless Sword shifted closer to his throat. “My name is Shenwu Yi. I am the Divine Daughter of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God. My Mother is the one who saved my life and bestowed this body upon me. I exist only to serve Mother and the Eternal Night Kingdom of God for the rest of my life.”

“What does my past have anything to do with me!?”

Yun Che did not grow dejected even a little despite what she said. Staring into Shenwu Yi’s seemingly permanently indifferent eyes, he said weakly but resolutely, “In this world, the one person who truly understands you besides yourself is me... Your very existence possesses a majesty that transcends heaven and earth. There is no way you would allow yourself to be manipulated by others. There is no way you would consent to serving another.”

“Your Mother is, but a pawn in your grasp... even the Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods is merely a space in your board.”

“......”

The light in Shenwu Yi’s eyes seemed to deepen.

She said indifferently, “If you are wrong, then you have just gravely insulted Mother and me. It is an insult that deserves ten thousand deaths. If you are right, then I should silence you right here and now.”

“How foolish are you?”

“Heh... hehe...”

Yun Che chuckled, but his chuckle was stained with sorrow and self-derision. “You’re right. The old me truly was a hopeless idiot. If I were even a little less naive and foolish back then, you would not have suffered the cruel fate you had for my sake.”

Shenwu Yi: “......”

A sudden, cold wind stirred her jet-black hair. Then, she smiled. It was a faint smile that was brimming with endless scorn, “Well done, Dreamweaver Divine Son. You have truly opened my eyes. Just yesterday, atop Eden’s Crown before the eyes of all Kingdoms of God, you endured twice the punishment of devouring rage for your Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter. Truly, it was a sight to move heaven and earth; a spectacle that brought tears to the eyes.”

“But now, you are playing a romantic fool who does not fear even the threat of death and calling a woman with no memories your wife. Even an ice-hearted person like me is curious what will happen if your Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter figures out your true face.”

It was a scathing criticism to put it mildly, but still, Shenwu Yi’s frozen gaze could not capture any stirring in his eyes.

“I am not the Dreamweaver Divine Son or Meng Kongchan’s son. I am not even a member of this world.”

Yun Che calmly revealed his biggest secret in this world just like that. The scorn on Shenwu YI’s lips gradually disappeared, and her eyes returned to deep, still calm.

“You’ve arrived in this world for decades. With your intelligence, you must have noticed that you do not belong in this world long ago.”

“We came from the same world. We were true husband and wife, and our fates were even bound once.”

He looked up and straight at Shenwu Yi so that she could see every wisp of his gaze down to the finest detail. “You possess the one and only Heart of Snow Glazed Glass in the world. You are better than anyone at discerning truth from falsehoods, good from evil. Can you really not tell whether my words are genuine or deceitful?”

“Hmph!”

Shenwu Yi snorted, and the corners of her lips curled into scorn once more. “Heart of Snow Glazed Glass? So, even the Dreamweaver Divine Son isn’t immune to erroneous rumors.”

“The records of this world claim that the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass isn’t just capable of discerning truth from falsehoods, good from evil. They also claim that it is pure and flawless, untouched by the world’s filth. Alas, in my own eyes, I am nothing but an utterly selfish and cold-hearted person.”