Against the Gods

It was unknown how long Yun Che was unconscious for until he finally began to stir. When he regained consciousness, a fragrant scent assaulted his senses.

“Ah… you’re awake.”

The delighted shout of a girl sounded beside his ears. When he opened his eyes, emerald green eyes possessed by a beautiful girl, who seemed to have walked out of a painting, stared back at him… Her red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks revealed that she had been crying not too long ago.

Whether it was his body or soul, he no longer felt pain. Instead of the feeble exhaustion one would feel after a lengthy period of torture and loss of consciousness, he felt incredibly comfy. He stood up in a slight daze, then saw an ocean of myriad flowers. The sounds of insects and birds were like music to his ears, the breeze was gentle, the skies were clear, and there was a fairy in front of him… Even after taking several breaths of air, Yun Che believed that he was still asleep, that he was in a celestial land inside his dream.

“He… Ling…” Yun Che’s gaze fixed onto the wood spirit girl before him…

He Ling, He Lin’s older sister.

Back then, He Lin had left the hideout to find his older sister. Back then, He Lin had kneeled before him and begged him to become his master to find his older sister. Back then, He Lin had given him his Wood Spirit Orb at his last breath and the only request he made, with streaming tears, was to find his older sister…

He had finally found her.

He had not forgotten. Before he lost consciousness, she was the one who kneeled before Shen Xi and pleaded for his sake, thus causing Shen Xi to permit him entrance to the “Forbidden Land of Samsara” and simultaneously allowing him to escape the nightmare of the death-wishing mark.

……………...

“I beg of you… In my place... Please find my sister…”

“I am the last of the wood spirit’s royal bloodline. I was the hope of the entire race… However, I’m just that useless… I couldn’t protect sister, I couldn’t protect my people… I couldn’t do anything at all.... If I carry on living, I’ll only bring disaster upon Big Brother Yun Che who has been nothing but sincere and good to me…. This useless me… I cannot find sister and I won’t be able to protect her either… I can only… only be so selfish as to beg Big Brother Yun Che…”

“Don’t speak any more. Don’t worry, even if I have to travel through the entire God Realm, I will definitely find your sister! I will protect her… I’ll kill anyone who wants to harm her! Even if I have to give my life, I will never let her come to any harm! This I swear… I swear this upon my life!!”

“Thank you, Big Brother Yun Che. This is… the only… way I can repay you…”

“When I was very young… Father and mother once mentioned… our Wood Spirit Orb was extremely special, it was called a ‘Miracle Seed’. I really hope that one day… It will really… give Big Brother Yun Che a miraculous power…”

……………...

Yun Che unwittingly covered his heart with his hand. The words He Lin said back then with his tears and his life had never left his heart. He did not forget a single word.

This time, it wasn't just He Ling who had saved him, but also He Lin… If it wasn't for his Wood Spirit Orb, even if he wasn't dead by now, he would've been living a life worse than death.

“Mn…” The wood spirit girl vigorously nodded. She thought she had already cried out all her tears but once Yun Che called out her name, tears instantly blurred her vision. “That's me, you…”

Seeing this man before her, who was obviously a stranger, possess an aura she was most familiar with, caused her to choke with emotion. She found it hard to speak.

“Thank you… for saving me.” Yun Che straightened and cleanly thanked her.

……………...

“My older sister, her name is He Ling... He Ling!”

“Then… What does she look like? Is there anything different about her features with regard to other wood spirits?”

“Big sister is a very good-looking wood spirit and is the most beautiful sister in the world. She is prettier than any flower, prettier even than the stars and the moon in the night sky!”

……………...

Yun Che originally thought that the words He Lin had said back then were due to the instinctive admiration he felt toward his older sister. It was only now that he had seen this wood spirit girl in the flesh, right before him, that he realized He Lin had not exaggerated at all.

A wood spirit’s body contained the pure power of nature. Whether they were male or female, all of them possessed incredible looks. This could be considered a favor nature power gave them. He Ling was the last descendant of the wood spirit race’s royal line. This was exhibited at its pinnacle before her. The beauty of all those flowers paled in comparison to her magnificence. The tear stains on her face would make the entire world mourn in sadness.

The wood spirit girl shook her head. During his period of unconsciousness, she visited everyday. But now that he had awakened, she timidly avoided his gaze.

“How… long was I asleep for?” Yun Che asked.

“Thirteen days.” She answered him in a small voice and sneakily took a glance at him before immediately shifting her beautiful eyes away.

He’s… not He Lin after all. This was the first time she had been this close to a human male.

“Thirteen days…” Yun Che muttered, sighing inwardly. Even if he no longer had the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark on him, he would still not be able to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm in time.

Seeing the ring on his finger which came from Caizhi, he sadly thought to himself: Jasmine, I am already destined to never fulfill the promise I made to you… and Caizhi.

Qian… ye… Ying… er…

When this name and that golden figure flashed in his head, an evil energy instantly gushed from his heart… but once his gaze met the wood spirit girl in front of him, he rigidly suppressed it.

That woman was too frightening.

She could use a single finger to destroy stars with her profound strength, her schemes were deep, and although she was as vicious as a snake, she just happened to be extremely cautious as well… She was able to evade the eyes and ears of the world, yet when she struck out against someone like him who could not resist her at all outside the Eastern Divine Region, she did not hesitate to inflict him with the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark...

Yun Che was a person who never feared the strong. Back when he was only in the Divine Soul Realm, he dared to go against the entire Black Soul Divine Sect alone and bring mayhem to both their realm king and sect.

Qianye Ying’er, however, was just too powerful. In front of her, Yun Che clearly felt like he was an ant under the suppression of a heavy mountain. No matter how he did his best with his power, methods, or thoughts, he could not move a single inch.

She had already dealt her hand, implanting the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark on him, so there was no reason for her to hold back.

Now that he could not enter the Eternal Heaven Pearl… did this mean that he had to live his life under her shadow?

Yun Che’s scalp went numb just thinking about her dreadfulness and the torture he had just suffered from the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark. His soul shivered as he thought to himself: Qianye Ying’er… I won't die this easily… If there comes a day that you fall in my hands…

I'll rape you ten thousand times before I hack you into pieces!!

He gave his life's most malicious curse to Qianye Ying’er… indeed, due to the disparity between them, he could only think about it.

“W-what's wrong? Are you hurting again?” He Ling anxiously asked when she saw Yun Che’s expression begin to slightly distort.

Yun Che recovered his senses and hurried replied, “No, no. I was only thinking about some things. W… What about that Senior Shen Xi? I haven't thanked her for saving my life.”

He Ling’s gaze shifted to where the bamboo house stood in the ocean of flowers and said softly, “Master is currently in meditation. We can't disturb her when she's in meditation but Master has been suppressing your Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark every day so she won't meditate too long. You should be able to see her soon.”

“Alright,” Yun Che answered with a nod, and then asked, “So what kind of a person is Senior Shen Xi? I've never heard of her before I came here.”

Qianye Ying’er had said that she was the only person who could release the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark. With her level of power, there was no doubt in her words.

Yet Shen Xi was able to.

And now he did indeed not feel the pain of the death-wishing mark.

What kind of person was she, to actually suppress a power at the level of Qianye Ying’er?

No wait! Qianye Ying’er said that if someone was afflicted with her death-wishing mark, even a god emperor would wish for death and beg for mercy… Could she be even stronger than a god emperor?

Moreover, the place where she lived was actually the biggest forbidden ground in the Dragon God Realm!?

He Ling thought about it, then replied, “Master is a really powerful, really great person. It was Master who saved me three years ago and because she pitied me since I was alone, she brought me here. But I don't really know anything else about Master. I only know that… something seems to be restricting Master, forcing her to remain here. Even though she can leave once in a while, she can't leave for long or she'll disappear.”

“...Disappear?” This word left Yun Che dumbstruck.

“Mn, that's what Master said,” He Ling said with a light nod. “Master meditates everyday in order to break free from this restriction. This time, because of me, Master’s… going to take more time to break the restriction.”

She hung her head, tightly biting her lips.

“More time”... was not just ten or a hundred years, but twenty thousand years.

“...” Yun Che was stunned, then said hurriedly, “No, not because of you, because of me.”

He had heard everything Shen Xi’s gentle voice had said when he was outside the Forbidden Land of Samsara. He remembered that she would waste a full twenty thousand years of heart's blood if she were to save him…

This meant that she had delayed breaking free of the restriction by twenty thousand years when she saved him.

He scratched his head… This was another huge freaking favor he couldn't repay!

He had always encountered all sorts of disasters in his life before meeting his saviors one after another… he wasn't sure if he should grieve or rejoice about it.

It was no wonder that she was still firm in her rejection when Xia Qingyue pleaded to her utmost… A whole twenty thousand years, even to Divine Masters, this length of time was extremely long. After all, humans in the Divine Master Realm had a lifespan of fifty thousand years.

But in the end, she had actually agreed to save him… this was simply inconceivable.

He Ling still shook her head and then lifted her gaze. Her eyes which had evaded Yun Che’s since the very start suddenly fixed on him. She asked with an extremely soft voice, “Can you… tell me what happened to my Lin’er? H-how… did he… die…”

When she said that, Yun Che saw a trace of deep pain in He Ling’s crystalline green eyes.

Yun Che had long known that the relationship between the siblings was extremely tight due to He Lin’s worrying about her. To He Ling, He Lin’s death did not just contain the impact of losing her last relative, but the annihilation of the wood spirit royal family's line…

“Alright.” Yun Che nodded. Even if it was extremely cruel, he had to tell He Ling.

“I met He Lin in a lower star realm called the Darkya Realm. At that time, I wholeheartedly wanted a Wood Spirit Orb…”

Then he told He Ling everything, about how his desire for a Wood Spirit Orb led him to enter the Darkya Realm, led him to purchase He Lin, about how he couldn't kill He Lin in the final moment and instead sent him back to their hideout… which ended up in a massacre of wood spirits… He told her everything in detail, and dictated every word and action He Lin had said and done to her.

All the way to when He Lin offered him his Royal Wood Spirit Orb, to when he finally tearfully dissipated in his arms…

He Ling silently listened without interrupting him. When she heard all those familiar names and then heard him say that they had all died, her snowy hands tightly covered her lips as teardrops crazily poured down. Her entire body shook violently, as though she was amidst a freezing windstorm.

“Dead… All… dead…” She whimpered as she sobbed, each word bringing about more tears.

“...” Yun Che did not dare to look her in the eye. “I was the one who harmed them, I was the one who brought disaster to that place. I burned the mastermind, Lei Qianfeng’s corpse where they rested, but…”

Yun Che’s voice suddenly stopped there, because he saw a green colored droplet fall to the land beside his legs.

He abruptly lifted his head, and in his shock, he saw two streaks of emerald green water stains on He Ling’s snowy mein.

That was the color of a wood spirit’s blood!

What was even scarier was that her originally emerald green eyes… were covered in a heavy layer of gray.

Yun Che’s heart lurched. He quickly held onto He Ling’s shoulders. “He Ling… He Ling! You…”

“Granny Qing Ye… Uncle Qing Mu… Fei Yan… Zhu Yin… Qing Zhu… are all dead… all… dead…”

Each and every soft cry came with the bleeding of her heart. Her eyes were unfocused. There was only pain, despair, and more and more gray… a kind of gray which definitely should not have appeared on a wood spirit.

“He Ling!” Yun Che forcefully shook her delicate shoulders and said anxiously, “Listen to me. They’re not here anymore. You are the last descendant and hope of the wood spirit royal family so you have to stay strong… Since I have He Lin’s Wood Spirit Orb, I can be considered half a wood spirit. I will go look for the other wood spirits with you and protect them from now on. You mustn’t…”

A hand powerlessly pushed him away as He Ling turned around and ran away, leaving behind a lingering trail of green blood...

“He Ling!”

Yun Che quickly stood up. Right when he was about to give chase, a soft sigh came from behind him.

“Aii… let her go.”

Yun Che stilled, and then turned about.

Bathed in a pure and holy white light, her face was indiscernible, and only her beautiful, illusory figure could seen.

She was obviously within reach, yet it seemed like she was standing at an unreachable height.

Shen Xi.