Against the Gods

Profound Sky Continent, Floating Cloud City.

Xiao Lie was someone who cherished the past and he was still used to staying with the Floating Cloud City’s Xiao Family. Yun Che would come every once in a while and stay for a few days.

This place was his small courtyard, it contained countless memories for him and Xiao Lingxi. His experiences in the God Realm already seemed like a distant memory to him, but the more than a decade of time he had spent with Xiao Lingxi still shone in his mind like it was yesterday.

“Master said that your profound veins are extremely strange and that they are completely different from a normal person’s profound veins. That also means that we will be unable to use normal methods to repair them. During this period of time he has checked many medical books but he was not able to find anything. However, there isn’t any need to be too worried. Master often says that there is no illness in this world that cannot be treated, it is just that we have not found the method to treat it yet.”

Su Ling’er was waiting upon Yun Che and once he had finished his medicinal bath, she said those words with a gentle voice as she helped him put on his clothes.

Yun Che shook his head and laughed as he said, “Tell him that I’m really not bothered by this and that he does not need to expend so much effort to try and help me.”

Su Ling’er gave small laugh as she said, “It’s not like you don’t understand Master’s temperament, right? He loves medicine to the point of foolishness, so when he finally encounters a rare problem that is hard to solve, he will only become more focused on it. You also don’t need to be so pessimistic, Master is so powerful, so maybe… No, that’s not right, he will definitely be able to find a way.”

“Mn, you’re right,” Yun Che nodded his head but he did not explain. He was well aware that an existence like the Evil God’s Profound Veins could not be awakened by normal means.

Su Ling’er’s hands remained on his chest even after she had helped him fasten his robes. Then she faintly raised her delicate face to look at the him who was right in front of her, Su Ling’er’s eyes grew more and more misty and forlorn. Her delicate body leaned forward, its soft suppleness leaning against his chest.

“The fact that you are able to be here by my side, safe and sound… is truly a good thing.” Her beautiful eyes closed as she softly said, “During that period of time, I was really very afraid.”

Yun Che extended a hand to hug her as he said apologetically, “I know that I definitely must have made all of you worried during the four years I was in the God Realm.”

“You weren’t aware of this, but” Su Ling'er shook her head while she was in his embrace, “the day you left, Big Sister Lingxi passed out for a while and after that, she would pass out every once in a while. Sometimes it would be once every month, sometimes it would be once every few days.”

“...What?” Yun Che’s brows furrowed, “Lingxi, she… Why didn’t anybody tell me about this?”

Su Ling’er comforted Yun Che by gently rubbing his chest as she gave him a small smile, “She was afraid that you would be worried, so she did not allow any of us to tell you. Furthermore, ever since you came back, she hasn’t fainted again, and it was only because of this that I even dared to mention it in the first place.”

Yun Che, “...”

“She was clearly far too worried about you. Furthermore, every single time she fainted, she would have a nightmare… Furthermore, it was the same nightmare and every single time she woke up, it was also because she had been startled awake by that very same nightmare.

“What nightmare?” Yun Che unconsciously asked.

“She said that she dreamed that you were covered in blood in a world filled with starlight and your body was riddled with holes… and in the end, you were turned into ashes in a mass of scarlet flames,” Su Ling’er said softly. Yun Che was safe and sound in front of her, so it was natural that she could now calmly describe those scenes which she had not even dared to imagine before.

Yun Che was extremely shocked.

“During that period of time, she was very afraid. Even though I kept comforting her by telling her that her dreams weren’t real in the end, I was also very afraid as well.”

“...” A long time had passed and she did not hear Yun Che reply. If she raised her head at this moment, she would discover that Yun Che’s eyes had gone blank with astonishment. It was only after a long period of time that he finally recovered some of his senses and said with a smile, “All of these dreams are naturally fake. Don’t you worry, I guarantee that I will be well-behaved and honest from now on. All of you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Starlight...

Covered in blood...

Riddled with holes...

Scarlet flames...

Turning into ashes...

A coincidence… It was definitely a coincidence!

“Where’s Lingxi?” he asked almost subconsciously.

Su Ling’er extracted herself from his embrace, a teasing and mischievous light flashing through her beautiful eyes, “I just asked her to help me bathe you in your medicinal bath, but she ran away instead… Long before you departed to the God Realm, Grandfather Xiao already personally acknowledged your relationship, yet you actually haven’t made a move on her, even now. This is something that totally isn’t like you, you know.”

“...” Yun Che’s expression was slightly embarrassed and he spoke in a rather bashful voice, “Lingxi and I grew up together so we are far too familiar with each other… it’s not easy to make a move on her.”

“Hmph, you’re so protective towards her but you’re so bad to the rest of us,” Su Ling’er pouted in mock anger as her beautiful eyes turned towards him slightly. “It can’t be that you’re… afraid Grandfather Xiao will rebuke you, right?”

“...” Yun Che nodded his head and admitted the point, “There is that one thing.”

“Pffft, hee…” Su Ling’er said with a smile, “Right now, Grandfather Xiao is busy playing with Yongan every single day, he doesn’t have the time to be bothered about you. For all you know, he might be eagerly waiting for Big Sister Lingxi to give birth to a grandchild for him sooner rather than later.”

Her eyes suddenly brightened at this moment, “Do you want me to prepare some medicine for you?”

“No, no, no, no.” Yun Che waved his hands in a fluster, “I’ll do it myself, I’ll do it myself.”

After he exited the courtyard, Yun Che’s brows sank slightly as he sank into deep thought.

That dream of Xiao Lingxi’s...

That nightmare had started from the day he had departed for the God Realm. Which meant that it had started four years ago and she kept dreaming of the same nightmare for four straight years. She fainted every time before when she had this nightmare and even Su Ling’er could not tell why she had kept fainting. Furthermore, the dream which Su Ling’er had used just a few words to describe...

Shockingly enough, it exactly described the location where he died and how he had died… It had even exactly described the fiery nirvana that had happened after his death!

He vaguely felt an indescribable strangeness.

But he was the person who understood Xiao Lingxi the most in this world. He had been accompanying her from the very day she was born and the two of them had grown up together. Her personality and temperament were pure and weak, her talent in the profound way was middling and she also did not have any goals or desires regarding the profound way.

Among the women by his side, no matter whether it was natural aptitude, cultivation, appearance, origin, or status, she was the most ordinary of them all.

The irreplaceable thing that they had was that they were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together, and they had feelings for one another that could never be erased.

Besides it being a complete coincidence, there was no other explanation that could possibly explain this.

However, if he had to think of something that was unusual...

At this moment, Yun Che’s footsteps halted and he suddenly thought of that piece of mysterious black jade that he had retrieved from the body of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.

Back then, no matter whether it was him or Jasmine, that piece of black jade would not respond to any method they tried or any power they tried to insert into it. Yet it would give off a bizarre reaction any time Xiao Lingxi drew near to it, causing rows of incomparably bizarre words to appear in the air.

Yun Che did not understand those words at all, yet Xiao Lingxi could understand every single one of them...

What was even more bizarre than this was that she herself did not have a clue as to why she would recognize and understand these words— because she had also never seen anything like these words before, yet she could naturally understand them.

She called these words the 【World-Defying Heavenly Manual】, and translated and read out each and every word for him… These words seemed to be some sort of scripture but also seemed to be some sort of profound formula. Furthermore, they were suddenly cut off at the end, so it was clear that it was not complete.

He had given this explanation to Xiao Lingxi at that time. His explanation was that it was possible that this piece of black jade had a very strong spiritual energy which happened to be compatible with her aura, so it reacted to her and formed a soul connection with her, thus allowing her to recognize those words… However, those words were only used to comfort Xiao Lingxi, used to dispel the panic that Xiao Lingxi felt at the time because she did not know what was happening. At the same time, he had also said those words to explain it to himself… Yet this was a forced explanation that even he could not bring himself to believe.

But apart from this, he could think of a no other reason.

As he silently thought about this, the scripture, that Xiao Lingxi had translated for him and that he had memorized in his heart, suddenly floated up in his mind:

“At the beginning of the primordial universe, the start of Primal Chaos, there was no order in the universe, no separation between light and darkness. The heavenly law was the binding that held the origin power of the universe together…”

At this moment, Yun Che’s steps came to a sudden halt.

From a certain moment onwards, a moment that Yun Che had not sensed at all, the scripture of the “World-Defying Heavenly Manual” that had appeared in his mind had actually started to resound like the peals of large bell that shook his heart and soul with every word...

“Barren in the first era, boundless after an hundred eras and endlessly flourishing after myriads forth. The stars formed the universe, the fallen heaven formed the realms. All that was extraordinary were in opposition, all prosperity was mere illusion…”

Every single word resounded in the sea of his soul like the world-shaking peals of a heavenly bell. They also opened up a boundlessness that came from a distant era...

One will to sainthood, and another will to become fallen; all desires are nothingness. Wrath is sin, evny is sin, lust is sin, greed is sin, sloth is sin... End of all that is living, home of all of creation.

Yun Che’s eyes stared blankly as the world in his vision grew dimmer and dimmer before disappearing completely. His vision went completely white before it turned into a boundless darkness...

Only the words from the Heavenly Manual remained, words that were resounding in his world like the peals from a large and ancient bell.

The courtyard door was pushed open and Xiao Lingxi, who was dressed all in green, entered with light steps. Upon seeing Yun Che, her eyebrows arced up, “Little Che, how come you’re alone by yourself, where is Ling’er?”

However, she did not receive any reply from Yun Che. Yun Che was facing her and he was no more than a few steps away from her, yet he had not made any reaction when she had appeared, nor had he responded to the words she had said. He was simply staring straight forward with fixed eyes, eyes that completely lacked any focus or expression.

“Eh?” Xiao Lingxi let out a small cry of surprise. She thought that Yun Che was teasing her, so she skipped forward and poked his body lightly, “Little Che… AH!”

Yun Che had not reacted to her light poke at all. Instead, he had simply fallen over backwards like a wooden log.

She let out a cry of alarm as she hurriedly rushed forward to support Yun Che, “Little Che? What’s wrong with you? Little Che!”

She cried out to him again and again but Yun Che still remained in a complete daze. He had not reacted to any of her actions, his gaze remaining blank throughout. It was as if he had lost his soul.

Xiao Lingxi started to panic but it was at this moment that Feng Xian’er descended from the skies like a bolt of lightning. She supported him together with Xiao Lingxi as she said, “Young Master… Young Master, what’s wrong with you!?”

“Ling’er… Hurry up and call Ling’er!” Lingxi said in an anxious voice.

The Xiao Family’s abode was not big to begin with, so Su Ling’er was also very near to where they were. As Xiao Lingxi was crying out in alarm, she was already hurrying over, she did not need to wait for Feng Xian’er to call for her.

After they had propped Yun Che up, Su Ling’er tapped a finger against Yun Che’s chest. Profound energy swiftly circulated through his entire body, but it did not find anything abnormal. After pondering the situation for a brief moment, she suddenly took out a sound transmission jade and sent a sound transmission to Feng Xue’er, “Sister Xue’er, come quickly to the Xiao Family abode, there’s something wrong with Big Brother Yun Che.”

After a few short breaths, Feng Xue’er’s figure had appeared within the Xiao Family abode. Following a flash of red light, she appeared right in front of Yun Che.

After she scrutinized Yun Che’s condition for a while, Feng Xue’er’s pink lips opened slightly and a puzzled expression appeared on her face. She glanced at Xiao Lingxi and both of them saw an expression of disbelief on the other’s face.

“What’s going on with Little Che? What exactly is going on?” Xiao Lingxi said in an anxious voice, tears faintly trembling in her eyes.

“Big Brother Yun… he seems to have entered a state of enlightenment,” Feng Xue’er said with some hesitation.

“Ah?” Xiao Lingxi was stunned by those words.

“Enlightenment?” A similar expression of disbelief appeared on Feng Xian’er’s face, “But Young Master already does not have profound strength anymore, and even his profound veins are… So how could he enter a state of enlightenment?”

“This is indeed out of the ordinary,” Su Ling’er said as her delicate brows knitted together. “However, his mental condition has indeed entered the state of enlightenment that is most commonly seen in the profound way…”

After she finished speaking, she gave Xiao Lingxi a comforting look, “Even though it is a bit strange, no matter whether it is the condition of his body or his heart and soul, everything is completely normal. So there’s no need to worry, we just need to wait for him to wake up and everything will be fine.”

Because enlightenment served as the place where the profound way could be comprehended, it was something that could not be sought after, it could only be encountered by luck. However, without profound strength, and even without profound veins, one naturally did not have any place in the profound way, so how could one enter this state of enlightenment?

However, the current Yun Che had indeed entered a state of enlightenment… Furthermore, it was an incomparably bizarre state of enlightenment.