Against the Gods

“Brother Yun, let me take you to where Brother Huo Ye is,” Huo Poyun hurriedly said as he silently thought to himself at the same time: Brother Yun is indeed praiseworthy. His ability to control the elements is breathtaking. He is just at the Divine Origin Realm and cultivates ice attribute profound arts, yet he is actually able to stay here for an hour. Even my fellow Flame God disciples at the Divine Origin Realm would not be able to endure for this long.

“Ah, look at me. I actually forgot about this. Poyun, please take Young Yun and go rest for a while,” Huo Rulie hastily said.

“There is no need.” Yun Che wiped away the sweat on his forehead and then waved his hand as he said, “Brother Poyun, for a matter such as this, if one misses even the slightest bit, it will become something which they will never be able to fill. Moreover, I am merely just moving slightly farther away to rest for a while. It is not some major issue. Why would I need someone to accompany me?”

As he spoke, Yun Che quickly departed with ragged breaths, “Brother Poyun, I will be back soon.”

“Ah… okay.” Huo Poyun subconsciously stepped forward but after thinking about Yun Che’s words, he decided to remain where he was.

With a clash between two Divine Masters before them, no one wanted to miss even a single instant of what was happening. Thus, as Yun Che left, no one paid him a single glance. Their eyes were all glued to the Vermillion Bird projection.

Yun Che increased his speed and soon, he was many kilometers away. Afterwards, he stopped behind a tall firestone. Upon confirming that there were indeed no auras locked onto him, he quickly used Hidden Flowing Lightning to hide his own aura.

“Alright, now is the perfect time for me to sneak into the God Burying Inferno Prison,” Yun Che silently thought.

A land containing five hundred thousand kilometers of relics of the Divine Realm. Perhaps there would be a treasure which would allow him to break directly through to the Divine Tribulation Realm within its depths… it was not unlikely!

Yun Che retracted his aura and then began to slowly move eastward for several kilometers before turning towards the edge of the Inferno Prison. When he was only a few kilometers from the edge, he used Moon Splitting Cascade out of caution, causing his figure to momentarily become indiscernible.

Using Moon Splitting Cascade along with Hidden Flowing Lightning allowed him to become extremely hidden. Adding on how the three Flame God Sect Masters were all focused on the Vermillion Bird projection… it should be practically impossible for him to to be discovered.

Yun Che took slow steps as he carefully and delicately approached the edge of the sea of flames.

As he predicted, he was able to quickly reach the edge of the Inferno Prison without any mishaps. There wasn’t even a single aura sweeping across the area. Yun Che slightly exhaled in relief as he continued maintaining his retracted aura and silently jumped into the boundless prison.

Yun Che’s body instantly and completely disappeared into the roiling waves of fire. His state of concealment faded as he became submerged and an extremely high level energy of combustion surged over him from all directions. Afterwards, the energy turned into currents of warm air and gushed into Yun Che’s body.

Within the sea of fire, Yun Che was able to sense the energy fluctuations from the clash far away.

Upon entering the sea of flames, Yun Che’s body quickly sank. In the blink of an eye, he had already fallen three kilometers into its depths… From what Huo Poyun had told him earlier, this was the limit of what Yan Wancang’s mental energy could sense. This meant that after this depth, regardless of how hard the three Flame God Sect Masters used their spirit sense, they would not be able to discover him.

It was the same with the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. The deeper one went, the more horrifying the blaze energy of the God Burying Inferno Prison became. Upon reaching a depth of three kilometers, the flames had already reached a level which completely surpassed his imagination.

“Just a single cluster of the flames here is probably enough to evaporate an entire sea in a lower realm,” Yun Che thought to himself. “This is only three kilometers in, yet it has already become so terrifying. It’s even more impossible to imagine what it’ll be like even further down. Such a terrifying place. Not only does this cover five hundred thousand kilometers, it has also continuously burned for hundreds of thousands of years without weakening in the slightest.”

“The origin of all this energy is the flame vein… sigh,” Yun Che gently sighed. The flame vein was something left over from the Primordial Era of True Gods. The Era of True Gods who were even able to control the Primal Chaos. To the beings of today, the True Gods were truly a group of unimaginable and incomprehensible beings.

If the ability to control the power of the Primal Chaos emerged again—in the face of the power of True Gods, Divine Master Realm experts were only insignificant bugs.

Yun Che stopped sighing to himself as he felt the blaze aura surge up towards him from below. He stopped thinking about this matter as he circulated his profound energy and descended into the depths of the world of fire.

Six kilometers…

Nine kilometers…

Twelve kilometers…

Fifteen kilometers!!

At this moment, a streak of crimson red light suddenly arced through the sky in the distance, catching Yun Che’s eye.

In this place where the flames had already become so hot that they couldn’t be described by any mortal words; any color was completely obstructed by the glow of flames. Yet the crimson red light was extremely clear as it arced through the distance. Even in this purgatory like world, it remained clear and dazzling.

Yun Che’s figure slowly came to a stop at this moment… because his profound energy was no longer able to extend down any further.

Below his feet was the end of the God Burying Inferno Prison!

Yun Che’s two feet stood on some sturdy and flat solid surface. It felt like a rock but there were no rocks in Yun Che’s consciousness, not even some miraculous ageless rock, which would not immediately melt upon contact with the flames here. Perhaps the “rocks” at the bottom of the Inferno Prison were also remnants from the True God Era.

The spirit energy of fire was like a hurricane as it surged into his body. However, the rate of absorption had reached its limit since the depth of three thousand meters. The only change after one thousand meters was… the exact same change which had occurred after one thousand meters in the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

Moreover, the depth of this God Burying Inferno Prison was very similar to the depth of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, about fifteen kilometers.

The extreme pureness of the energy here was also comparable to the energy in the depths of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. The world here was a terrifying hell which no one could possibly imagine. Yun Che remained here for a long while as the notion that he was “able to survive here” emerged into his mind.

Remembering his initial goal for coming here, Yun Che once again began to quickly move forward. The flames at the bottom of the God Burying Inferno Prison were indeed unable to block his five sense or reduce his speed. They only became a source of strength for him. However, the God Burying Inferno Prison extended over five hundred thousand kilometers. Searching for treasures, relics, and other such things here was the same as trying to find a needle in a haystack. But when Yun Che made the decision to enter this place, he had already decided to try his luck. Moreover, he wasn’t just choosing some random direction, but the direction in which there was the arcing crimson red light in the distance.

It was extremely likely that the arcing streak of crimson red light was the primordial flame vein which was supporting the God Burying Inferno Prison!

As Yun Che moved towards the arcing crimson red light, he directly passed through cluster after cluster of flames as he moved in a straight line. Although he moved quickly, the scene around him seemed to remain the same. His feet landed upon the same strange rock and he was still completely surrounded by flames. The temperature and aura were also completely unchanged. Compared to the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, it was the opposite kind of pure but it was just too many times larger.

Two hours passed…

Four hours passed…

Yun Che was still surrounded by a world made purely of flames. He had now been moving in the same direction for over four hours, yet he had not found a single treasure or relic and there had not been the slightest change in aura. The only difference was that the arcing crimson red light in his vision had grown much larger.

“Not good. It’s been too long. It will take me the same amount of time to return… I’ll search for another hour. Even if I don’t find anything, I’ll have to return.”

Yun Che wasn’t ready to give up yet as he thought to himself and continued to penetrate through the sea of flames at a slightly faster speed. It was at this time that his heart suddenly thumped wildly.

Yun Che’s figure abruptly stopped as his palm subconsciously pressed over his own chest above his heart.

This kind of feeling…

Just what was calling out to him, from in front of him?

The feeling was kind of mysterious and obscure, while being somewhat illusory, yet it was also strangely clear. It was as if some kind of ancient sound had heavily rapped against his heart and soul for a moment.

Yun Che’s gaze fixedly stared at the arcing ancient crimson light… he faintly felt that the strange feeling he had just experienced came from that direction.

What was it?

Could it perhaps be something similar to the Divine Ice Phoenix’s spirit at the bottom of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake… was it an ancient divine spirit which had yet to completely disappear, one which had remained here to maintain the last bit of its existence?

If so, why was this spirit beckoning him?

As he silently thought to himself, Yun Che abruptly incited his mental energy and increased his speed sharply as he rushed forwards. However, he had just moved a couple tens of meters before a huge shadow abruptly appeared before him. Abruptly, a faint change occurred in the aura around him.

This was?

Yun Che immediately slowed down as he slowly approached the strange shadow in front of him. As he neared, the abnormal aura quickly intensified. Once the aura had intensified to a certain degree, Yun Che had a sudden realization…

This aura… was extremely similar to the aura of that ancient horned dragon!!

The Vermillion Bird’s Will Projection was not only able to project images but also sounds and extremely basic auras.

Thus, when Yun Che had first felt this abnormal aura, he had felt there was something familiar about it. But now, he knew for certain that this was undoubtedly the aura of the horned dragon!

Could it be that this place was…

Yun Che once again increased his speed as he quickly arrived before the shadow which was greater than three hundred meters in both height and width.

“Indeed…” Yun Che quietly muttered to himself.

The shape of this shadow formed the shape of a lair.

Considering the beings which could live here, even if there had been no traces of aura, Yun Che still would have been completely certain that this was the lair of the ancient horned dragon.

Huo Poyun had previously stated that every time the ancient horned dragon approached the north shore and prepared to emerge, its lair would be situated in that direction… and it had turned out to be true!

Only, Yun Che had never thought that the lair would actually be this close. It seemed like every time the dragon appeared to shed its scales, it would always deliberately move very far south because it was afraid of destroying its lair during battle.

He had actually, accidently, found the lair of the ancient horned dragon… a wave of fear suddenly surged through Yun Che’s heart as he felt lucky that he had come in at this time. Otherwise, it would have been throwing his life away to come here.

But as he had come here… he naturally couldn’t leave empty-handed!

Even a mortal dragon was covered in treasures, much less an ancient horned dragon! Excited, Yun Che quickly rushed into the lair.

And came out with a black face.

This was because the dragon’s lair was so clean it was as if someone had swept up all its belongings ahead of him. There was nothing except the thick aura of a horned dragon!

He was hoping for even a piece of dragon scale… but there was absolute nothing, not even a dragon’s hair!

“Sigh.” Yun Che sighed gloomily, “I should’ve known that anything that was shed from the ancient horned dragon’s body would instantly be burned into nothingness by this place… Hmm?”

While muttering, Yun Che’s eyebrows suddenly lifted in great puzzlement.

This was because he saw another shadow less than five hundred meters away from this lair.

The shadow’s shape and size was incredibly similar to the dragon lair he was in.

“What’s that? This guy can’t have built two lairs, can he?”

Puzzled, Yun Che shifted forwards and arrived before this shadow in little to no time. Then, he was startled.

It… actually was another dragon lair. In fact, it wasn’t just similar, but basically identical than the one he was in earlier.

It had the same size, same shape and was made of same material. The only difference was that it was facing a different direction.

This dragon seriously built two lairs for itself… Yun Che was somewhat dumbfounded by this dragon. Not only did it build two lairs for itself, they even looked exactly the same. What was the point of having two lairs then?

However, Yun Che’s expression abruptly changed as he sensed something. Deep doubt quickly surfaced from his eyes.

Wait a second… why does this lair’s dragon aura seem a little different… from the one earlier?

The flames here were so high level that even Yan Wancang’s spiritual perception would be completely sealed, assuming he could survive this place. They didn’t affect Yun Che in the slightest, however. Although the lair also had a horned dragon’s aura, Yun Che’s spiritual perception was exceptionally acute. He had just gotten out of the first lair, so he remembered the dragon’s aura very clearly. However, a sense of disharmony had arisen in his mind when he came to this lair.

Yun Che swiftly turned around and returned to the first lair. A moment later, he swiftly returned and entered the second lair. Then, he went back again into the first lair.

Several back and forths later, Yun Che stood at the center of the lair while feeling extremely confused.

What was going on!?

There are two horned dragon lairs here and they both possessed dragon aura… but although the dragon’s aura in both lairs are very similar to each other, the bit of difference is still there! Can it be...

Suddenly, Yun Che remembered the ancient horned dragon’s dragon fault...

A thousand years ago, the ancient horned dragon was hurt in its dragon fault. Mu Xuanyin and Yan Wancang were absolutely certain that the dragon couldn’t possibly recover in a thousand year’s time.

However… the ancient horned dragon that had appeared today… had a perfectly intact dragon fault!

Could it be...

Could it be that there wasn’t one ancient horned dragon in the God Burying Inferno Prison… but two!?

There had always been two ancient horned dragons!!

Their ecdysis period wasn’t a thousand years… but two thousand!?

The two ancient horned dragons had always been taking turns to show up and shed scales every one thousand years! Because the two ancient horned dragons had an extremely similar aura to one another and they always appeared in turns every one thousand years, no one was able to distinguish the difference. Worse, their auras were completely undetectable when they hid inside the God Burying Inferno Prison.

The thought was quickly organized into a tidy outline the moment it appeared. Every bit of disharmony he felt earlier had become logical under this terrifying assumption.

Yun Che felt chilled all over. Suddenly, he let out a scream and charged in the opposite direction like he had gone crazy.

At this point, he couldn’t care less about that transient soul cry or that ancient flame vein. He detonated every bit of profound energy in his body again and again, wishing that he could break through space itself...

Oh no! Master’s in danger!!

But she had crushed her Sound Transmission Jade… so he couldn’t notify her immediately even if he wanted to!

Since neither of the two ancient horned dragons were inside their lairs, one of them might very well be hiding somewhere beneath the Inferno Prison.

If the hunt was going to fail like a thousand years ago, then the other horned dragon would continue to hide beneath the Inferno Prison like it used to… this was their trap and the trump card they wouldn’t use unless they were driven to a dead end!

But this hunt was different! Judging from the three sect masters’ attitude, Mu Xuanyin might very well succeed in killing the horned dragon this time… if that was true, then the other horned dragon was absolutely going to appear at a certain point of time just before the other horned dragon was gravely injured!

The reason Mu Xuanyin had crushed the Sound Transmission Jade was because she was afraid of being distracted for even the slightest moment. If the other ancient horned dragon gathered its strength and waited for the perfect opportunity to catch her by surprise while she had her full concentration on the ancient horned dragon before her and after she had exhausted most of her profound energy...

It would no doubt be a potentially fatal blow!

“Sss!!” Yun Che’s teeth were clenched so tight that they were about to break under the pressure. He forcefully activated Rumbling Heaven and flew at the absolute fastest speed he was able to achieve in his life… Right now, he only prayed that Mu Xuanyin hadn’t cornered the ancient horned dragon into a dead end yet. She absolutely mustn’t.

Faster… faster!!

Who, who could have imagined that there were two horned dragons in the God Burying Inferno Prison!!

The records regarding the ancient horned dragon of God Burying Inferno Prison could be traced all the way back to at least six hundred thousand years ago. However, no one had ever noticed this discrepancy.

If Yun Che hadn’t slipped to the bottom of the inferno prison, he would never even dreamt of such a thing.

These two ancient horned dragons were not only incredibly powerful but scarily devious! They had fooled the Flame God Realm for literally tens of thousands of years!