Against the Gods

“...” Shen Xi’s gaze turned towards another direction, and for a moment, she was at a complete loss. Even given all the experience that she had in her life, she was still actually unable to understand why Yun Che would be so determined and resolute.

He clearly knew that he could not save her, he clearly knew that if he went, he would only end up dying in vain. Even if it was someone that important to him, he still should not have behaved in such an unreasonable manner.

“I won’t let you go,” Shen Xi said with a soft sigh. “You heart has already descended into madness. Please calm yourself down first.”

“I am very calm, I am more calm than I have ever been at any point in my life!” Yun Che’s voice was growing hoarser each time he spoke and blood flowed freely as it seeped from his gums, “I understand every single thing you are saying, I understand every single word! But you’re the one who doesn’t understand what exactly she means to me… You will never be able to understand!”

Shen Xi, “...”

“Let me… go… please… let me go… LET ME GO!!!!”

SNAP!!

An incomparably dreadful ripping sound rang out in the air, two extremely shocking and ghastly bloody lines had actually simultaneously split open on Yun Che’s arms.

His body had been completely suppressed yet his alarming determination to continue struggling had erupted from within… Shen Xi’s beautiful eyes shook intensely. The Yun Che in front of her was like a despairing wild beast which had been locked inside a cage of darkness, a wild beast that was using its own fresh blood and its very life to roar and struggle.

Without Jasmine, Yun Che would merely have been a useless cripple who had been chased out of his own clan, who had received an endless amount of cold stares, and who did not even have the power to protect his own family members. So was what he felt towards Jasmine gratitude? No it was not… It definitely was not. The feelings he had for Jasmine were very strange and marvelous, they were different from every other woman who had entered his life, and he wasn’t able to put those feelings into words. But it was these inexplicable feelings, which bound his heart and soul, that caused him to chase her to the God Realm. It was these feelings that allowed him to go from someone who had not even entered the divine way to the Eastern Divine Region’s Conferred God Number One in the short span of three years… All for the sake of meeting her again.

And now, he had heard that she was about to become a sacrifice, that she was about to disappear from this world forever… In that instant, he felt as if his entire world was collapsing around him.

He needed to reach her side, no matter what… Even if he died, even if he lost everything. He was well aware of the fact that these thoughts would be viewed as incorrigibly stupid by anyone else. But, in his life, in his two lives in fact, he had never been as resolute and determined as he was right now.

“Master,” He Ling stepped forward and softly sank to her knees in front of Shen Xi, “I beg you… Let him go.”

Shen Xi’s crescent brows wrinkled slightly, “Ling’er, why are you also being this willful?”

“Because Ling’er understands his feelings.” He Ling’s eyes were hazy and her voice was filled with distress, “If the person in question was Lin’er, I would definitely go as well… Even if I knew that I couldn’t save him, even if I knew that I would only be sending myself to a meaningless death… I would still definitely go.”

“...” Shen Xi looked at He Ling before looking at Yun Che as a feeling of “not knowing which course of action to take” welled up inside her… This emotion, that she had not known for a long time, was now winding around her heart.

Just why exactly was he doing this?

Wan Hu… If it was you...

“Let… me… go… Let me go!!”

“Master…”

Yun Che’s hoarse yells overlaid He Ling’s pleading as they rang in Shen Xi’s ears. She turned around, her back facing the two people as she slowly closed her eyes.

“Do you know how to get to the Star God Realm?”

She softly asked, her voice was like a ghostly wind, it was soft and light as cotton.

“...” Yun Che’s struggles froze for a moment. He had gone to the Star God Realm but the last time he went, he had arrived there via the Eternal Heaven God Realm’s profound teleportation formation. So he did not know where the Star God Realm actually was.

Shen Xi stretched out a hand and as she pointed a finger, a small cluster of white flew out and entered the space between Yun Che’s brows. Immediately the location of the Star God Realm was clearly imprinted into Yun Che’s soul.

“Your life was saved by me, but… in the end, your destiny is ultimately your own. You are free to do as you desire. I can advise but I don’t have any authority to stop you… Since you have made this choice, then go.”

Bang!

With a soft pop, the white light surrounding Yun Che disappeared.

The suppression vanished and Yun Che fiercely staggered and nearly fell to the ground. After he found his footing, he did not leave immediately. Instead he stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face as he stared dazedly at Shen Xi’s back… and he did so for a very long time.

He slowly walked forward and he lightly hugged Shen Xi from behind after that.

Shen Xi, “...”

“Shen Xi…” Yun Che’s breathing was regular as he softly spoke into Shen Xi’s ear, “Even though, I could never figure out why you were so good to me… my life is something that you saved, my light profound energy is something that you gave to me, and you even worked hard to reconstruct my mental state, guiding me to change my originally disappointing goals… I know and have sensed all of these things.”

“The moment I broke through to the Divine King Realm, I even thought that my own mental and emotional states had gone through a very great change as well.”

“But… the moment I heard her name, I knew that in the end I was no more than a disappointing mortal!”

“...” Shen Xi did not say anything but she did not push him away either.

“Even though it definitely sounds like a very childish and ridiculous thing to you… she just so happens to be a person whom I would give everything for, that I would throw all caution to the wind for.”

“Your mercy, your expectations, it seems like it is destined for me to let you down in this life. If there is a next life… I will try my best to find you and then I’ll be obedient and listen to what you say…”

After that, Yun Che abruptly let go of Shen Xi and rose into the air as he flew into the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace. A beam of dense moonlight exploded outwards in the sky and the Vanishing Moon Celestial palace transformed into a streaking trail of starlight as it vanished into the distant horizon.

“Master…” He Ling softly cried and before she could even say her goodbyes she had already transformed into an emerald-green ray of light as she vanished from behind Shen Xi and returned to the Sky Poison Pearl.

A long period of time passed before Shen Xi finally turned around. She stretched a jade finger and lightly traced the air, constructing a high-level sound transmission profound formation.

“Do me a favor… Yun Che is presently rushing over to the Star God Realm. No matter what happens, I request that you protect his…”

Shen Xi’s voice came to a sudden halt and after several breaths of heavy silence, her hand slowly lowered and the sound transmission profound formation vanished into thin air as well.

“It’s fine…” Shen Xi raised her head, endless disappointment and frustration filling her beautiful eyes. What she had originally thought was a gift from heaven had actually come to such a premature end in such a short period of time.

“Could this also be the will of heaven?”

————————————

The Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace maintained its top speed as it shot towards the far-away Eastern Divine Region. As one of the best profound warships in the universe, its speed was something that even Qianye had difficulty keeping up with, but Yun Che still felt it was moving too slow.

“Yun Che, in the end you and I are master and disciple… If you still respect me as your master, then promise me the last thing… I want you to immediately swear to never step into the Realm of the Gods!”

……………..

“Even if you do enter the Realm of the Gods, you will not be able to find me anyways… and if by any chance, you are able to find me… I will still definitely not meet you!”

……………..

“From today onwards, I am no longer your master. All our ties have been severed and we don’t owe each other anything!”

……………..

“Whatever I, the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, want to do, when has it ever degenerated to the point where I had to explain myself to a mortal from the lower realms like yourself? I am a distinguished and grand Star God, but I actually came to find you today! That in and of itself is already bestowing upon you great honor! But you not only did not feel deeply grateful, you actually want to try to climb over my head!?”

“I had no choice but to rely on you during those years we spent in the Blue Pole Star… But right now, what are you in front of me? Do you have any qualifications to request to see me? And what qualifications do you possess that I must explain myself to you!?”

“Hurry… up… and scram!!"

……………..

“You… this… moron… this huge moron… Wuuuwuuu... Uwaaahhh…”

“Yun Che, Caizhi. I want the both of you to become husband and wife from this day forth!”

“There has always been a deep abyss in Caizhi’s heart. Right now you are Caizhi’s husband, so you have the responsibility… to never allow her to ever fall into that deep abyss!”

“Yun Che, three years from now, you must not only protect me, you must protect Caizhi as well… protect her for the rest of her life.”

“Yun Che, remember well each and every word I have said to you, you’re not allowed to forget a single one.”

Countless words and emotions chaotically replayed in his head. Her ruthlessness, her determination, her tears, her soft words, the things she had entrusted to him… Each and every one of these things pointed towards that most merciless truth.

He sat on the ground, his body was incessantly rocked by shivers, and the teeth that he gritted together tightly had yet to loosen at any point of time.

“If you don’t see her in the next five years, then you can forget about ever seeing her again in this lifetime.”

The words the Golden Crow Spirit had told him that year were also the direct reason why he had rushed towards the God Realm… It was clear now that the Golden Crow Spirit had known about what was to happen today a long time ago, perhaps it was Jasmine who had told it, or perhaps it came from his own memories of the primordial era.

The words the Golden Crow Spirit had said, the strange things that Jasmine had said and done, the abnormally intense hatred she held towards her own father, and the act of entrusting Caizhi to him...

I should have realized this a long time ago, I should have realized this a long time ago! Why am I always so naive that I never want to think in that direction...

Jasmine… You said you killed an innumerable number of people and you’ve always made yourself out to be a bloodthirsty and ruthless person, but I know more than anyone that you have never wantonly or unjustly slaughtered anyone before, despite having inherited the power of the Heavenly Slaughter Star God. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you do not like to see your hands stained with blood, and you even sternly ordered Caizhi to never casually take another person’s life. So all the blood that has stained your hands, when has it ever been for your own sake...

The you who has not been treated kindly by the world has always treated the world around you with kindness… For your big brother, for your mother, for me… and for Caizhi...

Why did you not escape together with Caizhi? Caizhi is so reliant on you that she would definitely be willing to betray the Star God Realm together with you rather than lose you. Even if she would have to live the life of a fugitive, always having to live under someone else’s dark shadow… You’re clearly clever but why did you have to be so silly when it came to this one thing.

Because of my impulsiveness and disobedience, you have scolded me so many times, yet how are you any different from me in this regard.

Yun Che’s hands slowly tightened into fists and in the middle of his right hand was the Void Illusion Stone that Caizhi had given to him.

If he could make it in time, if he had the opportunity to get close to Jasmine, there was a possibility that he could flee together with her… But he was even more clear on just how tiny this hope was. The Star God Realm had not hesitated to open up the Absolute Star Soul Barrier for this ceremony, so they would definitely not allow any accidents to happen.

He Ling’s footsteps were silent as she walked over and leaned lightly against Yun Che’s side.

Yun Che’s gaze turned towards her, “He Ling, I…”

Just as he had started speaking, He Ling interrupted him by giving a light shake of her head, “There’s no need to say anything and I want to hear a sorry from you even less. On the day that I became your poison spirit, I told you that no matter what happened in the future, I would not regret it.”

Yun Che, “...”

“Lin’er is already dead. I wasn’t able to protect him, and I wasn’t able to save him. In fact, I wasn’t even able to see him for that one last time, so I understand what kind of pain this is,” He Ling said softly. “Do not be left with the same regrets that I have, no matter what the ending is, I will accompany you.”

“He Ling…” Yun Che muttered softly and he was unable to say anything else for a long period of time. He Ling’s existence and words were undoubtedly the greatest companionship and consolation to the current him right now. It was just that he understood that the debt that he owed her would never be able to be repaid in this life.