Against the Gods

Chapter 2013 - Abyssal Fury

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Ku Xian frowned. He couldn’t understand Long Jiang’s murmurs at all.

Ku Xian was nearing the end of his lifespan, so his knowledge and experience far surpassed everyone present. Long Jiang hadn’t just revealed herself to be an Ancestral Dragon, her talent far exceeded any Ancestral Dragon or records of genius Ancestral Dragons he had ever seen.

His emperor, the sect masters and the alliance masters didn’t seem to realize that the consequences of killing Long Jiang was far greater than they imagined. Unfortunately, their rationale was completely gone before the word “Half-God”.

Besides that, he couldn’t understand what a once-in-a-lifetime genius like Long Jiang was doing here in the Qilin God Realm without a guard and under concealment. Someone like her should be treated like a princess, and yet she didn’t act like it at all. She was even going after the Qilin Bone Spirit Orchid, which to a dragon really didn’t amount to much no matter how impressive it was.

In the end though, there was only one thing to do. Ku Xuan sighed on the inside and gathered a deadly ball of profound energy. Then, he brought it down on Long Jiang’s head.

Before it could get close to Long Jiang though, a violent gust of wind suddenly blew him away and even scattered the deadly energy.

“...!?” Ku Xuan turned around in shock and saw Yun Che standing right where he was a moment ago. He was about to ask a question when he blanched.

The Yun Che he knew possessed a level of calmness and haughtiness that didn’t fit his age and allowed him to face down even an Abyssal Knight without fear. It was as if nothing in the world was deserving of his emotions one bit. But right now, his chaotic aura was such that even the space around him was stirring unsteadily. He also picked up a hint of something… monstrous that terrified even his ancient soul.

“What are you doing, Yun Che!?” Ximen Borong growled darkly.

“Nephew Yun?” Helian Jue was frowning deeply as well.

No one had expected this to happen, but it wasn’t like Yun Che could change anything. Therefore, the group was only shocked, angry, and slightly wary.

“Brother Yun?” Mo Cangying quickly caught up to him, “What… are you doing?”

Yun Che didn’t respond to anyone’s questions. He was already doing his best to calm himself down, but it was useless. He half-knelt heavily on the blood-stained sand, grabbed Long Jiang’s broken left arm, and asked in an urgent, raspy voice, “Who are you? Where… where did you hear that from?”

“He

A strange cloud

Meets a bright smoke and saw the light

She

The first light of dawn

Chases away the wind of chaos and nurtures the strange cloud

Together

They slumber atop a bed of flowers as one.”

The inspiration had struck him while he was holding Shen Xi and lying atop a bed of flowers. Since then, Shen Xi had often used the poem to tease him.

Considering the context, it was an embarrassing poem to say the least. The only three people who knew about it were Shen Xi, himself, and He Ling. He supposed that Yun Wuxin counted as well, as he had recited the poem before Shen Xi’s grave when he took her to the Forbidden Land of Samsara, though she didn’t know the true story behind it. But this was the Abyss! A world that was completely separate from that other world! So how did this Ancestral Dragon named Long Jiang know about it!?

Had she met Shen Xi?

Was Shen Xi still alive?

Was she here…?

Was she still alive?

She… she…

Yun Che bit his tongue and finally regained a bit of clarity, but the hand he used to grab Long Jiang’s left arm was still shaking uncontrollably.

His mental fortitude was far greater than what it used to be, and his mind permanently existed in a state of absolute calmness since he entered the Abyss. He should not have lost his cool like this even if he suddenly learned that Shen Xi was still alive.

So why was his heart hurting so much? Why did he completely lose control of himself? Just why…?

Yun Che’s voice caused Long Jiang to look up. When her face finally came into full view, his eyes abruptly froze solid.

No, it wasn’t because of the two terrifying scars on her face. It was… her eyes.

Even when her eyes had grown out of focus, they still refracted a thousand dreams and desires.

“Shen… Xi…” He muttered blankly just like the first time he met Shen Xi.

Her eyes were the most beautiful pools of stars he had ever seen in his life. He was willing to submerge himself in them for eternity even if they were abysses. It was the same pair of eyes that had made Long Bai dream a fake dream for hundreds of thousands of years.

To think that Long Jiang would share such similar eyes…

She…

Is she…?

“Heh…” Long Jiang smiled when she saw Yun Che’s contracting pupils. It wasn’t a kind smile, however. It was a bloody smile that was full of scorn and sorrow, “I didn’t think… you would remember my mother’s name…”

Yun Che’s blood froze for an instant before rushing up to his head, all of them. “Your mother… is…”

“Shen Xi… is… your mother?”

He was so not in control of himself that he just barely squeezed out the sentence.

Shen Xi…

Mother…

Under ninety years old…

The Black Tide of Time…

Nine years ago…

His thoughts were a chaotic mess right now, and yet these particular bits of information surfaced and organized themselves without any effort. At that moment, he felt like he was struck by a million lightning bolts.

He abruptly leaned forward and shouted uncontrollably, “Your father… Who’s your father!? Could it be… you…”

Long Jiang’s smile remained ice cold and scornful. “I have no father. That man… doesn’t deserve to be my father!”

She was right in front of him, and her eyes looked almost identical to Shen Xi’s. However, it was filled with heart-rending rejection and alienation, “I’ve even abandoned the name mother gave me a long time ago… Yun Xi!”

Yun Che’s pupils widened in an instant.

Yun… Xi…?

Dazedly, he recalled the two bamboo tablets he found buried in the Forbidden Land of Samsara back then.

One of them was engraved with the character “Yun”, and the other “Xi”.

It wasn’t “Xi Yun” (Hoping For Cloud) as he thought after all.

It was…

Yun Xi!

Even as the world threatened to sway underneath him, one of the biggest questions in his life… The question as to how Long Bai had lost control so badly that he would kill the woman he had loved and guarded for hundreds of thousands of years… pierced through his soul.

As it turned out, Shen Xi was already pregnant when he left the Forbidden Land of Samsara and went to the Star God Realm on a suicide mission.

And the child’s name… was Yun Xi.

Those similar eyes…

Her familiar soul…

The heartache that came out of nowhere…

The complete and utter loss of his sanity…

No wonder…

She’s Shen Xi’s daughter!

She’s Shen Xi’s and my daughter!

She’s my daughter!

……

Even if there was no other proof, those eyes alone were all the proof he needed.

His blood was circulating chaotically, and his mind was a murky, turbulent sea… he bit his tongue again until his whole mouth was full of iron.

As his eyes and his thoughts slowly cleared up, he saw the blood stain beside her lips, her blood-drenched shirt, her pierced body, and the growing pool of blood beneath her…

His heart felt like it was cut into a million tiny pieces. He hurriedly withdrew his hand when he realized that he was clutching her broken arm.

He didn’t say anything else. He closed his eyes, breathed out all the air in his lungs… and when he opened them once more, they were pits of the abyss.

While everyone was shooting him odd looks, Yun Che slowly picked Long Jiang up into his left arm and held her tightly against her chest. Then, he soundlessly and slowly wrapped her in profound energy.

The way their blood sang in tandem was so clear. It was just like when he hugged Yun Wuxin.

I have another daughter…

I never knew I had another daughter…

Just… how much despair… had Shen Xi felt back then…

Long Jiang didn’t struggle or try to resist, but her unfocused eyes remained devoid of any warmth.

“What are you doing, Yun Che?” Ximen Borong half-narrowed his eyes.

What answered him was a vermillion glare.

The Heaven Smiting Sword emerged into existence, and a terrific pressure annihilated the wind and sand and pressed heavily against everyone.

“Get lost,” he said emotionlessly while holding Long Jiang with his left arm and his sword with his right, “Anyone who stands in my way will die.”

His words caused everyone to blanch for a second. Then, they started chuckling low and dark.

“Hehehehe, how interesting,” Zhai Kexie actually looked delighted instead of angry, “Emperor Helian, it looks like your ‘Nephew Yun’ is trying to give us a pleasant surprise.”

Everyone knew that Zhai Kexie wished he could tear Yun Che to a million pieces after Zhai Liancheng.

Previously, he had no way of doing harm unto Yun Che without putting himself in trouble, but now? It was clear that Yun Che was committing suicide!

Yun Che’s background did not matter at this point. Long Jiang was an Ancestral Dragon, and they were going to kill her anyway. So why would he be afraid of Yun Che?

If anything, this was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!

“Nephew Yun, you…” Helian Jue was obviously confused, “Do you know her father or something? Are you affiliated with the Ancestral Dragons?”

Helian Jue didn’t want to lose Yun Che, of course. God knows he had imagined Helian Lingzhu marrying into a Kingdom of God a million times already. But if he really was connected to Long Jiang, and he was trying to take her away, then…

Yun Che didn’t answer their questions. Instead, he slowly stepped toward the group while the massive, vermillion sword grew heavier and heavier.

“Hahahaha! This is interesting,” Wan Lei guffawed. “It doesn’t matter what his background is, in the end, he’s just a youngster. He thought he could do whatever he liked when he was still outside the Qilin God Realm. People who don't recognize the circumstances and act accordingly die young, you know?”

“Yun Che!” Helian Jue’s voice had also darkened as if he was giving him his final warning.

Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!

Yun Che was stepping on sand, and yet it sounded like a giant hammer was striking against stone. It shook everyone’s heart like crazy.

“Put her down, Brother Yun! Brother Yun!!” Mo Cangying cried out in panic as the distance between Yun Che and the Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioners gradually shortened.

“So, he’s going to save her even at the cost of his life. Hehe… Emperor Helian,” Ximen Borong said darkly. “You should know what the consequences are if Long Jiang leaves this place alive. It is clear that Yun Che shares some sort of special relationship with her as well. If Long Jiang dies, but Yun Che leaves, what do you think he will do when he leaves the Qilin God Realm?”

“Indeed, we must be thankful that he has suddenly decided to be stupid. Had he feigned ignorance and feigned silence… god knows what might’ve happened!”

Zhai Kexie’s voice darkened when he turned around, “His stance is clear, Emperor Helian. You’re not going to defend him still, are you?”

“...” Helian Jue went through what looked like a major struggle. In the end, he said, “Ku Xian, capture him!”

He used the word “capture” instead of “kill”. Clearly, he still couldn’t let go of his delusions regarding Yun Che.

Ku Xian accepted the order and raised his arms… but he abruptly froze before he could unleash his attack.

He was the closest person to Yun Che, so he could feel his aura and see his terrifying eyes perfectly.

Right now, Yun Che seemed like a completely different person from before. The darkness and viciousness in his eyes… it was like he had climbed over mountains of corpses and wade through seas of blood in his life!

He swore he had never felt such a terrifying aura and gaze in his life.

While Ku Xian was distracted, Mo Cangying rushed over and cried, “Wait! Don’t attack him, master! Brother Yun is definitely not acquainted with her. If he was, he wouldn’t have waited until now to stop us!”

After interjecting himself between Ku Xuan and Yun Che, he said, “There must be some sort of misunderstanding going on here. Please allow me to speak with Brother Yun before you make a decision, alright?”

Before anyone could react, Mo Cangying turned toward Yun Che and said seriously, “Brother Yun, you’re the smartest guy I know. You should know there’s no way you can save her… it’s not too late if you put her down now.”

Bang!

Yun Che’s response was to take another step forward. It was so loud that Mo Cangying felt as if he was stepping on his heart. Those pitch black, abyssal-like eyes especially made his heart clench like crazy.

Mo Cangying gritted his teeth and abruptly threw himself toward Yun Che. He mustered a handful of destructive earth energy and made a grab for Long Jiang.

Ku Xuan shouted, “Don’t get close to him!!”

Boom!

Mo Cangying abruptly froze in mid-air. The destructive power in his hand crumbled into nothing long before it could make contact with Long Jiang.

His expression was frozen in disbelief, and his dilating eyes slowly lowered to the massive vermillion sword that had penetrated his torso.

“I said… Anyone who stands in my way… dies…” Yun Che rasped, his pitch black eyes were completely devoid of the warmth and gentleness Mo Cangying was familiar with. In fact, he was looking at him indifferently like he was killing an ant.

“ARE… YOU… DEAF!?”

BANG!!

Mo Cangying shattered into a million bits and pieces just like that.