Against the Gods

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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Chapter 1031 - Returning to the Sect

Yun Che casually picked up a tiny, delicate-looking jadestone between his fingers upon saying this. Profound light seemed to be swimming across the jadestone’s surface.

“A Profound Imagery Stone!?” The surrounding people immediately recognized the item in his hand, “It can’t be…”

“Hmph. Take a look with your own eyes, Feng Huita!”

Yun Che let out a cold snort and moved his fingers. The Profound Imagery Stone was tossed to the ground in the blink of an eye, activating its internal profound formation the second it hit the ground. Crystal clear profound light and sound appeared above the stone.

The first image displayed by the Profound Image Stone was Mu Hanyi. However, the sinister expression on his face was so foreign to everyone present, except Yun Che, that it was bordering on impossible. His voice in particular was brimming with unheard of savagery.

“...I'll personally offer the Qilin horn to Master. But you won't be there to see that moment, because you… will be dying here very soon!”

The image displayed by the Profound Imagery Stone couldn’t be faked. Feng Huita didn’t dare to believe his eyes and ears as coldness flushed through his entire body.

"What did you say? You... you want to kill me? You dare kill me!?"

"No, no, no, how could I dare do such a thing?! Senior Brother Yun Che is a direct disciple of the sect master after all. I wouldn't dare harm a hair of yours, even if I had guts big as heaven. Naturally, you won't be killed by me but... by unfortunately triggering a mechanism here while vainly attempting to steal the Qilin horn!”

"Don't be nervous, Senior Brother Yun Che… I'll cover up the whole incident very well. Even if the sect master were to personally come here, it'd be definitely impossible to figure out anything wrong with my story. You can wholeheartedly trust me on that.”

……………………

The atmosphere of the scene changed yet again. Enormous shock filled everyone’s face this time. Mu Hanyi’s appearance, Mu Hanyi’s words… everyone could see and hear that Mu Hanyi had purposely lured Yun Che into the treasury to scheme for an opportunity to kill him!

The sin and gall that were Mu Hanyi’s attempt to murder the direct disciple of a Great Realm King were literally indescribable.

Feng Huita’s anger and sadness had vanished completely. Every inch of his skin and flesh were trembling with fear and only fear. He wobbled and landed heavily on the ground, eyes trembling so palpably that they threatened to jump out of his sockets, “No… no… no… impossible… this can’t be true… this can’t be true…”

Just a moment ago, he was screaming at Yun Che with righteous fury… but now? If Mu Hanyi really did conspire to kill Yun Che first, then forget a violent death, he could die thousands or tens of thousands times and still not atone for his crimes.

Feng Hange knelt on his knees with perfectly blank pupils. He looked like he was frozen in ice. He actually fared better than Feng Huita in face of this revelation. After all, he could still remember what Mu Hanyi told him before nightfall. He remembered that line that nearly made his heart jump out of his chest clearly even now.

The image playing on the Profound Imagery Stone hadn’t ended yet.

"You... have you gone crazy!?" This was Yun Che’s voice, "I-I'm in your Ice Wind Empire at present. Even if Master truly believed that I was killed by some mechanism, given her temper... she would put an end to the lives of you all in anger."

"Oh! You're right, extremely right." Mu Hanyi was nodding and smiling nonchalantly, "Even if you died in the process of trying to steal the halidom of our Ice Wind Empire, it'd be completely normal if Sect Master razed the entire imperial city to the ground in anger... But even if Ice Wind Empire were to be eradicated, Sect Master wouldn't kill me for sure!!"

………………

"So long as I can succeed, what does it matter even if the entire Ice Wind Empire is drowned in the flames of wrath and exterminated?"

………………

“...You, yourself, threw off your guards and no one knows where you have gone or who are with. As for me, I exited through a secret passage within the palace. This means that no one knows I have left the palace. Thus, everyone will believe that during the critical moments of your death after ‘breaking into’ the treasury, I was sleeping calmly in the palace.”

“I have even helped you think of how you entered. Only… I will need to sacrifice my poor royal sister.”

“Enough… enough!!”

Feng Huita finally lost all sense of composure entirely and screamed as he pounced towards the Profound Imagery Stone. He gathered an utterly chaotic ball of aura and smashed it against the stone, causing it to shatter and vanish instantly in a wink of profound light.

Dead silence sat heavily atop everyone’s heads. Feng Huita’s heavy panting was the only sound that could be heard in the scene. Beside Yun Che, Mu Xiaolan had fallen into a state of absolute shock as she stood there feeling like she was floating inside a dream. On the other side, Feng Hanjin had turned deathly pale a long time ago. The final, lingering voice, that came out of the Profound Imagery Stone caused her to sink weakly to her knees. She hugged her shoulders and and shuddered non stop.

To Mu Xiaolan, Mu Hanyi was the senior brother she respected the most out of all others.

To Feng Hanjin, Mu Hanyi was the elder brother she admired the most.

To Feng Huita, Mu Hanyi was his proudest son...

No one present at the scene would have thought less of him even if he failed to become the Great Realm King’s direct disciple. He still would’ve been the unparalleled proud son of heaven in the Snow Song Realm...

Who could’ve imagined that this exceptional noble son, who was damn near perfect in every aspect, would be such a treacherous, vicious and ruthless character? Who would’ve known that he was a person who would conspire to murder Yun Che, sacrifice his mother country and murder his own sister for the mere possibility of becoming the direct disciple of a Great Realm King?

Yun Che didn’t stop Feng Huita from destroying the Profound Imagery Stone. With lowered brows, he said in a cold tone, “You insisted on knowing my reason, did you not? Are you satisfied with the answer I gave you?”

The paralyzed Feng Huita actually didn’t respond to Yun Che’s words at all. He looked like he had lost his soul.

“He wanted to kill me but I was the one who killed him instead. That is all,” Yun Che frowned deeply, “If my master were to learn that Mu Hanyi tried to kill me, she may very well unleash her fury on the entire Ice Wind Empire, considering her kind of temper. At the very least, the imperial family wouldn’t escape unscathed.”

This time Yun Che’s words caused Feng Huita to tremble once like a leaf. In fact, great shock and fear erupted in the pupils of every royal member present at the scene… they knew all too well that Yun Che’s words were no idle threats.

“That is why I was prepared to keep all this under wraps. After all, it was Mu Hanyi and Mu Hanyi only who tried to kill me for his ambition. There was no reason for everyone else to be ruined alongside him.” Yun Che’s eyes turned chilly, “But you just had to be forceful, don’t you? Hmph! Well, your wish is granted now!”

Feng Huita abruptly returned to himself and crawled his way to Yun Che while covered in tears, “This little king is a blind man and a fool. This little king had no idea that he raised such a treacherous animal… It was this little king who misjudged your kindly favor, it is this little king who deserve to be dead… I beg… I beg you, Young Yun, I beg that you don’t tell this to the Great Realm King. This… This little king will forever remember the great kindness you showed us…”

The loss of his son, dread, shock, regret, hatred, and terror… Feng Huita felt like he was submerged in hell right now. Regret filled his mind and pain made him wish that he was dead. If the Profound Imagery Stone hadn’t displayed his son’s true form before his eyes, he would have rather died than believe that his proudest son was a person of such monstrous ambition and heart...

Everyone says that nobody understands one's son better than his own father, much less a father who was the emperor of a nation. But it was only now, in pain and grief that he realized he never understood his son at all.

Worse, the price of this revelation might be the lives of the entire Ice Wind Imperial Family.

“It’s too late,” Yun Che swept a cold glance across everyone’s faces, “Do you really think it’s possible to be keep this under wraps at this point?”

Feng Huita froze for a second before his head sank like a rock. His face looked as dead as ash. They were not the only ones who were present at the great hall. There were also many guests of great status who had came to offer their birthday congratulations. Even if they managed to get everyone to swear an oath of death to keep this revelation a secret, the news that Mu Hanyi had tried to murder the Great Realm King’s direct disciple would still spread throughout the country in no time at all.

After all, the only people in the world who could truly hold a secret are the dead.

“There is no need to look so pessimistic, king of Ice Wind,” Yun Che said indifferently with a side glance. “Eliminating your royal household may take nothing more than a flick of the finger for my master but she is not a cruel or unreasonable person who commits careless atrocities. I will report everything to my master and explain that Mu Hanyi was the only person who was at fault here. In any case, I am wholly uninjured, am I not? Since I am fine, maybe my master would think it too troublesome to punish you lot. Also… I shall gift that halidom of yours to my master. She may feel even less inclined to look into this matter if she can feel your sincerity.”

Feng Huita abruptly looked up from the ground. His pale white face finally regained some color as he nodded in a hurry, “Young Yun, your great favor… t-t-this little king can never repay it… beg… I beg that you speak in our favor before the Great Realm King. With the sun and moon as witness, this little king swears that his loyalty to the Great Realm King is absolutely impeccable… The Ice Wind Empire shall die ten thousand times if you demand it, Young Yun…”

Feng Huita’s speech was utterly incoherent under the makings of fear, agitation, and shock at this point.

“In that case, the halidom…”

Feng Huita immediately kowtowed before Yun Che, “Please… please gift the halidom to the Great Realm King, Young Yun. If the halidom manages to appease the Great Realm King, then it is its fortune to make. This little king will only be infinitely cheered by this outcome.”

“That is for the best.”

Yun Che nodded and turned around immediately, “If there is nothing else, it is time I head back to my room and get some rest. I will return to the sect immediately, tomorrow morning. You don’t need to send me off.”

Yun Che leaped into the air and flew straight towards the Ice Maiden Palace before anyone could say anything.

The Ice Wind Palace was destined to be tumultuous tonight. Yun Che didn’t care how the Ice Wind Imperial Family was going to deal with the aftermath at all because he had already achieved the goal of his trip. Despite some difficulties, the speed at which he fulfilled his objective was far faster than he initially imagined.

After he was far away from the Ice Wind Great Hall, Yun Che’s face slowly relaxed. He then let out a sigh, “Master is correct; fairness doesn’t exist in this world. There is only the law of the jungle. Sigh.”

“Even now, I am just borrowing my master’s might,” Yun Che smiled self derisively before vanishing into the night.

Far, far away, at a place above the sky where no one could perceive, a long sigh suddenly rang through the air. An icy flash later, the figure vanished without a trace, like a blinking star.

“I still can’t believe that Senior Brother Hanyi was such a person.”

On the flying ice boat, Mu Xiaolan covered her cheeks with both hands and stared blankly into the air. It was obvious that she still wasn’t able to fully accept what happened last night.

Right now, they had already departed far, far away from the Ice Wind Empire.

“You don’t seem to have listened anything I said to you earlier at all,” Yun Che rolled his eyes from the other side of the ice boat.

“No one… no one would’ve believed what you said when you used it on Senior Brother Hanyi,” Mu Xiaolan’s voice turned smaller before she turned around, “It’s so strange. Everyone in the sect respected Senior Brother Hanyi greatly. No one has ever thought that he was a… bad person. But you’ve only been in the sect for a short time, so how did you know so early that he was a bad person? I remember… I remember that you said something strange when you first met him.”

“If I’m was dumb as you, I would’ve been dead countless times already,” Yun Che said matter-of-factly.

“I knew you’d make fun of me again,” Mu Xiaolan pouted but not as strongly as she used to this time. She sneaked a few glances at Yun Che before saying suddenly, “Yun Che, you look like you’ve been out of it since yesterday… Is Senior Brother Hanyi’s matter still plaguing you a little?”

“I’m not so petty as to worry about a dead person.” Yun Che rubbed his forehead, “I am sure now that someone in the sect came with us to the Ice Wind Empire, in secret.”

“Ah!?” Mu Xiaolan jumped to her feet in surprise.

“They’re a pretty powerful person too!” Yun Che clenched his teeth slightly. The mysterious person’s methods had caused his blood to run cold several times last night but after he returned to the Ice Maiden Palace and thought over the matter with a cool mind, he realized this expert hadn’t harmed him, hadn’t tried to steal the Ice Qilin’s Horn from Mu Hanyi’s corpse and had set up a seemingly devious trap that was in fact full of holes. When he considered the aura of the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon on Mu Hanyi’s corpse and the fact that no other strange incidents had occurred after he left the Ice Wind Great Hall...

He concluded that this mysterious expert had came up with a “prank” to screw with him at the last moment! Whoever it was wasn’t trying to entrap him at all, they were simply making his life harder so they could watch a popcorn show...

“Senior Sister Xiaolan, say… do you know any hall masters or palace masters who are… er… naughty, playful and enjoy pranking others?” Yun Che fired the description after some great difficulty.

“There’s no such person in the entire sect!” Mu Xiaolan blasted his theory to shreds without any hesitation, “The hall masters and palace masters are all cool and serious people and my master is one of the gentlest of them all. There’s no way someone like you describe exists within the sect.”

“I thought so… too,” Yun Che scratched his head strongly. This was also the part of his theory that he was stuck on, “That pranking style feels like something a fifteen or sixteen year old girl would do but their age…”

The fact that neither he nor Mu Hanyi had noticed another person hiding inside the treasury at all meant that this person was far stronger than Mu Hanyi. They must have been at least an entire realm ahead of Mu Hanyi at least… at that level, there was no way that person was just a mere disciple.

Also, he was the sect master’s direct disciple. He surmised that only those who were at hall master level and above would dare to prank him like this.

“Just who is it?” Yun Che thought hard again.

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