Against the Gods

“N… No!” Yun Che gritted his teeth, “I've… said it before… I have to… stay… with you…”

Xia Qingyue’s chest violently rose and fell. It was only after quite a while that she coldly replied, “One of them is my foster father who I owe a great debt of gratitude to and the other is my birth mother who is near the end of her life. No matter how they treat me, it is just, since I have turned my back on them. Even if they need my life as atonement, I would be perfectly willing to do so… but how is this any of your business?”

“We are husband and wife, but in these twelve years, we were only married in name. Never were we a couple in the truest sense, and rarely have we met because we were more often apart than not. Although we were married, our relationship has always tethered on thin ice.”

“...” Yun Che held his breath, not understanding why Xia Qingyue was saying all this.

She finally turned around to face Yun Che once more but both her face and eyes were icy cold. She emotionlessly crouched down, their marriage contract astonishingly in her hands.

“In order to preserve your dignity, I abandoned my foster father and my biological mother. In order to save you, I traveled all the way here… Everything I've done so far has lived up to our married status and I no longer owe you anything. From now on, you'll belong to your Western Region’s Dragon God Realm and I'll stick to my Eastern Region’s Moon God Realm. We will go on our separate ways, without any debts or grievances between us!

“From this day forth, us husband and wife… will have cut off all ties!

Rip…

A light sound later, the marriage contract in Xia Qingyue’s hands instantly ripped into several white pieces and then scattered into dust… until they became nothingness, without any vestiges remaining.

Shen Xi, “...”

“Ah?” He Ling’s beautiful eyes widened as she blankly stared at the scene before her. She just could not understand it. For him, that girl had begged on her knees, not hesitating to use her life as a guarantee just a moment ago. Why did she suddenly become this merciless?

“Qing… yue…” All the blood in Yun Che’s body madly gushed to his head and he could not breathe. “You…”

She stood up, turned around, and coldly continued without bothering to look at him again, “You should now understand how frightening Qianye Ying’er is. If you don't want to die, don't bother leaving the Dragon God Realm before your wings have yet to fully develop! Fifty years from now, whether I, Xia Qingyue, am dead or alive, have met fortune or misfortune, that will have nothing to do with you!”

“...” Yun Che’s mouth incessantly gaped. He wanted to say something, but once his blood rushed to his head, his brain went into turmoil and he could not voice a single word.

The lengthy torture had already weakened his consciousness to its extremity but now that all his vital energy and blood surged to his head, the reverse flow of blood attacked his mind. The world before him suddenly went black as he fainted dead away.

However, the hand gripping onto her skirt was still clutching the edges ever so tightly… as if it took all his strength and willpower to do so.

Xia Qingyue lifted her head and took a deep breath before she stooped down to slowly loosen Yun Che’s hold on her skirt.

She slowly advanced in silence, her expression calming with each step forward. After taking more than ten steps, her face was already a sheet of frost, without any visible gentleness and yearning.

“Senior Shen Xi, Qingyue bids you farewell.”

After saying that, right when she intended to take flight, her body suddenly trembled fiercely. An arrow of blood spurt out from between her lips, staining the clean land before her with a glaring streak of scarlet.

This bloody arrow seemed to have robbed her of all strength. She slowly sunk to the ground, shoulders repeatedly shuddering as teardrops silently fell between her dangling hair. No matter how much she tried, she was unable to cease her actions.

“Aiii…” a long sigh came over from between the heavens and earth. “Why must you do that to yourself?”

The shuddering of Xia Qingyue’s shoulders was incomparably intense, yet she firmly resisted against making the slightest sound… It was only after a while that she finally stood up again and softly answered, “I… am no longer qualified to live for myself…”

“Aside from you yourself, no one else can force you to such a state,” Shen Xi said gently.

Xia Qingyue faintly shook her head. With a wave of her jade hands, the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace appeared overhead but she did not immediately enter and instead suddenly turned about. A ball of profound light flickered on her body. Then, guided by her will, it flew toward the unconscious Yun Che.

That profound light quickly latched onto Yun Che before disappearing into his body. At this time, the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace flashed with a bright white light.

And thus, the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace had a change in ownership.

“Senior Shen Xi, if Qingyue is still alive fifty years later, she will definitely repay today's gratitude. If Qingyue is no longer in this world by then… she will repay it in the next life."

Shen Xi, “...”

She rose into the air, flying far into the east. Soon, her silhouette and aura disappeared in the ends of the east, leaving behind a heavy feeling of empty solitude… and that lengthy streak of blood which still glared scarlet.

A pair of eyes looked in the direction she left towards and only withdrew after a very long time. A soft voice sighed, “Being possessed of such passion and character, yet so unyielding and stubborn. This kind wondrous girl is truly rare to behold. I hope the heavens may protect her.”

He Ling sat in a kneeling posture next to Yun Che since the start, her jade green colored eyes never leaving his body. This was the first time she met this man and she never interacted with him. In the past either… Yet he had become her greatest, last hope.

“Master, is… is he alright?” He Ling asked worriedly, drops of translucent tears still hanging on her face. He Lin’s attack was already too huge. If not for the hope named Yun Che, she would've perhaps already collapsed.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes.” He Ling hurriedly wiped away the tears on her face and carefully carried Yun Che into the barrier.

Upon entering the barrier, the hazy mist outside the barrier instantly dissipated. What appeared in its place was an absolutely beautiful world filled with a myriad of colors.

Here, the green grass swayed as hundreds of flowers contended with one another in beauty. It was an explosion of color with countless exotic flowers blossoming enchantingly. These flowers joined with the green grass around them, becoming a vast ocean of flora. Beyond the flowers and grass, the air, the earth, the trees, the flowing water, and the sky… everything was pure, as if they had come from an imaginary dreamland.

Anyone who came here for the very first time would deeply believe that they had stepped into a fairy tale world… There was no dust or filth, no crime, and no disputes.

As He Ling’s footsteps advanced, the flowers and grass beside her all lightly swayed in her direction. A few jade bees and colorful butterflies also cheerfully flew over, dancing around with her at their center.

After passing through the world of flowers and grass, an extremely simplistic bamboo house stood before them. Crawling above the bamboo house were multiple emerald green vines that covered most of its surface. A similarly colored emerald green bamboo door also existed, but aside from that, there was no other decoration on this bamboo house, nor was there any other object of complexity in this world.

There was no luxurious palace, no lustrous profound light… only a small bamboo house which seemed to have fused with this world.

In front of the bamboo house was the figure of a woman immersed in mist.

No, if one came closer, they would discover that what covered her was not mist, but clearly a cluster of white light. The white light was visibly dense, yet looked exceptionally natural and gentle as it quietly concealed that silhouette. Although her face was obstructed from view, one could catch a faint outline of her incomparably beautiful figure.

She did not seem to have been deliberately releasing that white light. It wrapped around her body like it was a part of her.

Once He Ling approached, the woman within the white light slowly turned around. At the same time, a pure and holy aura came over… Yes, it was pure and holy, so holy that it could possibly be considered divine. It made one clearly sense the filth in their body and soul, made one feel like kneeling on the ground, made one feel that if they came just one step closer and took just one more glance at her, it would be an unforgivable blasphemy.

This aura was different from those temperaments cultivated in pure and holy environments. Her divinity seemed to have come from the depths of her soul, and could also strike the depths of other souls.

He Ling gently lowered Yun Che to the ground. Then, she kneeled deeply. “Master, it’s Ling’er who made such a selfish request, Ling’er…”

“No need to say any more.” She gently shook her head, her voice exceptionally soft. “This is the promise I made to you back then, I am merely honoring it now.”

“...” Heart pounding, He Ling bit her lips, and did not say another word.

She was already unable to return the favor of when Shen Xi saved her life back then, and in her heart, He Ling clearly understood what it meant for Yun Che to stay at present… this kind of favor certainly could not be repaid in ten lifetimes.

Even though fate was incredibly cruel to her, she was incomparably grateful that the heavens allowed her to come across this kind of master.

Yun Che was still in an unconscious state but his body was tense and his face was still flooded with pain. As Shen Xi slightly leaned over, she gently pressed the pure white light downwards with her palm. A much thicker layer of white light immediately enveloped Yun Che’s body, not fading for a long time.

Under this layer of white light, Yun Che’s body and the expression on his face relaxed bit by bit. Even his breathing gradually became steadier, no longer rough.

“The ‘Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark’ he has been afflicted with is currently the world’s most malicious curse that simultaneously affects the soul, blood, tendons, and body. The one who planted this death-wishing mark on him is the Eastern Divine Region’s leader of the four king realms, the Brahma Monarch God Realm’s Qianye Ying’er.”

Although she did not touch his body, with the other party’s identity, she clearly understood the soul aura of the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark.

“Brahma Monarch… Goddess…” He Ling softly muttered. Although she rarely made contact with the outside world, the title of “Brahma Monarch Goddess” was one of great reputation.

“The Brahma Monarch Goddess schemes deeply. She rarely shows herself in front of others and although she shows her hand even less, in order to plant the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark on him, she actually did not hesitate to harm her own soul origin as the cost. It looks like this child has something she desperately seeks.” Shen Xi stated gently, each and every one of her words as soft as floating clouds.

“I-is it for the Wood Spirit Orb on him? Lin’er’s Wood Spirit Orb!” Once she thought about it, He Ling’s mind became chaotic once more. A Royal Wood Spirit Orb… was an item of great rarity, one that would cause even king realms to get worked up to a frenzy.

“No,” Shen Xi lightly shook her head. “Although a Royal Wood Spirit Orb is a relic that many would covet, it would not make Brahma Monarch Goddess go this far.”

“In the following half month, I will use all my power to suppress his death-wishing mark. This will make every consequential outbreak after the half month period less painful, and fret not, I will keep him asleep the entire time..”

He Ling heavily kowtowed. “Master, Ling’er… Linger… will leave him to you.”

“Go,” Shen Xi said with a smile.

“Yes.”

He Ling obediently rose. After taking another glance at Yun Che, she left with light steps, lest she disturb her.

Only after walking quite a distance away did she slowly crouch down, hugging her own shoulders, her entire silhouette nearly blending in with the flora around her… In the end, she could not control herself any longer. With a shudder of her shoulders and her hands desperately clasped over her lips, tears quickly streamed down her face...

“The wood spirit clan that ought to have received the protection of nature actually underwent this much suffering. If Lord Li Suo were still alive, she would grieve.”

Shen Xi sighed faintly. She lifted her right hand. With a gentle press of her jade fingers, a mote of white light immediately floated down toward the center of Yun Che’s brows… about to temporarily seal his memories.

She told Xia Qingyue before that Yun Che’s memories of his time in the Land of Samsara would be sealed. He would no longer remember his past, and he would also have no memories about this place once he left… To Shen Xi, this was something she was adamant about.

The white beam fluttered, sinking between Yun Che’s brows… but in the next instant, that mote of white light suddenly scattered, accompanied by a soul suppressing dragon cry.

AOOOO

In this world which only possessed the cries of insects, the dragon roar was especially frightening. It scared the weeping wood spirit girl, and shook the celestial figure covered in white even more.

“Master!”

The wood spirit girl quickly wiped away her tears and anxiously ran back, “What happened? That sound from before…”

Before she had yet to finish her sentence, her beautiful eyes suddenly froze… because she clearly saw the acute trembling of Shen Xi’s light covered celestial figure. She had not even retrieved the pointing finger, leaving it hanging in the air.

It was as if her soul had suddenly left her.