Against the Gods

Although Yun Che was unconscious, his complexion was no longer pale and his breath soon became regular. With a wave of Mu Xuanyin's arm, a gust of cold energy immediately pulled Yun Che out of the pond and threw him on the ice-cold ground.

It was at this time that a current of cold energy rapidly approached the Sacred Hall. There was only one person in the entire Snow Song Realm who would dare to so directly enter a place of such importance.

A snowy figure swayed in the air as Mu Bingyun appeared beside Mu Xuanyin. An usually aloof and indifferent person like her was clearly somewhat anxious at the moment, "Elder Sister, did you undo the seal? I just sensed the Buddha Heart Lotus being unsealed."

While speaking, her gaze fell on the immensely shiny and translucent snow lotus at the center of the pond. The seal around it had already been undone and a bizarre spirit power with a delicate fragrance to it was noiselessly spreading in the huge hall.

The eighty-one-petalled Buddha Heart Lotus was presently lacking a petal.

The aura it had lost was faintly emitting from another place—the fainted Yun Che on the ground.

"You used the Buddha Heart Lotus... on Yun Che?" The light in her eyes slightly flickered as her voice carried a deep sense of puzzlement.

Yun Che's body was lying silently but due to the effect of the powerful Dragon God Soul, his consciousness had faintly awakened at this moment. It was just that he was unable to control the aura of his body.

"His skeleton is extremely hard and his skin and flesh far surpass the capabilities of an ordinary body. It was only his meridians that were utterly fragile," Mu Xuanyin said. "That's why, I thought to bestow him the thing he was in dire need of."

Although Mu Xuanyin's tone was extremely flat, Mu Bingyun knew very well what her action really entailed. She lightly shook her head and spoke as if she had heard some crazy thing, "You put your heart and soul into raising this Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections and waited a whole nine thousand years for it to reach this point. In its perfect state, it could certainly let you take a step further from the Divine Master Realm. It is not only a thing that was left behind by the gods, it is also impossible for a second one of it to appear again in the world. You even spent most of your life taking care of it... Do you truly want to give it all to Yun Che?"

Mu Xuanyin slightly nodded her head. But her eyes were like cold stars, without the slightest fluctuations in them. As she had made up her mind to do so, she didn't feel any regret or pity in her heart.

"..." Mu Bingyun looked fixedly at Mu Xuanyin for a long while before saying in a light tone, "Elder Sister, you have been especially nice to him since the time you accepted him as a disciple. Initially, I thought that you were doing it out of gratefulness for saving my life but... it seems the reason is far more than that."

"No matter whether it is a coincidence or the will of heaven, since he has become my disciple, I should do what a master is supposed to. There is no teacher in the world who doesn't wish for their disciples to surpass them. Unfortunately, Ke'er and Hanyan are unable to do so but he has the possibility... so long as he can live long enough."

"Yun Che possesses many extraordinary and strange things, as well as a lot of secrets that even I don't know or can't understand. If he doesn't die prematurely, he will definitely become someone extraordinary in the future. His previous master, the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, is herself just an ignorant little girl who received her inheritance at a very young age. As such, that little girl totally failed in drawing out the astonishingly great potential in him."

"The Heavenly Slaughter Star God wasn't even ten when she received the inheritance. Calculating the time up to when she met Yun Che, she should not be more than thirteen or fourteen years old back then. Having inherited the Heavenly Slaughter Star God's power and memories, she may be the strongest among the twelve star gods in killing people. But when it comes to teaching others... it is too difficult of a task for her, given her age and temperament," Mu Bingyun said.

"There is only one person in the world who has the inheritance of a Creation God. Regardless of in whose hands he falls, they would either want to rob him of his power or see what heights such a power is capable of reaching. Bingyun," Mu Xuanyin said in a faintly cold voice, "don't you feel that it is quite interesting to personally train such a little monster?"

Yun Che, "..."

Mu Bingyun lightly sighed before giving a deep glance at the Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections that was lacking a petal, "If Elder Sister has decided to go through with it, then no one can change your mind. I only hope that Yun Che can succeed in realizing your wish. However, as the Buddha Heart Lotus has eighty-one petals, the tempering process of meridians needs to be repeated eighty-one times. Following the gradual transformation of his meridians, every time all of them get snapped, it will be accompanied by a pain that will far exceed what he experienced during the last tempering process. So, he might not be able to persevere until the end of the whole tempering process."

"Hmph! It is not up to him to make that decision. He has to endure, whether he is able or not."

Only vaguely awake, Yun Che struggled to gradually sober up. Soon after, his fingers moved a bit as he finally woke up from his drowsy state.

At this time, Mu Xuanyin and Mu Bingyun simultaneously glanced sideways in his direction.

Yun Che got to his feet, before getting down on his knee again, "Master, Palace Master Bingyun... this place is?'

"No need to ask anything," Mu Xuanyin said coldly. "Since you have awakened, hurry up and return to the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake to cultivate on your own. You are not allowed to leave that place without permission or slack for even a split second. Tomorrow after noon, you will be sparing with Master once again... You can go now!"

"Understood." Yun Che could only obey her.

Returning to the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, he stood on the shore. His mind was occupied by that bizarre snow lotus he had only caught a glimpse of and the conversation he heard when he was vaguely conscious.

"Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections..." Yun Che mumbled with an incomparably complex expression.

He closed his eyes to look inside his body and although he was mentally prepared, he still felt severely shaken in his heart.

Before losing his consciousness, he clearly felt all the meridians of his body snapping one after another. But right now, those very meridians were in a completely fine and intact state. Even with his monstrous self-recovery ability and the full-blown use of the Great Way of the Buddha combined, it was definitely impossible to completely recover them so soon.

But it wasn't the primary reason behind him feeling shocked. It was due to clearly sensing that all his meridians had become more robust, by a significant margin, and they were also giving off strange rays of light like an ice crystal.

He opened his eyes and stretched out his palm. Following Yun Che's will, a cluster of the Golden Crow's Flames was instantly ignited... and the burning rate had increased by nearly ten percent compared to before.

He could make out from the conversation between Mu Xuanyin and Mu Bingyun that Mu Xuanyin was going to temper his meridians eighty-one times by making use of the Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections... Today, he only underwent the first tempering process but the change was already so astonishing. He couldn't even begin to imagine how great of a change his meridians will have experienced by the time he was done with the whole tempering process.

Perhaps at that time, he would only require the very brief time of a several breaths in order to directly release Yellow Springs Ashes... Also, forcibly unleashing Rumbling Heaven for at least ten breaths, might not result in his meridians snapping any longer.

If that really turns out to be true, his battle strength would dramatically increase, even without any progress in his profound strength. If his energy could be condensed, released and withdrawn at an extremely fast rate, the instantaneous movement ability of Star God’s Broken Shadow would become even faster. At that time, Extreme Mirage Lightning would be able to reach a completely different level of speed.

As he extinguished the flames, Yun Che's face didn't show too much of a pleasant surprise. Instead, he lightly sighed as he felt his body weighed down.

Initially, the sole reason he wanted to acknowledge Mu Xuanyin as his master was, to rely on her strength and position so as to be able to see Jasmine.

But, even if he had simple reverence for her in the beginning, he gradually discovered that she was different from how the world outside perceived her. For his sake, she obtained the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World, for his benefit, she wanted to get a Horned Dragon Heart. Disregarding the enormous price, she made preparations for the Universe Pentajade Pellet. Moreover, she covertly accompanied him to the Ice Wind Empire, due to being concerned about his safety.

Unknowingly, he no longer felt fear towards Mu Xuanyin, like he did in the beginning.... Because, she truly wasn't as fearsome as outsiders made her put to be. Or perhaps... she only treated the people she cared about differently and was emotionless and indifferent to others?

Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections... He had clearly heard Mu Bingyun's words when he had regained his consciousness. Mu Xuanyin had waited for an immensely long period of nine thousand years for this Buddha Heart Lotus. She had poured her effort of nine thousand years into raising it, in order to be able to again achieve a breakthrough in the Divine Profound Realm...

However, she was now making use of it to temper his meridians.

It was naturally a gargantuan favor... but to Yun Che, wasn't it also a gargantuan burden on his shoulders?

After all, he had no idea how to repay such a favor. He didn't come to the God Realm because he wanted to become powerful or to see an even wider world but just to see Jasmine once again. He didn't even think of staying at this place after fulfilling his wish.

"Hah... Let's drop the matter and practice in peace. It's useless to think about it, anyway. I just have to be more obedient to Master, that's all... Let’s start the training."

Muttering to himself, Yun Che sat upright on the ground, closed his eyes and focused his mind. Amidst the silent surroundings, the cold energy of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake gathered around him before quickly gushing into his body. Very soon, his consciousness immersed into the world of profound way.

Moon Splitting Cascade was centered around the action of "splitting." The things that were intended to be split apart were the body and aura. The figure would have fled into the distance but the aura would be left behind at the previous location—this was the great completion realm of Moon Splitting Cascade.

When one’s profound strength entered the divine way, their spirit perception would also reach a brand new height. Against such an opponent, the ordinary afterimage techniques would stop working. They could deceive their sight but not the spirit sense that had locked onto an aura.

Star God’s Broken Shadow was a top-notch profound movement skill even in the God Realm because it not only could deceive other person's sight but also throw their spirit sense into disorder. Moon Splitting Cascade had a similar effect when it reaches the great completion realm... just that it was overall inferior to Star God’s Broken Shadow.

However, "concealing figure", the realm of great perfection, was never heard of before.

Since I can successfully learn Star God’s Broken Shadow... there's no reason for being unable to learn Moon Splitting Cascade.

Master has such big expectations of me and also didn't hesitate to invest so much of her efforts into my growth. I can't let her be too disappointed, at the least...

Next day, at noon. Before the entrance of the Sacred Hall.

Yun Che adjusted his condition to his peak state and had arrived at the place a bit ahead of schedule. He took a heavy breath, thinking about the experience of the previous day.

Mu Xuanyin's profound strength was certainly suppressed to the Divine Soul Realm. Otherwise, she could have exterminated him even from a distance of a hundred or so kilometers away, without needing the profound aura to come into contact with him. And despite that, he couldn't withstand a single attack.

Consciousness... sensation...

He understood about consciousness but... what exactly was sensation?

Mu Xuanyin mentioned it repeatedly but didn't make its meaning clear. It was obvious that she wanted him to comprehend it on his own.

Even after waiting for a long time, the world around him remained calm and silent. Yun Che hesitated for a while before eventually calling out in a probing tone, "Master, I'm here."

"I’m behind you."

He heard a delicate and soft voice coming from behind. As though he just awakened from a sweet dream, Yun Che's whole body went limp. He promptly turned around to look at Mu Xuanyin standing ten steps away from him. Yun Che felt a burst of dizziness as he looked directly at her charming and glamorous peerless face. He remained in a daze for a good while before immediately getting down on his knee, "Disciple pays respect to Master."

Today, it is... that type of Master... He groaned inwardly.

When she emanated the aura of might and intimidation, it would make people quiet out of fear and they wouldn't dare to even make sounds while breathing. But when she unleashed her charm... he would be even more panic-stricken, not daring to so much as meet her eyes.

There were times when he had wondered whether there were two souls coexisting in her body.

Her radiant and enchanting eyes didn't contain the slightest chilliness. They instead seemed to be hazy, as though being cloaked by fog. She slightly pursed up her cherry red lips, "Get up. Now attack Master as you have been instructed but be careful not to end up in a miserable condition."

She spoke in a languid voice, as if she didn't have any strength left in her. No matter what, Yun Che was someone who possessed the Dragon God Soul. And yet, he still felt undulations within his mind and found it difficult to control himself.

He forcefully bit the tip of his tongue to prevent his mind going out of control. Then, he let out a low roar and leapt up into the air. This time he didn't take out the Heaven Smiting Sword but instead directly charged at Mu Xuanyin. As he was getting closer and closer, his body flashed all of a sudden. By the time a cold energy brushed past his former location, he had already arrived on her right. After using Moon Splitting Cascade, he instantly switched over to Star God’s Broken Shadow...

In a split second, several afterimages appeared around Mu Xuanyin. But his true body had already gotten behind her like a ghost.

Ding!

A light sound reverberated, like the shattering sound of an ice crystal. Immediately, Yun Che let out a miserable cry as his body rolled to far away in midair. When he finally fell on the ground, he could only support himself on his hands and knees, completely unable to stand up for a long time.

He had no clue as to how Mu Xuanyin launched the attack and at what time she did so. But he felt with an incomparable clarity that the moment he instantaneously moved behind her, a cold energy abruptly invaded his legs and ruthlessly broke the meridians in there.

He had a kind of feeling that it was absolutely nothing as simple as an extremely fast reaction speed. Rather... Mu Xuanyin already knew where he was going to appear, even before he used the instantaneous movement.

The intense pain from the broken meridians spread to all over his body from the legs, making him shudder continuously due to the enormity of the pain. He gritted his teeth so hard that they almost crumbled into fragments. Mu Xuanyin slowly walked over and stopped before Yun Che. He subconsciously raised his head to look up but his field of vision was almost completely occupied with the towering peaks beneath her pure-white robe.

"Hah... there is no progress at all." Her lightly curved lips and narrowed eyes emitted such sweetness and charm that anyone would fall into a trance. Her words seemed to be conveying her disappointment but the tone of her voice was soft and numbing, as though the muttering of a witch in an attempt to seduce.

"Since you have disappointed me, stay right there and obediently receive your punishment."

Her finger, that looked to be coated in milk cream, lightly touched Yun Che's chest... The action might appear nothing special but it actually caused all his meridians to break in no time.

"AHHHHH—!!!"

Yun Che let out a mournful cry and curled-up his body. Every bit of his muscles were crazily convulsing due to the extreme pain. However, after the first miserable cry, he at once gnashed his teeth firmly, unwilling to make any more pitiful sounds. Only his body continued to get drenched in cold sweat, making it seem as if torrential rain was pouring down on him.

Seeing Yun Che in great pain, Mu Xuanyin didn't show the slightest sympathy for him. Her beautiful eyes were narrowed a bit and there was a faint smile on her face, "Bear Master's words in your mind alright? Use your consciousness and have your body remember this pain. Although it pains Master's heart to do so, Master truly doesn't know any other way to quickly develop your sensation."

"..." Yun Che felt cold like a person drenched in rain but his lips dripping with blood didn't have the strength to utter a single word. Gradually, his consciousness became increasingly fuzzy... before he directly passed out from pain.