Against the Gods

The shattering sound of the small jade cup caused the eyes of Huo Rulie, Mu Huanzhi and the rest of them to swivel around. They took a look at Yun Che’s present state and all of them felt a jolt of shock run through them, “What’s the matter?”

Crack!

After the jade cup had shattered, there was an explosive crack and a long crack appeared in the jade table that they were sitting at.

Mu Bingyun swiftly extended her hand and pressed it against Yun Che’s arm. A wave of cold energy instantly suppressed his agitated aura, “Yun Che, calm down. That’s not necessarily her.”

In this vast and boundless universe, for people to share the same name and even look nearly the same was definitely no rare thing.

Besides, the “god empress” in front of them was quite different from the Xia Qingyue in both Yun Che’s and Mu Bingyun’s memories. Furthermore, their status and level were separated by an uncountable distance.

One was a young asgard master in a sect from one of the lower realms and the other was someone who was about to become the god empress of a king realm.

Yet Yun Che knew that it was her!

There was no reason for this feeling, but the moment Yun Che laid his eyes on her, he was absolutely convinced that this person was Xia Qingyue… she definitely was.

He did not even have the slightest shred of doubt.

In her sixteenth year, she was still a young and tender girl, but sh already possessed a peerless elegance even then.

When she was seventeen, during the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the moment her snowy veil fell from her face, it caused the entire Heavenly Sword Villa to go still.

The year she turned nineteen, she had already become the young asgard master of Frozen Cloud Asgard and the eternal snow of the Snow Region of Extreme Ice was not even comparable to just a fleeting moment of her sweet and beautiful laughter.

And now that he finally saw her again, she had turned into a true heavenly Goddess. Her elegance and beauty even caused the divine moon in the sky to seem dim and ashamed.

She was Xia Qingyue…

They had no news or communication of or from her for the last eight years, but he had finally seen her again… in a place that he definitely had not imagined, in a situation that he had definitely never imagined either, and with a status that had exceeded his wildest fantasies…

Upon seeing her again, he should have felt a big burden lifted off his shoulders, he should have broken out into wild and rapturous joy. But why in the world was she the god empress that the Moon God Emperor was about to marry!?

His aura had been suppressed by Mu Bingyun but Yun Che’s heart was still in complete chaos. He tried to get himself to calm down, but all of the blood in his body was rushing to his head at a crazy rate, and no matter what he did, he could not suppress it.

“Brother Yun, you...”

Just as Huo Poyun wanted to ask a question, his arm was fiercely held down by Huo Rulie, who slowly shook his head at him.

Huo Rulie, Yan Juehai, Mu Huanzhi, and the rest did not say a word, and the only thing that lingered in their hearts was a deep shock. Yun Che definitely was not the kind of person who lost control of his emotions easily. On the contrary, he was able to face the might of Honorable Qu Hui without changing expression, and he was even able to deliver a stern rebuke to him. No matter how serious his injuries were on the Conferred God Stage, he was as calm and composed as a demon. Even when he faced all the inducements of the realm kings, he could still reject each and every one of them with immeasurable calm.

Yet at this very moment, it seemed as if the spirit of this man was being seized by a demon. His entire body was shaking.

They were unable to imagine what kind of provocation could cause Yun Che, who could even calmly reject realm kings, to lose control to such an extent.

It was not only limited to Yun Che either. It was clear that the aura of Mu Bingyun, who stood beside him, had also been thrown into disorder.

All of this had happened after the Moon God Empress had shown herself.

They did not dare speculate or make any wild guesses, but there was at least one thing that was clear: This was definitely not a matter that outsiders could butt into or interfere with.

“Yun Che, don’t be impulsive!” Mu Binyun said once again in a low voice, a voice that was laced with a profound powerlessness. The others had been astounded due to the god empress’ Heart of Glazed Glass, but she had been deeply shocked for a different reason, shocked to the point where she simply could not bring herself to believe that this was actually Xia Qingyue.

She kept her hand firmly pressed against Yun Che’s arm, stopping him from making any fast moves.

This was the Moon God Realm, an incomparably exalted king realm, so who would dare cause any trouble here?

But Mu Bingyun knew that Yun Che definitely would dare…

It was absolutely not because he was presumptuous and foolhardy, or a person who had no appreciation of the weight of things. It was because he had a pride and dignity that was carved into his bones!

He could let anything go, he could face anything with a calm tranquility, but he would never ever let anyone cross the bottom line of his dignity. This was a point that Mu Bingyun had seen demonstrated very clearly from the first day that she brought him to the Snow Song Realm.

When he had first arrived in the Snow Song Realm, he mercilessly dealt a serious wound to the nephew of the hall master of Freezing Snow Hall, Mu Fengshu. When he was at the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, he had not hesitated to go against Mu Xuanyin because of injustice. When he had reached the Profound God Convention, he had demonstrated this point to its extreme…

This was something that was carved into his very bones, something that could not be changed for as long as he lived.

Furthermore, Xia Qingyue was not just some close female friend, or just some lover who had promised her future to him. She was his officially wedded wife!

Yet she was going to become the Moon God Empress.

This was undoubtedly the humiliation of having his wife stolen from him!

The humiliation of having your wife stolen from you was an enormous disgrace that any normal man would not be able to accept. In fact, one could even call it the greatest humiliation…

Let alone Yun Che!!

Mu Bingyun gave a silent sigh as her jade finger traced in the air, and after that, an Ice Phoenix aura engulfed Yun Che’s entire body. In a split second, it seemed as if someone had dumped cold water all over Yun Che. His entire body shuddered and his wild and disordered eyes finally regained some of their clarity.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the god empress who had shown herself, so no one else noticed Yun Che’s weird behaviour… with the exception of one person.

Qianye Ying’er!

In the clouds above, her gaze lingered on Yun Che’s body for a long time as the corners of her lips curved up slightly, “To think that a person who wasn’t even interested in me would have such an amusing reaction towards her. It looks like Yun Che and this Moon God Empress do have some kind of mysterious connection after all.”

“Miss,” Gu Zhu said, “this girl not only has possesses the Heart of Glazed Glass, she also possesses something that Miss has always been searching for.”

“Oh?” Qianye Ying’er’s eyes slanted to the side. Following that there was a slight change in her expression as she said, “You are saying that…”

“The Nine Profound Exquisite Body,” Gu Zhu said in a placid manner.

“...” Qianye Ying’er did not say anything and she remained silent for a good long while.

The Nine Profound Exquisite Body. Someone who possessed that contained a little world within their profound veins, could break through realms and transcend the laws of the universe. It was publicly acknowledged as the best dual cultivation incubator in the universe. As one’s profound strength grew stronger, the existence of the Exquisite World would become harder and harder for people to detect, but it still could not escape the turbid and dreadful eyes of Gu Zhu.

“Heart of Glazed Glass and the Nine Profound Exquisite Body, just one of these would be considered a gift from heaven, yet she actually has both. This is something that has never been seen before.” Gu Zhu let out a deep and quiet sigh, “Far too many strange and abnormal things have appeared in the Eastern Divine Region of this era. Could it be that all of these have been born from the coming calamity?”

“...” Qianye Ying’er did not respond. Her gaze no longer lingered on Yun Che. Instead, her eyes bored into Xia Qingyue. After a long time, she suddenly said in a cold voice, “Does the energy of her vital yin still exist?”

Gu Zhu gave a faint nod of his head. He knew that Qianye Ying’er would definitely ask this question.

“Ah, now that is amazing. Such a beauty who even possesses the Exquisite Body, yet she is actually still a virgin. Has this Yue Wuya cultivated to the point of becoming a saint or has he become a eunuch?” Qianye Ying’er said with faintly narrowed eyes, “The aura of her vital yin remains, and that also means… that her Exquisite World can still be taken from her.”

“The woman of Glazed Glass is protected by the heavenly law, this is something that definitely isn’t just baseless hearsay,” Gu Zhi pronounced slowly. “Forcefully robbing her of her Exquisite Body might perhaps not be the best choice.”

“I’ve never ever believed in the so-called heavenly law,” Qianye Ying’er said with a soft, cold laugh. “Even if the heavenly law truly exists, then all I need to do is overthrow them!”

Gu Zhu remained silent at that.

“Qingyue, you may go and rest.” As he stood in the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace above, the Moon God Emperor’s gaze swept across the entire area. He was not the least bit surprised at everyone’s reactions.

Xia Qingyue turned around and went inside the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace. From the start to end, she had not uttered a single word. Even her expression and the look in her eyes had not even suffered the slightest ripple during the entire process.

But, all she needed to do was to show herself for that one instant.

“Star God Emperor. So, are you still satisfied?” The Moon God Emperor’s cheery voice was directed to the Star God Emperor.

Compared to the cold words that the Star God Emperor had said in public, his counterstroke was “warm” in the extreme, yet it had undoubtedly been a complete and utter victory for him.

The Star God Emperor gave a cold snort, his hands had curled into tightly-clenched fists and his complexion was ashen. In fact, it had been a long time since his complexion had looked this bad.

It could be said that the Star God Realm had been going through a rather unfortunate period in their history in the recent years. The Star Gods were so strong that they had more often than not died in their beds rather than in battle, but in the recent years, the Star God Realm had suffered one unfortunate incident after another. In the short span of a few decades, both the Heavenly Wolf Star God and the Heavenly Slaughter Star God had fallen one after the other. The good thing was that the Heavenly Slaughter had returned afterwards and the Heavenly Wolf had found a new successor… But after that, the Heavenly Poison Star God had been exterminated by a single knife stroke of the Heavenly Slaughter Star God.

He had kept the matter of the death of the Heavenly Poison Star God under lockdown, so it was impossible to find this out even if you were a denizen of the Star God Realm, much less an outsider.

On the other hand, the Moon God Realm actually got a woman of Glazed Glass as their god empress!

As the Moon God Emperor smiled and said those words in that cheery voice of his, the Star God Emperor felt as if his heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys were about to explode due to anger… and his heart welled up with an incomparably strong hatred that was born out of jealousy.

The sound of countless praise and gasps of admiration immediately rang out in Divine Moon City. The assorted phrases of flattery all gathered up into a veritable tidal wave of sound. Within the main palace, the Brahma Heaven God Emperor said, “No wonder the Moon God Emperor made this wedding celebration so high profile and he even went so far as to mention what happened all those years ago as well… So this explains everything.”

“The humiliation he suffered all those years ago already doesn’t exist anymore,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor said. The reputation of being protected by heaven that the “Heart of Glazed Glass” possessed was something that he absolutely believed in.

Just based on the words “Heart of Glazed Glass”, even if that person was as ugly as a sow, even existences on the level of the god emperors would snatch to make her their empress, so as to protect themselves and their king realm. Furthermore, her appearance was actually far superior to the Yue Wugou of all those years ago…

Just based on looks alone, she was already worthy to be the Moon God Empress and it was not just Shui Qianhang who held these thoughts.

At this moment, it seemed like the humiliation of yesteryear had somehow turned into a fortunate affair in the end.

From today onwards, no one had any right to laugh at the Moon God Realm in secret anymore. Even if it was a king realm, the only things they could feel would be extreme envy and admiration.

Following the departure of Xia Qingyue, the trembling of Yun Che’s body grew more and more subdued until it finally stopped completely.

The waves of noise all around him engulfed his ears. From very long ago, Jasmine had told him that Xia Qingyue possessed the “Heart of Glazed Glass”, so she had the protection of heaven. In the Snow Song Realm, Mu Xuanyin had also gave him a simple explanation regarding the “Heart of Glazed Glass”. Just based on the fragments of knowledge he had obtained from Jasmine and Mu Xuanyin, it was basically impossible for him to understand exactly what having a “Heart of Glazed Glass” entailed.

But today, he had witnessed the reactions of all the powerhouses of the Eastern Divine Region and seeing the Moon God Emperor smile as if the world was at his feet. All these things told him just what the “Heart of Glazed Glass” really meant.

But to him, all of these things were not important.

The important point was that she was Xia Qingyue.

When she saw that Yun Che looked like he was calming down and was not giving any indication that he was about to take drastic action, Mu Bingyun breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, she saw Yun Che’s gaze swivel towards her as he asked her a question:

“Palace Master Bingyun, do you think… she knows that I’m still alive?”

Upon looking at Yun Che’s eyes, Mu Bingyun felt her heart “thump” fiercely.

Because those eyes were actually incomparably calm, calm to the point that it was terrifying, but there was also a formless gloomy darkness that veiled them.

Those eyes looked as if they were hiding two vicious beasts which were about to go berserk at any moment.

Mu Bingyun was unable to reply with words, she could only shake her head.

When Xia Qingyue had been sent away from Frozen Cloud Asgard all those years ago, the entire Profound Sky Continent knew that Yun Che was “buried” in the Primordial Profound Ark. So to the best of her knowledge at the time, Yun Che was already dead.

From that year onwards, until the onset of the Profound God Convention, Xia Qingyue should have been under the notion that Yun Che no longer existed in this world.

But…

During the Conferred God Battle, Yun Che’s name resounded throughout the entire God Realm. As long as they lived in the Eastern Divine Region, there was zero possibility that one had not heard the name “Yun Che”, to say nothing of the fact that she lived in a place such as the Moon God Realm.

Upon hearing that name, as long as she went to look at the Profound Imagery Stone that was receiving images of the Conferred God Battle, she should have known that Yun Che still lived.

So this question was something that Mu Bingyun really could not answer.

Because whether Yun Che was already dead held completely different meanings for Yun Che and Xia Qingyue.

Yun Che went silent and Mu Bingyun did not say anything else either. Huo Poyun, Yan Juehai, and the others felt a formless pressure but they did not say anything in the end. They only felt violent and tempestuous waves blow in their hearts.

Within Divine Moon City, that was engulfed in noise, the only pocket of bizarre silence was in the area where they were seated.

As this moment, a young girl wearing a long moon-white robe appeared.

Her figure was delicate and achingly beautiful, and her vivacity was overflowing, but she also possessed a forcefully delicate beauty and nobility. This caused many of the strong individuals of the Eastern Divine Region to look at her again and again, yet none of them dared to speak to her out of fear of offending her.

Because the moon-white robe that she was wearing was embroidered with the Moon God Realm’s Divine Moon Mark.

She passed through row upon row of seats before she started moving in the direction of where the Snow Song Realm and the Fkame God Realm were seated. To the shock and surprise of Huo Rulie and the rest, she finally came to a stop at Yun Che’s side.

“May I dare to ask if… this is Sir Yun Che?” the young girl asked with some apprehension.

Yun Che’s eyes slanted to the side as he looked at her, “And you are?”

The other party had tacitly confirmed his identity, so the young girl immediately gave a polite bow and said, “This servant’s name is Jin Yue, I am the personal maidservant of the Moon God Empress.”

Upon hearing the words “Moon God Empress”, Yun Che’s eyes jolted into focus. The expressions on Mu Bingyun and the rest also changed but not all the expressions were the same.

The change in Yun Che’s eyes caused Jin Yue’s heart to fiercely jump. She did not know what had happened, but she felt a faint sense of uneasiness grow in her heart. She hurriedly offered up a jade box and the words that she spoke after that were laced with nervousness, “The Moon God Empress said that she had previously owed a debt of gratitude to the Snow Song Realm, so she specifically… she specifically bestows this gift… to Sir Yun…”

As Yun Che’s gaze bored into her, Jin Yue fiercely trembled at that moment, and she was unable to say the words that were supposed to follow after that.

Yun Che extended his hand and took the jade box, his face completely expressionless.

Jin Yue breathed a long sigh of relief in her heart. She did not know where the unease, that had suddenly risen in her heart, had come from, she only knew that she wanted to leave immediately. She gave a small curtsy as she said, “Jin Yue will take her leave.”

“Wait a moment.” Yun Che’s finger lightly caressed the top of the jade box before he opened it up and looked at the jade white medicinal pellet which was releasing a mysterious aura. After that he asked, “Can I ask a question?”

“Sir Yun… please do so,” Jin Yue said as her body tensed up slightly.

“Since your god empress knows me, then does that mean that she has also seen the images recorded from the Conferred God Battle?” Yun Che asked as he took the jade white medicinal pellet from the box and deposited it into the Sky Poison Pearl without looking. Only an empty jade box remained in his hand after that.

Jin Yue felt a weird tension snake around her, so she was too busy to even think about why Yun Che would ask such a question. She answered in a straightforward and honest manner, “The empress is possessed of a passive and retiring personality, so she did not pay close attention to the Conferred God Battle.”

“Is that so?” Yun Che asked calmly, his face still expressionless. A rolled up scroll of paper had appeared in his hand. After that, he put that scroll of paper into the jade box and lightly closed the jade box once again.

“The Moon God Empress has shown such great kindness, so how can this humble one not return the favor?.” Yun Che lifted up the jade box and placed it in front of Jin Yue, “Can I trouble Miss Jin Yue to deliver the present of my humble self to the Moon God Empress… And I insist that she open it herself.”

Jin Yue involuntarily took the box and after a brief moment of hesitance, she responded kindly, “Sir Yun, the Moon God Empress’ temperament is very mild and gentle, she has received countless congratulatory gifts, but she has not touched a single one yet.”

Yun Che’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, “Then I would trouble Miss Jin Yue to add this when presenting it to her. This is the great congratulatory gift that ‘Floating Cloud’s Xiao Che’ has sent to her on this joyous occasion.”