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 1128 - Perfect Divine Tribulation

The Heavenly Netherfrost Lake was the number one sacred place in the Snow Song Realm without a shadow of a doubt. In the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, even the disciples of the Divine Hall would consider it a great favor to be able to even once enter the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake in their lifetimes.

However, the heavenly lake had simply become Yun Che’s personal property since the time he had acknowledged Mu Xuanyin as his master. Especially, ever since Mu Xuanyin had “dragged” him back to the sect, he would spend at least seventy percent of his time inside the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

Yun Che was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed at the center of the heavenly lake. There was no aura on his body but wave after wave of the water in the heavenly lake was rising and flowing slowly around him.

It was not actually the water of the heavenly lake that was being soundlessly influenced by Yun Che, but the power of frost contained within it.

There was no doubt that among the energies Yun Che possessed, the power of the Golden Crow flame was the strongest. Evidently, its power had completely surpassed the Phoenix flame after he had obtained the full version of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World. There wasn’t any need to even mention the power of the Ice Phoenix, which was the weakest of the energies in his possession, as it was only being supported by a single drop of divine blood.

However, Mu Xuanyin made him practice the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon from the very beginning once again.

Compared to back then in Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, when he had to comprehend the profound formula of the “Frozen End Divine Arts” all by himself and forcibly cultivate it, there was Mu Xuanyin by his side this time, and his body was soaking in the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake that had an extremely pure aura of frost. As a result, there was an extremely great difference in his realization of the contents of the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon. Furthermore, his understanding of the frost laws also underwent a qualitative change.

Mu Xuanyin was, after all, a being on a very high level. Yun Che might be invincible when it came to his affinity for elements as he had Heretic God’s Profound Veins, but his understanding and control of frost laws was unimaginably inferior to that of Mu Xuanyin.

It was at this time that seven cold beams appeared out of the blue and shot towards his back.

Yun Che reacted almost instantly as his body rose up while maintaining the same posture, and the seven cold beams pierced through his afterimage.

When Yun Che had just entered the Divine Origin Realm, Mu Xuanyin hadn’t hesitated to even spar with him personally on a daily basis so as to help him comprehend the existence of “sensation.”

The Divine Origin Realm was the first realm of the divine way, as well as an extremely important realm where practitioners laid the foundation for their future progress. In this realm, the body experiences a qualitative change from ordinary to divine, and the highest extent of the change was to awaken the “sensation” of the body. But there wasn’t even one practitioner among ten thousand who would be able to accomplish such a thing. There were even a lot of profound practitioners of the Divine Tribulation Realm and Divine Spirit Realm who had never truly perceived sensation.

But if a practitioner could awaken sensation when they were in the Divine Origin Realm, reaching the most perfect state in the Divine Origin Realm, they would be able to lay an incomparably perfect foundation for their future progress in the divine way.

Originally, Yun Che was close to the achievement, but because of him reaching straight to the Divine Soul Realm in one step due to the ice phoenix vital yin of Mu Xuanyin, although his profound strength was greatly amplified, he failed to achieve the perfection of the Divine Origin Realm. Moreover, his lack of understanding of the Divine Origin Realm lead to him laying down his foundation in haste.

The first thing Mu Xuanyin wanted Yun Che to do was to rebuild his foundation.

No matter the profound veins or physique, Yun Che was far more unusual than an ordinary person. Therefore, although he had forged an extremely bad foundation for his divine way, the pace at which he was able to rebuild it was very fast. His profound strength might not have progressed in the least in the half year after his return to the Snow Song Realm, but his understanding of the rules of the divine way had experienced an earthshaking change. Things that were obscure to him in the past were now clear as day. When the existence of “sensation” gradually became clearer to him and reached a critical point, it again became increasingly vague until he was completely unable to perceive it any longer.

However, he was then able to sense that the way his body perceived the world seemed to have subtly changed.

Once he had rebuilt his foundation, Mu Xuanyin finally began her guidance on his profound strength cultivation. She didn’t hesitate at all to use all the highest level spiritual herbs in the possession of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect on Yun Che. From that time onwards, his profound realm increased by leaps and bounds, at such a speed that he had never imagined before. It was as if he was covering a thousand miles in a day. Within the short period of seven days, his cultivation increased from the second to the third level of the Divine Soul Realm, and then he entered the fourth level just after three months…

He again reached the late stage of the Divine Soul Realm… and his cultivation had constantly progressed until he reached the peak of the Divine Soul Realm.

In such an environment where he was forcibly cut off from the world by Mu Xuanyin and unable to come into contact with any person from the outside, the only thing Yun Che could do was to cultivate. His whole being gradually entered a state of obsession, as he could no longer sense the passage of time. The only things he felt were the continuous change in his profound strength, and his understanding of divine way becoming more and more clear and thorough.

There was no warning of the seven cold beams of light that had come shooting towards Yun Che’s back. It was as if they had suddenly come out of a crack in space. His spirit sense hadn’t sensed them at all, but his body reacted even faster than his spirit sense could perceive the existence of the beams. Yun Che quickly turned around in the sky, but before he could say anything, he fell down under an irresistible might, as he was forcibly smacked into the heavenly lake.

“Master,”Yun Che said his greeting as he kneeled down on one knee in the midst of the heavenly lake.

Mu Xuanyin was looking down from the sky. Her ice-cold gaze swept over his body, as she seemingly mumbled to herself, “Looks like it’s about time.”

“Sit down!”

She didn't give Yun Che any opportunity to ask any questions. Consequently, Yun Che could only correct his posture and sit back down on the heavenly lake.

Mu Xuanyin descended from the sky and came over to him. She moved her right hand lightly in the air as blue lights appeared one after another. Every time a blue light appeared, it would be accompanied by an aura that was bone-piercingly chilly but vast as an ocean.

As Mu Xuanyin lightly pointed ahead, the blue lights and their auras rushed forth into the center of Yun Che’s brows.

This is…

The divine blood of the Ice Phoenix!!

Yun Che wasn’t unfamiliar with the aura of the divine blood of the Ice Phoenix. Back then, when he had acknowledged Mu Xuanyin as his master, he was bestowed a drop of the divine blood, which was a favor only the direct disciples of Mu Xuanyin could get.

But now, Mu Xuanyin was once again bestowing him the divine blood of the Ice Phoenix. Furthermore…

As much as six drops at that!

The bloodline of the Ice Phoenix was difficult to inherit, which was the biggest reason behind the Snow Song Realm being far weaker than the Flame God Realm. Using a drop of the original blood of Ice Phoenix meant one less drop of it forever. Hence, in the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, it was only after an interval of several thousand years that a drop was bestowed to the direct disciple of the sect master.

But Yun Che was actually bestowed… seven drops of the divine blood of the Ice Phoenix by Mu Xuanyin.

It was something that had never happened in the entire history of the Snow Song Realm.

If this matter were to spread around, it would undoubtedly bring shock to everyone in the sect.

“Master…”

“Don’t be distracted!”

Mu Xuanyin said in a stern tone, “Master won’t help you deal with these six drops of divine blood. You need to refine them on your own! The divine blood of the Ice Phoenix contains supreme frost laws which can be only be comprehended if you refine them by yourself. It’s also the best opportunity for you to break through to the Divine Tribulation Realm!”

The voice beside his ear gradually became indistinct. Yun Che also paid no more attention to anything else as he focused completely on the six drops of the divine blood of the Ice Phoenix.

The newly acquired divine drops slowly fused with his blood vessels and profound veins. In his body, the blood of the dragon god, divine blood of the phoenix and the divine blood of the golden crow sensed its presence and unleashed strong divine auras, but there was no sign of rejection from them as one would expect normally.

Mu Xuanyin didn’t leave the place, and silently looked at Yun Che as she sensed the change in his aura. Based on her experience of ten thousand years and incomparably vast knowledge, she was firmly convinced that it was only with Yun Che that such perfect coexistence of divine blood, divine aura, and divine body could happen in the entire God Realm, in the boundless Primal Chaos.

Seven days later.

Waves began to surge all of a sudden on the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake as chaotic auras from all around, and even from inside the heavenly lake, rushed forth towards Yun Che. The aura present on Yun Che’s body disappeared for a moment, after which it once again erupted fiercely and immediately forced the water around him away, raising quite a big swirl of water.

Yun Che opened his eyes slowly. It was also in this instant when the ice spirits over the heavenly lake stopped their graceful dance. All of them frantically swarmed towards Yun Che and flew beside his body while letting out faint cries of excitement. They didn’t show any signs of dispersing even after a long period of time.

Yun Che slowly raised his hand and felt the power surging on his body and in his profound veins. “This is the… Divine… Tribulation… Realm…”

Mu Xuanyin had cast everything aside for two whole years, putting all her heart into guiding him. He rebuilt his foundation and underwent hard practice regardless of day and night in the closed environment. With the further assistance of the topmost level spiritual medicine and environment in the Snow Song Realm, as well as the six drops of the divine blood of the Ice Phoenix…

Yun Che had finally broken through from the Divine Soul Realm after two years, and successfully reached the Divine Tribulation Realm!

This was the moment he had longed for even in his dreams. Even he himself never believed that he would be able to attain such great progress by simply relying on cultivation. He thought that the only thing that could realize this wishful dream of his couldn’t be anything other than the Universe Penta Jade Pellet.

But now he had reached the Divine Tribulation Realm. He had accomplished it through cultivation, without any help from the Universe Penta Jade Pellet. It was something that was unimaginable for him two years ago.

He should be excited and wild with joy, but Yun Che had a calm state of mind at this time. He solely felt deep satisfaction and mild happiness in his heart.

The thing he had once deemed an extravagant hope and the result of his incomparable yearning, seemed to be only proper and logical at this moment.

“Finally… finally…” Yun Che placed his hands on his chest while murmuring to himself.

Every time a practitioner broke through a big realm, not only would their profound strength be greatly amplified, their realm would also sublimate, causing a clear change in their perception of the world. But unexpectedly, he didn’t experience such change this time, as if there was none in the first place.

The ice spirits covering the whole sky were still circling around him. It was when Yun Che’s emotions slowly calmed down that he discovered Mu Xuanyin was still present beside him, seemingly having never left him alone all this while.

“Very good, you didn’t disappoint me, after all.” Mu Xuanyin gave him a light nod. It was possibly her first words of approval in these two years.

“In the Divine Origin Realm, practitioners get rid of the mortal body, and in the Divine Soul Realm, the soul undergoes a qualitative change. However, the Divine Tribulation Realm is different from the previous two. Every time your cultivation level rises by a small realm in the Divine Tribulation Realm, it will only lead to an increase in the profound strength, and it only has nine small realms in total. The implication behind it is, to step by step approach the tribulation of the nine heavens!”

“Divine Origin Realm and Divine Soul Realm both belong to the foundation building stage of the divine way. But the thing a practitioner is supposed to do in the Divine Tribulation Realm is to step by step get closer to the true divine way. However, a mortal cultivating to become god is bound to meet the punishment of heaven. When you reach the peak of the ninth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm, and take a step ahead without stopping, tribulation lightning will descend.”

“But it should be noted that the heavenly tribulation a profound practitioner has to face when trying to break through from the Divine Tribulation Realm is not quite the same. The higher your innate talent, the more envious the heavens will be of you. Over ninety percent of profound practitioners will face a first stage tribulation lightning, but those with extremely high talent will meet with a second stage or an even higher one. Furthermore, the power of tribulation will double with every increase in the stage.”

“Although over ninety percent of profound practitioners have to only face the first stage of tribulation lightning, nearly sixty percent of them still perish beneath its might. Therefore, countless profound practitioners, who have spent their lives pursuing the profound way but greatly cherish their lives, choose to forcibly suppress their profound strength at the Divine Tribulation Realm and never attempt to break through.

These were the things that Mu Bingyun had also told him when Yun Che had first arrived at the God Realm. Moreover, her explanation was much more detailed. But Yun Che still sincerely listened to her words from start to end.

“As for the Divine Tribulation Realm itself, I have also mentioned about it before. The reason I brought up this topic is for you to firmly remember something.”

Mu Xuanyin’s tone became solemn, “In the future, when your profound strength reaches the peak of the ninth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm and you’re close to breakthrough, you must notify me immediately. Make sure not to take that final step on your own!”

“You are human, but there are just too many world-defying things in your body. You should be self-aware that you have a high talent too. If you were to recklessly take that step when the time comes and cause the tribulation to descend, it would definitely be a far more powerful heavenly tribulation than what an ordinary person would face. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Yun Che nodded his head heavily. “This disciple will keep Master’s instruction in mind.”

He had just entered the Divine Tribulation Realm. Even with his talent, he would need at least ten years to reach the peak of the Divine Tribulation Realm.

“In addition, you also need to remember that although the might of frost is weaker than flame, not even the Golden Crow flame or Phoenix flame is comparable to its large number of irregular changes. Now that your practice level in the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon has reached great completion, you can only grasp how to put it to good use on your own while fighting with others.”

“Understood. This disciple will bear it in mind,” Yun Che responded respectfully.

“Since you’ve remembered it all, do some preparations and go to the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm to participate in the Profound God Convention which had been on your mind for such a long time. The Profound God Convention is going to be convened in three days.”

The tone of Mu Xuanyin’s voice was extremely flat, but her words made Yun Che immediately jump out of the heavenly lake as if he had been struck by lightning. “What? Three… three days!?”

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