Against the Gods

The bamboo house was very small, and the decorations inside were extremely simplistic and tidy. However, they also gave off an indescribable sense of calm and warmth.

Chu Yuechan had built this delicate little bamboo hut with green bamboo by herself a long time ago, and no one had been allowed to get close to it, much less enter. Yun Che was the first “outsider” to break this rule.

Right now, Yun Che’s eyes were red and swollen. Without any profound energy, he wasn’t able to do even something as simple as reducing the swelling. If his current appearance were to be exposed to the world, the sheer amount of eyeballs that clattered on the floor could probably fill up more than half of the Eastern Divine Region.

“How did you arrive at this place back then?” he asked while glancing back and forth between Chu Yuechan and Yun Wuxin from time to time. For the first time, he felt like having just two eyes wasn’t enough at all.

Yun Wuxin was leaning on Chu Yuechan’s knees and holding her cheeks with both arms, examining Yun Che in secret from time to time. As Chu Yuechan held her tiny hands, her eyes turned a little misty upon hearing Yun Che’s question. She was clearly different from who she was before—Fairy of Frozen Beauty, head of the Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies—a woman who had been so cold that she could almost be described as heartless so many years ago. Although she still kept her cool temperament to this day, it was clear that her eyes and appearance had softened by a little—no, a lot.

It was because she was no longer the Fairy of Frozen Beauty. She was now just a woman who had given up everything in her past for the sake of a “dead” husband, and a girl’s mother.

“Back then, everyone thought that you had died at Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Management Terrace. It was also around that time that I realized I was pregnant, so in order to keep your bloodline alive I chose to leave Frozen Cloud Asgard…”

“...” Yun Che knew full well that her departure hadn’t been a simple thing. She had had to abolish her own Frozen Cloud Arts, bear the shame and guilt of having let down her sect on her own, and even have her decision exposed as the biggest “scandal” to happen in Blue Wind Nation back then...

Thankfully, Yun Che later grew powerful enough both physically and politically to strong arm the “scandal” into a “romantic affair”... When power reached a certain level, it transforms not just the wielder, but also everyone’s recognition.

“I was hoping to find a quiet place to give birth to our child, but… I was ambushed before I’d even left the Snow Region of Extreme Ice. Those people were extremely powerful, and I had just abolished my own profound arts and destabilized my own profound aura not long ago. As a result, I was wounded during the attack… luckily for me, a timely snowstorm shielded me from detection and gave me the opportunity to escape on the Snow Phoenix…”

“It was Xuanyuan Yufeng!” Yun Che said calmly, but his hands were clenched very tightly.

He hadn’t taken Xuanyuan Yufeng’s life because of Ling Jie, but he couldn’t help but be filled with hatred every time he thought of her anyway… In fact, his hatred had only grown stronger after listening to Chu Yuechan’s story.

“I realized that they were from Heavenly Sword Villa…” Chu Yuechan might’ve abolished her own profound art back then, but she still possessed the power at the Emperor Profound Realm. There were only a handful of powers that could have driven her to the grave situation she was in in the entire Blue Wind Nation, but Heavenly Sword Villa was definitely among those powers. “After I had escaped the Snow Region, I fainted for a long time inside a wild forest… It was only after I woke up that I realized that I wasn’t the only one who was hurt. My child had taken damage during the ambush as well.”

“What!?” Yun Che shook violently upon hearing this. His eyes had become countless times murkier than before, but that didn’t stop them from burning suddenly with terrible violence, “They… hurt Wuxin!?”

Yun Wuxin blinked and shot Yun Che a puzzled glance.

“Back then, all I could do was to protect Wuxin with whatever profound energy I had left… But I also had no idea where I should go from there…” Her voice sounded transient when she was recalling her situation back then.

“...” Holding tightly onto Chu Yuechan’s hands, Yun Che felt a painful cramp twitching inside his heart. She had deserted her sect, bore shame on her back, and then been hunted by Heavenly Sword Villa before she had even left the Snow Region… What power had Heavenly Sword Villa been back then? They had been the number one force in Blue Wind Nation and an absolutely invincible existence!

The level of despair she must have faced back in those years must have been unimaginable...

“Do you remember?” Chu Yuechan’s voice suddenly turned much gentler, “Back at the Dragon God’s trial grounds, you told me a lot of stories in order to keep me awake after I had lost all my profound veins and became filled with the will to die. Most of them were clearly fake, but I had thought that some… might actually turn out to be true.”

“...” It was as she said. Back at the Dragon God’s trial grounds, more than ninety percent of the stories he had told Chu Yuechan were fake. They were jokes he forced himself to speak to make her laugh… even though he hadn’t succeeded even once.

“At the time, I vaguely remembered you telling me that your phoenix flames didn’t come from the Divine Phoenix Sect, but a place called the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range. You had said that a decayed, lost phoenix clan had lived there, and that its descendents were extraordinarily kind and guileless. Even better, they were protected by the Phoenix God itself, and no beast dared to enter its territory…”

“...” In order to keep Chu Yuechan from losing heart, he had said many, many things to her for half a year straight. He literally couldn’t remember everything that he had told her… which was why he couldn’t remember ever telling her about the Phoenix Clan.

In fact, he was a little surprised by this revelation. It was true that Chu Yuechan was the first person to learn that he possessed the phoenix flames. On the first day they came to know each other, he had used the phoenix flames to force out the poison spirit lurking inside her body. However, the phoenix flames’ origin wasn’t only one of the greatest secrets he had to hide, but also a matter that related to the safety of the Phoenix Clan. It wasn’t something that he had planned to tell any outsiders about...

However, Yun Che gradually came to accept his slipup after he recalled the situation back at the Dragon God’s trial grounds. He had had to kill ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine profound beasts in a cruel trial, and he had had to stay alert throughout the whole thing to defend both him and Chu Yuechan from dangers that could come from anywhere, anytime… He could accept that he was so mentally fatigued that he had revealed a secret he shouldn’t have and not realized it throughout the years until just now.

“That was how I came to be here. However, when I first arrived at this place, I discovered a barrier that was so powerful that it was impossible to break through, even before I had abolished my own profound arts,” Chu Yuechan said quietly.

Chu Yuechan was undoubtedly speaking of the protective barrier the Phoenix Spirit had created with its final strength after he and Cang Yue had left the mountain range back then.

“Disappointed, I was about to leave to search for another way, but suddenly, a hole appeared on the barrier on its own…”

“It was Wuxin.” Yun Che couldn’t help himself, “She inherited my phoenix bloodline, and my bloodline came from the Phoenix Spirit’s origin blood itself, which makes Wuxin the second generation successor of the Phoenix’s origin blood. That’s why her phoenix aura was stronger than an adult phoenix descendant’s even before she was born.”

No one could’ve affected the phoenix barrier before they were born unless they were Yun Che or Feng Xue’er, people who had inherited the origin blood of a phoenix directly, not even the direct descendants of the Phoenix Clan or the Divine Phoenix Sect. But Wuxin could… because she was his daughter!

Back then, Chu Yuechan was hunted by Heavenly Sword Villa right after she had abolished her profound arts, getting injured as a result. Worse, the Divine Phoenix Sect started invading Blue Wind Nation not long after… If the unborn Yun Wuxin hadn’t unconsciously opened the phoenix barrier for Chu Yuechan, he might not have seen either of them ever again in his life.

“This place is exactly what you told me before: it is a peaceful land that is hidden from the world. Their eyes hold no malice in them, and despite the initial surprise and wariness they held when they first saw me, they tried to help me after they learned that I was carrying a baby. They didn’t try to disturb me after I showed them cool rejection either...” Chu Yuechan closed her eyes softly, “Since then, I spent almost all of my time inside this bamboo forest. I’ve not even interacted with them for the past few years because I was afraid of putting my trust in anyone anymore… and of course, leaving was out of the question…”

“...I understand.” Yun Che nodded while replying feebly. The loving ache in his heart and his regret were so big that he felt like his innards were being carved alive.

“Your profound energy is… gone, right?” Yun Che asked softly. He might not have his spiritual perception any longer, but it was visibly evident even to his eyes.

Chu Yuechan nodded, but there wasn’t any sorrow or desolation to be seen on her face. She said calmly, “Wuxin had been hurt by a sword aura while she was still in my belly. When I finally arrived here, her aura had become barely noticeable. To keep her alive, I had to force out my blood essence and origin power continuously…”

“!!!” Yun Che shook once again, and his face turned visibly pale.

“In the end, I used up all of my origin power, and my profound veins wilted away. However, I ultimately managed to save Wuxin and give birth to her…”

“...” Even Yun Che’s lips were shaking at this point… She had lost most of her blood essence, and her profound veins had wilted away. Then, she had to give birth to Wuxin. To his knowledge, she shouldn’t have survived the experience no matter what.

He wanted to ask how Chu Yuechan had managed to overcome this ordeal, but the answer came to him before he managed to ask the question… it was a miracle only a mother could achieve.

“At the time… I had wanted to entrust Wuxin to them and… fall asleep in peace. But… I just couldn’t let go while staring at her eyes and listening to her cries…” Chu Yuechan stroked her daughter’s hair gently while looking at her with eyes gentle and warm enough to melt anything, “I wanted to watch her grow… I had hoped that she would look… like you…”

“I look more like mother though. In fact, I don’t look like father at all.” Yun Wuxin stared at Chu Yuechan before sticking her tongue out slightly at Yun Che.

Chu Yuechan’s smile... became captured in Yun Che’s heart and soul in that instant.

This was the first time he had ever seen her smile...

In the past, this was something that he had only seen in his dreams. But now, it was happening right before his eyes.

The only reason he could witness this now, was because he was still alive.

Back then, he had used countless methods to seek out Chu Yuechan. He had asked Cang Yue to organize a search using the royal family’s power, he had asked the Black Moon Merchant Guild to help him, and he had even asked Feng Xue’er to organize a search throughout the Profound Sky Continent using the Divine Phoenix Sect’s power later on...

But his attempts had all ended in failure.

It was because he had never thought to search the “Phoenix Clan”.

The Phoenix Clan lived in a peaceful land that wasn’t known to the outside world. It was a secret place. Since his phoenix powers had originated from here, he had reason not to reveal it to the outside world. That was why he had subconsciously avoided them during his many search attempts, and why the thought that Chu Yuechan might’ve come here never entered his mind.

Five years ago, he and Feng Xue’er had come to visit the Phoenix Clan, but they had ultimately decided against disturbing their peace after discovering the phoenix barrier… He hadn’t realized that they were so close to him until now.

Yun Che finally understood why even Jasmine hadn’t been able to find Chu Yuechan.

After Jasmine had remade her body and regained some of her powers, she had spread out her spiritual perception twice and tried to search for Chu Yuechan’s aura throughout the entire Profound Sky Continent… both times she had told him that her lack of strength was the reason she failed.

It was only after she had left that he learned the truth from the soul message she had left behind with Hong’er. It wasn’t that she lacked the power to find Chu Yuechan, it was because she couldn’t find her anywhere.

After Chu Yuechan had abolished her Frozen Cloud Arts, her aura no longer had the signature of a Frozen Cloud Asgard profound practitioner. That was why Jasmine had no choice but to search through every Emperor Profound Realm profound practitioner that existed on the Profound Sky Continent. Later on, she assumed that Chu Yuechan might’ve achieved a breakthrough and changed targets to Tyrant Profound Realm profound practitioners and even Sovereign Profound Realm profound practitioners. However, her efforts had still ended in failure.

Jasmine had even considered the possibility that Chu Yuechan’s profound energy might’ve declined and tried searching for her among those in the Sky Profound Realm… the results were still the same.

There were over a hundred billion of living beings that exists on the Profound Sky Continent. No matter how powerful Jasmine was, there was no way she could’ve scanned everyone in detail, especially considering that a person’s aura grew weaker the lower their profound energy was.

That was how the cruel truth in Jasmine’s message came to be: Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, and even Sky Profound Realm… Chu Yuechan was none of them. This meant that there were only two possible outcomes left—Chu Yuechan was either dead, or crippled.

If it was the latter… Considering Chu Yuechan’s beauty, her downfall would only be even more tragic, and considering her character she would rather die than suffer the humiliation...

That was the exact moment Yun Che was forced to accept the “fact” that Chu Yuechan truly had passed away.

Of course, that had all changed today. From her story, he learned that Chu Yuechan had lost her profound strength, but it wasn’t because she was crippled by her enemies. It was because she had willingly used up all of her origin power and allowed her profound veins to wilt away to protect Yun Wuxin.

Xuanyuan Yufeng...

Yun Che gritted his teeth in secret… You might be Ling Jie’s birth mother, but I really should cut you into a million pieces all the same!