Against the Gods

“Given the power of the Jade of the Nine Suns, it can definitely allow the Primordial Profound Ark to complete its dimensional jump from the Illusory Demon Realm to the Profound Sky Continent! As to how many times this could be done, it is currently impossible to calculate. After all, the inner world of the Profound Primordial Ark is larger than the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm, so the principles behind how it operates and the amount of profound energy it requires to complete a dimensional jump are hard for even me to fathom,” Jasmine said in a bland voice. “However, before you go back, you must first figure out the relative location of the Profound Sky Continent to the Illusory Demon Realm.”

“That should be quite simple,” Yun Che said with confidence. “My parents had previously used a forbidden tool of our Yun Family to travel to the Profound Sky Continent, so they definitely know its relative location. All I have to do is ask them to find out.”

During the time the Primordial Profound Ark was hibernating, he could only faintly feel a trace of the spiritual connection he had with it. But the current Primordial Profound Ark had been resuscitated by the Jade of the Nine Suns, so the spiritual connection had become clear and complete, and the abilities it had surfaced in his brain in an incomparably clear manner. And when he focused his will, this profound ark, which would cause a huge commotion every time it appeared in the Profound Sky Continent, would be his to freely control. It was as easy as controlling his own arm.

…But the proviso for that is that Hong’er did not come out and mess things up.

During all this time he had spent in the Illusory Demon Realm, Yun Che had been deeply concerned with everything going on in the Profound Sky Continent. And now that he finally had a method to return, his desire to return had dieddown somewhat. Yun Qinghong’s lost blood essence could only be replenished by him, and it would take a period of at least three months, without a single interruption. For this reason alone, he could not afford to be distracted. After all, he was unable to calculate how many times the Primordial Profound Ark could shuttle between the Illusory Demon Realm and the Profound Sky Continent after it had been provided with the profound energy of the Jade of the Nine Suns. So he absolutely did not dare to act impulsively during this three month period, so he wouldn’t recklessly exhaust the energy of the Primordial Profound Ark by continuously using its abilities which consumed a large amount of energy.

He withdrew the Primordial Profound Ark and threw Hong’er back into the Sky Poison Pearl. After that, Yun Che took out the Overlord Pellet.

Given the Sky Poison Pearl’s refining ability , he only needed an instant to perfectly divide it into two pills, and it would not lose any effectiveness in the process. However, Yun Che did not immediately split it in half. Instead, he closed his palm around it and surrounded it with profound energy, after which he painstakingly investigated the composition and medicinal strength of the pellet. After a short period of time, he opened his eyes, and a look of disappointment actually appeared on his face. He muttered to himself in a low voice, “To think it was actually this simple… Furthermore, the purity of this Overlord Pellet is simply so lousy that I can’t even look at it.”

If Duke Bao Qing, who spent his entire lifetime refining Overlord Pellets, heard what Yun Che said, he would definitely be so infuriated that he would hover between the border of life and death for a good long while; he would chop Yun Che up into little pieces with a vegetable knife/cleaver if he could.

Even though the materials required to make the Overlord Pellet were precious and rare, they were not rare to degree of being incomparably precious treasures. While these materials were valuable treasures that were hard to buy with money for the common man, for the powers that were on the level of a Guardian Family or a Duke Palace, they could be said to be a dime a dozen. Their greater than ten thousand year foundation was not just for show.

But the reason the Overlord Pellet was so valuable, that even the Guardian Families and the Duke Palaces would covet it, was because its refinement method was simply too difficult. Refining each and every single pellet consumed an unfathomable amount of effort and time. In addition, the refinement period of each Overlord Pellet could be as long as fifty years! Not only that, but during these fifty years, one had to cautiously and carefully control the heat, the amount of ingredients added, and the timing at which the ingredients are added. Everything had to be extremely precise. On top of that, morning dew and evening dew would have to be used every day to purify it, and the most suitable profound energy had to be used to guide its medicinal strength…

And in this fifty year period, a single misstep would cause all prior efforts to go to waste.

Within Duke Bao Qing Palace, and even the entire Illusory Demon Realm, there were only currently two people who had the ability to refine an Overlord Pellet. These two people had to exhaust all of their energy to refine just one. Even though they labored at it with the most meticulous care for fifty years, the success rate of refining an Overlord Pellet was only at fifty percent.

So in one hundred years, Duke Bao Qing Palace could at most produce two Overlord Pellets.

It was not exaggerated in the least to say that every single Overlord Pellet was refined using the lives of Duke Bao Qing Palace’s members.

But to the Sky Poison Pearl, this extremely difficult refinement process was…

Yun Che flippantly tossed the Overlord Pellet to one side; he could not even be bothered to put it in the Sky Poison Pearl. After that, he strode out of his courtyard and went straight to the Yun Family’s Medicine Pavilion.

The Yun Family had endured for ten thousand years, so their accumulation of various spirit medicines was naturally rich without compare. This Medicine Pavilion was not considered large among the Twelve Guardian Families, but it was still three stories high. Every single story was far larger than those of the Xiao Clan’s that he had lived in for sixteen years. A family’s Medicine Pavilion was the pillar and the core foundation of the entire family’s might, so it could be said to be the most important place for a family. This means that it would always be protected by strong individuals or powerful barriers.

Of course, guarding the Yun Family’s Medicine Pavilion was an old man whose hair and eyebrows had completely turned white. His name was Yun Yaozi, and he was nearly two thousand years old; he was also one of the Yun Family members who held the highest status within the family, and his life’s duty was to guard the Yun Family’s Medicine Pavilion. When he saw Yun Che approaching, he took the initiative to welcome him and inquired in a merry voice, “Young Patriarch, do you want to enter the Medicine Pavilion?”

Facing this old senior of the Yun Family, Yun Che respectfully genuflected in respect for his seniority and replied, “Yes. I am sorry to trouble you, senior… But can this junior freely use the medicinal ingredients within the Medicine Pavilion?”

Yun Yaozi gave a gentle smile, and his eyes were filled with admiration and appreciation as he looked at Yun Che. “You are our Yun Family’s Young Patriarch, and anything within the Yun Family is free for you to use. Let this old man open the barrier for you.”

As Yun Yaozi’s voice fell, the protective barrier in front of the Medicine Pavilion disappeared. He moved aside and gave a bow as he said, “Young Patriarch, please enter. If you have any further instructions or requests, you can call for this old man whenever you so desire it.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

After Yun Che entered the Medicine Pavilion, the barrier appeared behind him once more.

The heavy smell of medicine wafted in the air. Yun Che gave a faint sniff, and he could already sniff out tens of various extremely precious medicinal ingredients. He strode forward and looked left and right, and before two hours were up, Yun Che had already traversed the entirety of the Medicine Pavilion’s first floor. Just with that, he had already memorized all the medicinal ingredients that were stored here in addition to their location, their quantity, and even their age. After that, he went to the second floor… and the third… He finally stopped in the middle of the third.

The third floor of the Medicine Pavilion stored the highest grade spirit medicine and profound jade the Yun Family possessed. And just based on the extremely thick spirit energy that saturated this place, if an Elementary Profound Realm or Nascent Profound Realm profound practitioner cultivated here, they would easily break through their bottleneck in no time at all.

Yun Che sat down with legs crossed in the center of the Medicine Pavilion’s third floor. After that, he put all the spirit medicine and spirit jade that he had gathered together, and the dark green refining light of the Sky Poison pearl flashed from the top of his left hand.

With just a second of effort, a whole thirty Overlord Pellets... that’s right, Overlord Pellets, were in front of Yun Che. And surrounding them was a circle of waste products left behind by the refinement process.

If anyone from Duke Bao Qing Palace had witnessed this scene, they would have been so shocked that their jaws would hit the floor.

Yun Che randomly picked up one pellet and gave it a cursory glance… all the medicinal pellets refined by the Sky Poison Pearl were of the highest quality. Just the luster and aura alone were several grades purer than that of the pellet refined by Duke Bao Qing Palace. As for the effectiveness and the mildness of the medicine, it was far, far superior.

Not only that, the amount of materials consumed was only one quarter of the materials Duke Bao Qing Palace had used. After all, the refinement methods of ordinary folk will unavoidably cause a large portion of the medicinal effectiveness to be lost in the process. But with the Sky Poison Pearl refining it, no medicinal effectiveness would be lost.

Yun Che picked up these Overlord Pellets and murmured to himself in a low voice, “Ah, how are other people supposed to live…”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, I’ll just casually refine a few hundred pellets.”

With that, Yun Che stayed in the Medicine Pavilion, and from afternoon all the way till night fell, he did not come out.

The space in Yun Qinghong’s courtyard distorted, and the figure of the Little Demon Empress slowly appeared. After witnessing the Little Demon Empress’ unexpected arrival, Yun Qinghong and his wife moved forward and said, “We greet the Little Demon Empress.”

“Patriarch Yun, you are still nursing an injury, there is no need for any further formality.” The Little Demon Empress casually lifted a hand, and an irresistible force immediately stopped Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou’s bow. “This Empress has come today to check on Patriarch Yun’s injury. And from Patriarch Yun’s face, I can see that you have been steadily recovering .”

Yun Qinghong cupped his hands and said, “The concern and favor shown by the Little Demon Empress, this Yun is sincerely grateful for it. Che’er’s medical skills are extraordinary, so there is nothing serious about this Yun’s injury anymore. And according to Che’er, I will fully recover from it within three months’ time.”

“Fully recover?” An astounded look flashed across the Little Demon Empress’s face, but she slowly nodded her head after. “That is simply fantastic. So it looks like Patriarch Yun should have no issues attending the grand ceremony five days from now.”

Yun Qinghong said without any hesitation whatsoever, “Little Demon Empress, do not worry. My wife and I will definitely not miss the grand ceremony five days from now.”

“Mn.” The Little Demon Empress lightly nodded her head, then looked askance as she inquired in a disinterested voice, “Is Yun Che at home?”

Yun Qinghong replied, “When the Sixth Elder came by not too long ago, he said that he saw Yun Che enter the Medicine Pavilion. He might still be in the Medicine Pavilion now. I will immediately get someone to call him.”

“There’s no need.” The Little Demon Empress raised her hand. “He must have entered the Medicine Pavilion to prepare spirit medicine to improve Patriarch Yun’s recovery process, so this Empress will not disturb you any further.”

As her voice fell, the space around the Little Demon Empress distorted, and she completely disappeared from where she had been floating.

“The Little Demon Empress specifically asked about Yun Che. It looks like she views Yun Che with great importance.” Mu Yurou said while smiling.

“Hehe, that is natural. After all, in these four months, Yun Che braved danger together with the Little Demon Empress… and perhaps, it was Yun Che who saved the Little Demon Empress as well.” Yun Qinghong faintly smiled, but a trace of doubt flashed in the depths of his eyes. Because, when the Little Demon Empress turned around a final time, it gave him the impression that she… was trying to avoid meeting his gaze… but in all the years that he had known the Little Demon Empress, she had never once tried to avoid someone’s gaze before.

It should be… only a misconception? Or perhaps he was thinking into it too much?

Yun Family Medicine Pavilion, Third Story.

Yun Che was still sitting there with his legs crossed; from the last time he had gone to retrieve more spirit medicine and profound jade, it had already been an hour. As of now, his hand held a dull red medicinal pellet. The medicinal pellet held a dull luster, but it released an extremely unique aura. Yun Che gazed at it wordlessly and just sat there in deep thought.

Suddenly, Jasmine’s voice rang out in his mind, “Watch your back.”

Yun Che was taken aback, but he immediately turned his body around as swiftly as lightning… and not five steps from him, a small and delicate grey figure silently stood there. A pair of eyes which resembled the silent and starry night coldly stared at him.

“Little... Demon Empress!?” Yun Che’s mouth dropped open, and it was a good long while before he managed to close it. “You, you… when did you come?! No! Why are you here?!”

Yun Che possessed the Great Way of the Buddha, so the strength of his spiritual perception was abnormal. In the entire Illusory Demon Realm, the only person who could come within five steps of him without him noticing was the Little Demon Empress!

This Chapter’s Teaser