Against the Gods

“Broke… It’s broken!?”

“The Undistracted Sword Domain has been completely shattered! And Yun Che hasn’t even suffered the slightest injury?”

“It should… should be because Jun Xilei had already suffered heavy injuries?”

Five kilometers away, Jun Xilei fell to the ground and took a dozen steps back. The flames on her body had barely extinguished when the next strike of the Heaven Smiting Sword came cleaving down.

Clang!!

Misty Light and Heaven Smiting had their first actual physical clash. Under the effect of the rebound from the explosive forces from the clash of swords, Yun Che was blasted far away while Jun Xilei retreated multiple steps before spitting out a bloody arrow straight from her throat. Her face was extremely pale and before she could even find time to breathe, a Golden Crow Manifest God came soaring down from the skies, bringing along an entire sky full of unrelenting Golden Crow flames.

The Golden Crow flames that contained half of Yun Che’s power normally would not have posed any threat to Jun Xilei, but she had already suffered heavy injuries from Yun Che’s initial sword strike. Executing her Undistracted Sword Domain created another heavy internal injury, and her domain being shattered had also created a strong rebound. She could barely receive Yun Che’s strike head on in her state of eventual and rapid collapse...

The Golden Crow Manifest God’s attack represented an irrepressible nightmare for her right now.

Amidst the exploding flames Jun Xilei cried out once again and was sent flying by the fire, falling far away into the distance.

She extinguished the flames on her body once more and struggled to get up, but just as she got up she felt a surge of uncontrollable energy within her. She started coughing up blood, and each mouthful of blood contained large volumes of fresh red blood. As the blood left her body, so too did her strength and she fell to the ground unable to stand up for quite a period of time.

Her originally cold gaze had now turned blurry… Not even in her wildest dreams could she believe that she would actually suffer injuries to this extent in such a short time of battling against Yun Che.

“Ah.” Jun Wuming closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

Jun Xilei had still, in the end, underestimated her opponent… No, it should be that her hatred for Yun Che was too great, and it had suppressed all her rationality, resulting in Yun Che being able to take advantage the situation.

If she had only quelled her hatred and given it her all, even if Yun Che’s strength had grown by leaps and bounds since three days ago, this never would have happened.

The rebound from the shattering of her Undistracted Sword Domain wasn’t that serious and the attack from the Golden Crow Manifest God shouldn’t have been that threatening either, but thanks to the first heavy injury that she received, things had snowballed with her injuries only growing more grievous. At this point in time, it was impossible for her to turn things around.

If she lost in this battle, it could be said that it would have been a big waste. She was destined to shake the entire God Realm with her way of the sword. Just releasing one small Undistracted Sword Domain and being unable to follow up was one of the cruelest lessons for her. Conversely, this was Yun Che’s moment. Not only did he display his monstrous talent in the profound way for all to see, it was obvious that he was in a different league from Jun Xilei in terms of shrewdness.

Yun Che didn’t take advantage of the situation to send Jun Xilei flying off the Conferred God Stage. He instead dragged the Heaven Smiting Sword along, walking forward, steadily and in no hurry. The Golden Crow’s image floated above him in all its fiery splendor.

Sensing Yun Che’s presence drawing near, Jun Xilei slowly lifted her arm, her gaze holding a cold condescending hatred. Her jade-like teeth were stained with blood. She gnashed them as she uttered the words, “Despicable… villain…”

“Despicable? Hah…” Yun Che let out a cold laugh. “When you malevolently struck down Huo Poyun in one strike, causing him to lose all manner of face and sweep all of his self confidence and dignity under your feet, why didn’t you think of the word ‘despicable’ then?”

“If not for the fact that you wanted to do the same with me, to utterly destroy any and all faith I have in myself, to give me the greatest insult within a defeat, how would you end up like this? This result is all of your own making!”

“You…”

“Oh right.” Yun Che’s laughter grew colder as the ridicule in his voice grew stronger, “Didn’t you mention at that time that the Golden Crow flames were nothing much? It seems to me as though you’ve been defeated and are in rather bad shape thanks to my Golden Crow flames. Does this mean that your way of the sword can also be said to be worse than nothing much?”

He knew the deep hatred Jun Xilei bore against him, every time she looked at him it seemed as though she wanted to mince him into thousands of pieces. Since it was so, he didn’t bother to spare any pretense and just offended her to the utmost… moreover it was her who heavily wounded Huo Poyun and insulted the flames of the Golden Crow previously.

“...” Jun Xilei’s entire body shook, her originally pale and white face suddenly turning an unnatural shade of red, “Yun… Che…”

Ding!

It sounded as if something had shattered. After that sound rung out, the originally heavily injured Jun Xilei suddenly flew up, her sword intent filling the entire sky. Jun Xilei’s entire body was dyed red with blood, the hatred in her eyes seeming like it could pierce a thousand souls. She pointed Misty Light towards the sky and the crisp sound of a sword could be heard.

“This is… the Comet Sword Formation?”

Jun Wuming’s eyes flashed as he shouted, “Lei’er stay your hand!”

Jun Xilei’s action meant the start of the Comet Sword Formation. Executing the Comet Sword Formation was usually as easy as lifting her finger but right now, her forcefully activating it would only mean causing her injuries to become more severe.

Yun Che had personally witnessed how fearsome Jun Xilei’s Comet Sword Formation was as even Luo Changsheng had been injured by it.

It was a pity though that she was not in her optimal state and forcing herself to execute this sword formation. He couldn’t even feel an ounce of threat from it. He laughed coldly and swept out with the Heaven Smiting Sword, explosively unleashing “Golden Annihilation”.

Bang!!

Before the sword formation could finish assembling, it was torn apart by the flaming sword. The backlash caused Jun Xilei to shake violently. The profound energy and sword aura that she gathered dissipated in a frenzy. Yun Che followed up with another sword attack, the might of the Heaven Smiting sword mercilessly striking Jun Xilei directly on her body.

Boooom!!

A miserable shrill voice screamed out. Jun Xilei fell from the sky and crashed to the ground. The Misty Light Sword flew out of her hands, flying far into the distance, leaving a trail of white light behind it.

Jun Xilei’s crash into the ground seemed to be felt deep within the souls of everyone watching.

Jun Xilei had… lost her sword.

To those of the Sword Sovereign line, their sword was as important as their life… no, it was in fact more important than their lives. The sword was a Sword Sovereign’s partner, it was their life, their very honor and dignity. It was the core of their very own beliefs.

Once one lost hold of their sword, that would be considered the greatest insult and greatest defeat any Sword Sovereign could ever suffer.

Even though Jun Xilei’s battle with Luo Changsheng had ended in bitter defeat and heavy injury, Misty Light had never once left her hand.

Yun Che’s time in the God Realm was still considered very brief and he did not know of this fact, but the moment Misty Light fell to the ground and he saw how the entire spectator stands stayed strangely silent, combined with the lifeless look in Jun Xilei’s eyes, he sort of understood a little.

However, he did not give a damn. He turned around coldly and calmly stated, “Admit defeat, or you could just make yourself faint on the spot. Perhaps losing that way will make you look a little better.”

“Oh right, there’s a saying which my master taught you previously but it’s quite obvious that you haven’t learned your lesson. I don’t mind teaching it to you one more time.”

“If you bully others, expect to be bullied yourself!”

Jun Xilei, “...”

Facing her with his back, Yun Che opened his mouth only to give a cold warning, “Don’t feel as if you’ve suffered great grievance. Be it in the Snow Song Realm or right now, all this is your own doing! From here on out don’t come looking for trouble with me, or else… Even if you’re a woman, I won’t show you any mercy. Your fate will be even worse than today!”

As he finished speaking, Yun Che walked off into the distance.

Pfff…

Behind him the sound of vomiting blood sounded. This time it wasn’t Jun Xilei’s injuries acting up, it was because of the anger and insult that her heart had just been hit with.

Jun Xilei’s face rotated between pale white and red as her body shook uncontrollably. The blood at the corners of her mouth were still dripping. She gnashed and ground her teeth. She felt humiliation, anger, hatred, and killing intent… It was as if the worst of nightmares had invaded her body and lodged itself in every fiber of her soul and being.

She was the Sword Sovereign’s successor. She had enjoyed a glorious status. Even the Realm Kings of star realms had to bend their backs and bow in front of her, not daring to show even a little bit of disrespect. Her talent and ability absolutely afforded her her identity and she was without a doubt one of the undisputed “Four God Children”. Aside from Luo Changsheng, no one else among the young generation of the entire Eastern Divine Region could defeat her.

She firmly believed that she would one day surpass her master and become the new Sword Sovereign of the Eastern Divine Region. This was also a fact no one would dare dispute.

This Conferred God Battle was the time for her to showcase her abilities, to shock the entire Eastern Divine Region.

But right now, this battle had stripped her of all her dignity in the eyes of everyone present. What stained her, all over her body, wasn’t blood but an unwashable stain of humiliation.

In the Snow Song Realm, it was he who caused her to suffer the greatest insult in her entire life.

She could suffer defeat.

But why did it have to be him, and such a defeat!?

“Ah,” Shui Qianheng’s face held a little regret. “Yun Che’s ability has increased exponentially. It seems that he’s already reached Jun Xilei’s level. This battle… it should have been exciting and fanciful, perhaps like a repeat of Yun Che and Lu Lengchuan’s battle, but who would have thought…… Such a pity, such a pity…”

Shui Yingyue frowned. “Jun Xilei is a proud and arrogant individual. She places a lot of weight on face and dignity, but in this battle she didn’t even have the chance to display even a tenth of her ability, and she suffered a crushing defeat. In fact it was a thorough thrashing… Furthermore, Yun Che was humiliating her on purpose. I’m guessing there must be some kind of animosity between the two of them.”

Shui Qianheng’s voice sunk a little, “The Sword Sovereign’s successor is a little too young afterall. Yingyue, this means that your next opponent is Yun Che… and it might be a really difficult battle.”

Shui Yingyue gently nodded her head. “Don’t worry royal father, Jun Xilei can be said to be my reconnaissance. Three days from now I definitely will not hold back nor leave any room for error!”

“Mn.” Shui Qianheng nodded. Then, his eyebrows suddenly raised as he turned his eyes to look in Jun Xilei’s direction. He muttered, “What is she trying to do?”

“Yun… Che… Hold… it right… there!!”

Behind Yun Che, Jun Xilei’s voice slowly sounded holding immense hatred within.

Yun Che came to a stop and slowly turned around meeting Jun Xilei’s eyes. That torrential abyss of hatred within her eyes seemed to want to swallow him up. Perhaps, all the anger and hatred she had experienced in her entire life summed up could not equal what she felt at this moment.

But with regards to Yun Che, he had seen such eyes far too many times. It didn’t faze him one bit and he casually replied, “What, you still want to continue fighting? Aren’t you afraid of looking even worse than now? If you want to take revenge, just obediently admit defeat. Go recover and lick your wounds. I’ll take you on anytime!”

“...” Jun Xilei’s chest heaved vigorously, a frightening darkness seemed to appear within her eyes. She slowly stood up, bit by bit, even though it was extremely difficult.

“How… could… I… ever… lose… to… you…”

“Heh!” Yun Che laughed cynically. Just as he was about to ridicule her, he knitted his eyebrows in a frown.

Within his line of sight, Jun Xilei started to slowly lift her hands. She reached towards her back. Since the beginning of the Conferred God Battle, this ancient looking sword had always stayed behind her back. She now wrapped her bloodstained hands tightly upon the archaic bronze looking handle of the sword.

Her actions left everyone in shock. The faces of those experts familiar with that ancient looking sword all change greatly.

At the side of the spectator stands, Jun Wuming, who had been calm throughout, even during Jun Xilei’s embarrassing defeat, twisted his face in horror. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Lei’er, stop!!”

Jun Wuming’s roar was so powerful and frightening that even some strong experts among the audience immediately coughed up blood. Jun Xilei’s entire body shook but her hands held firmly onto the sword’s grip, refusing to let go.

Yun Che’s expression slightly sunk. A strong wave of unease washed over and struck his soul.

“Lei’er! Are you throwing your life away!?” Jun Wuming flashed toward the side of the Conferred God Stage, stressing grimly, “You are not to use the Nameless Sword… This is a command from your master!”

All the spectators from the Eastern Divine Region found it unbelievable that the stately Sword Sovereign himself would have such a violent reaction. Honorable Quhui reflexively shot in front of Jun Wuming’s body, fearing that he would interfere in the match… even if he was the Sword Sovereign.

“.....” Jun Xilei’s chest started heaving even more vigorously, but it seemed that her eyes were still as dark as an abyss as she glared at Yun Che, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth as she verbalised each word individually.

“I… cannot… obey… Master’s… command…”

“A… Sword Sovereign… must not.... be humiliated!!”

Clang!!

As Jun Xilei moved her hand, the shrill metallic whistle of “Nameless” leaving its sheath sounded.

A matchless sword aura dawned upon the area.

Under the might of this sword aura, Yun Che was like a leaf in the wind. He grunted and retreated several steps. His internal organs felt overwhelmed as his heart was sent reeling in shock.

This was the sword aura from just unsheathing the sword alone!

Zzng~~~~~

A tidal wave of disorderly metallic cries sounded all around Yun Che.