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 1187 - Depression

“Th… Th… This…”

“How could… such a thing happen!?”

“Am I dreaming or what? Yun Che… won against Wu Guike?”

“Sss… Not only did he win, but he also thoroughly crushed him in a frontal confrontation!”

“Is Yun Che’s profound strength truly at the eighth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm? No… isn’t that impossible? How could it be true!?”

Everyone present at the Conferred God Stage as well as in the whole Eastern Divine Region were startled by what they had witnessed. Numerous people were already totally shocked when they had witnessed Yun Che skewering Luo Changan on an icy thorn the previous day, but the visual and soul impact of this battle was countless times greater. Even those supreme experts, who looked down upon all living creatures under heavens, couldn’t help but be so taken aback that they didn’t dare to believe their own eyes.

It was because according to the common sense of these experts who had lived for tens of thousands of years, it was absolutely impossible for such a thing to happen!

“No wonder that he was so certain of his victory,” Mu Bingyun said in a low tone as she lightly pursed her lips. But soon, a look of hesitation surfaced on her snow white face.

Yun Che had unleashed his full strength as soon as he got on the stage, beaten Wu Guike black and blue with seven attacks of his sword, and even easily broken his divine martial domain. While it quite shocked everyone to witness all this happening… Mu Bingyun also keenly sensed that he was acting as if he was giving vent to something.

Only some sort of provocation would make him vent his feelings like that.

“The cultivation of his profound strength is indeed at the eight level of the Divine Tribulation Realm, without a doubt. He is absolutely not faking it,” the Moon God Emperor said with a slight frown. “It is precisely the biggest reason that you can’t help but be feel surprise at his achievement.”

“Your Majesty, has anyone similar to him appeared in your Western Divine Region?” the Eternal Heaven Emperor asked. This god emperor, who stood at the summit of the Eastern Divine Region with respect to profound strength, standing and prestige, had the depths of his pupils filled with surprise at this time, despite the fact that he had showed no more reaction than faintly smiling and praising the performances of monstrous existences like Luo Changsheng and Shui Meiyin.

The Dragon Monarch shook his head slowly, “There are precedents of profound practitioners of the Divine Soul Realm defeating opponents in the Divine Tribulation Realm, a great realm higher than them. However, a profound practitioner of the late stage of the Divine Tribulation Realm defeating an opponent at the late stages of the Divine Spirit Realm is something that has, at the least, never happened in my Western Divine Region!”

Furthermore, Yun Che had thoroughly defeated his opponent. Not just that… Wu Guike was not an ordinary profound practitioner at the eighth level of the Divine Spirit Realm. He was the son of the Divine Martial Realm King, and it wouldn’t be wrong to call him practically unrivalled against the people at his level of profound strength.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Cang Shitian had his chin held between his thumb and finger. There was an unprecedented look of surprise in his eyes, “This king was just making a passing remark when I said that I could accept him as my disciple. It was basically a joke. But who would have thought that he was so capable… Eternal Heaven God Emperor, given how you found so many things wrong with this boy earlier, you certainly wouldn’t object to me bringing him back to the Southern Divine Region, right?”

“Haha,” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor laughed faintly. “Although he is from the lower realms, he belongs to the Snow Song Realm of my Eastern Divine Region right now. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for you to take him away?”

“Hahaha, how could a mere Snow Song Realm deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as this king? So long as this king asks him to come, how is it possible for him to refuse?” God Emperor Shitian laughed loudly.

“Hmph!” an unpleasant look emerged on the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s face. “Since he has joined a star realm of my Eastern Divine Region, he is now a person of the Eastern Divine Region. Even if this old man agrees to you taking him away, I don’t think the people of the Eastern Divine Region would agree to it.”

“Heh.” God Emperor Shitian let out a strange laugh. He didn’t say another word but his eyes narrowed little by little.

The Dragon Monarch shifted his gaze a bit sideways as a faint smile appeared on his face for some reason.

Far-off in the sky above, an old person said in mild voice as he drifted in the air, “A profound practitioner at the late stages of the Divine Tribulation Realm defeating an opponent at the late stage of Divine Spirit Realm in a frontal confrontation… In vain did this old man live for one hundred twenty thousand years to only now be able to see such an unimaginable miracle.”

The voice of the old person was dry, hoarse and flat, but everyone who knew of his existence would be clear about the extremely great significance behind such a comment from him. If any one of them heard him saying that “he had lived one hundred twenty thousand years in vain,” they would only treat it as a joke.

“Then, have you figured how he was able to have such strength at his current level?” Qianye Ying’er asked. She reacted in a much calmer manner than the old person when Yun Che had won the battle.

“I don’t know, but Miss seems to have the right answer.”

“Let’s continue to watch him.” Qianye Ying’er’s blond hair blew in the wind, as she said in a frivolous and bored voice, “Right now, I’m as interested in him as in the World Defying Heavenly Manual!”

“…” the old person remained silent for a long while, before he spoke, “It seems that there is something unusual about the aura of his sword.”

“Sword?” Qianye Ying’er slightly knitted her brows. “All kinds of divine and heavenly weapons have been used on the Conferred God Stage. The aura of his sword is at the bottom level among them, so how could there be anything unusual about it?”

“I don’t know. It’s just that I sense something unusual about it for some unknown reason.” The old man’s gaze was locked onto Yun Che. “Although Wu Guike’s divine martial domain had been unleashed in a hurry after he had suffered injuries, Yun Che was able to smash it to pieces in two breaths’ time. This point alone proves that Yun Che’s strength is far above Wu Guike. There was only a slight disorder in his aura when the battle was over, which means that his true strength is much greater than what he has displayed just now.”

“Uncle Gu, what is the ultimate limit of his strength in your opinion?” Qianye Yin’er asked.

“Above Meng Duanxi, but below Lu Lengchuan,” the old person replied in a slow voice. “Perhaps, his strength is already not that far from Lu Lengchuan’s.“

The old person only gave a brief answer, but it showed that he had an incomparably accurate estimation of Yun Che’s limit.

“Not that far from Lu Lengchuan’s strength?” A slightly serious look appeared in Qianye Ying’er’s eyes. It was evident that she was unable to believe his words.

“If he can make up for the inferiority of possessing a lower level weapon, and also possesses other extraordinary moves, he might be able to put up a fight against Lu Lengchuan. But it would be… absolutely impossible for him to win. If he meets other people in the Losers Group, he would be able to win against them all, but if he had to fight Lu Lengchuan, he would not be able to advance further in the Conferred God Battle.”

Each and every word of Uncle Gu was hoarse and indistinct, and sounded as if it was the heavens making an adjudication.

Wu Guike had gotten severely injured and passed out, and was thus hurriedly carried away by the people from the Divine Martial Realm. The eyes of the two elders that were carrying Wu Guike not only contained anger and chilliness within them as they looked at Yun Che, but there was also a look of surprise that didn’t disappear even after a long while.

“Meiyin, your words were indeed correct,” Shui Yingyue said slowly. “He is already receiving the greatest attention in the Profound God Convention after this battle.”

“That is actually not the case.” Shui Meiyin’s eyes continuously flashed with bright light, as if there were stars within them. “Even I didn’t think that he would turn out to be so powerful.”

While the audience was dumbfounded or looking at him surprise, Yun Che left the Conferred God Stage. But instead of returning to the seating area of the Snow Song Realm, he flew away into the sky.

“Palace Master Bingyun, I going to take a look at Huo Poyun. I will have to trouble you to receive the Time Wheel Pearl in my place.”

He was no longer in the mood to watch the remaining three battles of the Losers Group, and there was no need to do so, either.

As soon as he got out of the area of the Conferred God Stage, Yun Che increased his speed as he rushed straight towards the residence of the Flame God Realm.

As Huo Poyun had constantly performed extraordinarily in the Profound God Convention, the residence of the Flame God Realm always had a lively atmosphere. But on this day, Yun Che sensed a gloomy atmosphere from it as he drew closer.

Although Huo Poyun had a blank expression on his face, his injuries had fully healed at this time. It was obvious that Huo Rulie had treated his injuries inside the barrier that was formed by the time wheel pearl. But the damage his mind had suffered was much more severe compared to his physical injuries. He was leaning against the side of a thick tree at the corner of the courtyard, and his eyes were staring blankly ahead as if he had lost his soul.

There were many people around him, like Huo Rulie, and all the elders and disciples of the Golden Crow Sect. Every one of them had a worried look on their faces.

Huo Rulie’s eyes brightened upon catching sight of Yun Che. He promptly rushed over and pulled him to his side, as he said in a low voice, “Young Yun, you came at the right time. It might be better if you were to comfort him… Sigh.”

Yun Che nodded his head and walked over to Huo Poyun’s side.

Huo Poyun raised his head as he sensed Yun Che’s aura. He said with an extremely forced smile on his face, “Brother Yun… I’m sorry to show you my disgraceful performance. Don’t worry, I’m all right.”

As he approached Huo Poyun, Yun Che clearly felt a thick and depressing atmosphere around him.

It was as if a thick and heavy layer of murky gray smoke had completely covered his mind, and it didn’t show any signs of dispersing any time soon.

Yun Che crouched down and stayed that way for a long while, before he said in a slow voice, “Brother Poyun, do you still remember those words that I told in the early morning, that Jun Xilei would take out her hatred on you because of the friendly relationship between us? That sword attack of hers was absolutely not a casual move. Instead, it was an extremely high level sword intent that was deliberately employed by her… It is very likely that the moment she got on the Conferred God Stage, she used the maximum limit of her energy in order to end the battle in such a manner.”

“What difference does it make whether your speculation is true or not?” Huo Poyun let out a sad laugh. “In the end, all she needed to defeat me was just one sword move… one sword…”

“I knew that I was going to lose. Therefore, I had planned to not hold back in the least, and to fully reveal the true form of the Golden Crow flame to the people of the Eastern Divine Region… I thought that I would be able to hold on until the twentieth clash of our attacks, and even if worse came to worse, withstanding ten attacks should not have been an issue at all…”

“But… But…” Huo Poyun clenched his hands so tightly that the area around the joints of his fingers turned pale, and he found himself unable to speak any further.

Huo Poyun was definitely not someone who couldn’t accept a defeat, and was even completely prepared to lose the battle. But, he had to suffer a crushing defeat just after one sword move of Jun Xilei. That sword attack not only shattered his flame, it heavily injured his body, shattering his belief and pride.

“…Brother Poyun,” Yun Che raised his brows. “Have you begun to doubt that… the Golden Crow flame that you have always been so proud of is not as powerful as you always thought it to be?”

Not that far from them, Huo Rulie suddenly turned around when he heard Yun Che’s words, as various emotions fluctuated in his eyes.

Yun Che’s words were a heavy blow to Huo Poyun’s soul. He lowered his head and let out a heavy breath, “I was born in the Flame God Realm and possessed far greater talent than others. I have received praises throughout my life, and was fortunately accepted as a direct disciple by Master… I even obtained the favor of the Golden Crow Divine Spirit, and it bestowed me… the ultimate Golden Crow bloodline.”

Yun Che, “…”

“I deeply thought of all these things to be my pride. Since the time I was young, I always believed that the Golden Crow flame possessed the most powerful energy in the world. When I obtained the favor of the Golden Crow Divine Spirit, I even more firmly believed… and Master told me as well, that I had the purest and the strongest power of Golden Crow flame in the history of the Flame God Realm.”

“But, I couldn’t withstand even a single attack from Jun Xilei. I wasn’t able to so much as block her move.”

His deep pride for his energy and bloodline was so deeply rooted in him that it had already become his faith in life. The thing that had dealt a heavy blow to Huo Poyun wasn’t his defeat, but the collapse of his faith.

“Jun Xilei is not an ordinary person,” Yun Che said in a light voice. “Her profound strength is, after all, three small realms higher than you. When facing the suppression of profound strength, profound arts are unable to make up for the difference most of the time, no matter how powerful they are. Furthermore, you leave the Flame God Realm on extremely few occasions, and hence, shouldn’t have any experience fighting with a true expert in the way of the sword. This is the biggest reason behind you getting defeated in such a manner.”

Huo Poyun shook his head, and let out a forced laugh again, “Brother Yun, you don’t have to comfort me like this. I know that it is disappointing for me to be so dejected. Don’t worry. It’s just that I’m unable to convince myself for the time being… Give me time, I’ll get better soon.”

“I was in fact never worried about you,” Yun Che said with a faint smile. “Brother Poyun, you actually don’t need to criticize yourself because of your current condition, or feel ashamed of it. After all, we aren’t like those old people who have lived for several thousand or tens of thousands of years, and have seen and experienced countless changes in the world. It has been no more than thirty years since we came into this world, and we haven’t even gotten the opportunity to see it clearly. How is it possible for us to not be bewildered about various things from time to time?”

Huo Poyun raised his head slightly, “Brother Yun, have you also… been in such a state?”

“Of course.” Yun Che nodded his head as the look in his eyes turned deep and serene. “Moreover, it has already happened on several occasions, with the latest being a few years ago.”

“When I was still in the lower realm, I came across someone that I was completely unable to win against, no matter how hard I tried. He was not just an opponent like Jun Xilei and others, but a mortal enemy of mine. If I couldn’t win against him, not only I, but my wife, my family members, all the people by my side would have faced the most fearsome calamity in their lives.”

Yun Che was naturally talking about Xuanyuan Wentian.

“I was in an extremely depressed state during that time and passed my days muddleheaded. Every thought within my mind was full of gloominess and despair, and I was in a much more miserable condition than you. However, I succeeded in getting rid of such a mindset in less than half a month.” A relaxed smile appeared on Yun Che’s face. “If I can do it, then it should naturally be even easier for Brother Poyun to do the same.”

“Moreover, I don’t consider it a bad thing, as every time you get rid of such negative emotions, you’ll be able to undergo a growth process, and might even be able to transform completely. If we don’t experience such bewilderment at this young age, I feel that it will become a shortcoming in your life instead.”

“Therefore, Brother Poyun truly doesn’t need to care about his present condition, or to forcibly attempt to getter better as soon as possible. It will be fine so long as you listen and follow what your heart says.”

Huo Poyun’s eyes quivered, as the depressed look on his face smoothed out without him realizing.

“Brother Yun, thank you very much,” he said with a smile that was not forced like the one from earlier. Teardrops glittered in his eyes as he said smilingly, “It is truly great that… I was able to get to know you in this life.”

“I think that same about you.” Yun Che also smiled. “But, there is no need to thank me. We are friends, right?”

“Mn, we are.” Huo Poyun nodded his head heavily.

Huo Rulie fixedly looked at the two young people. Although Huo Poyun had still not completely gotten out of his depression, there was a noticeable change in his mental state. Most of the worry in his heart disappeared, as he felt endless gratitude towards Yun Che once more.

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Due to some things beyond our control our main ATG translator will be somewhat slow until the end of this month.  Things should return to normal at the start of next month.  We've partially borrowed another translator to fill in the gaps, starting tonight.  With this we should be able to keep our 1 chap every 1-2 days schedule, but the odd late chap is possible.  Our apologies in advance for any bumps this causes over the next week and a half. 

-Rubble