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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Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er left the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan just like that. They didn’t tell anyone about their departure besides Yun Shang.

While Yun Che was bidding Yun Shang goodbye, an important matter was being decided in the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan’s ancestral shrine.

“Is this the… Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet?”

A glowing pearl about the size of a dragon eye fruit was floating at the center of the ancestral shrine. Occasionally, lightning would zap out of its surface. Although it was just a pellet, it was brimming with soul aura and life force. The unbelievable amount of spirit energy it contained was especially notable.

The Heavenly Handle Yun Clan Chief Yun Ting, the three grand elders, and seventeen elders were all in their seats. Yun Xiang was present for the meeting as well. This was the first time he had seen the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet. For the longest time, the pellet was sealed inside the ancestral shrine’s formation to keep its energy from leaking or it being stolen by a thief.

“It looks like we are all in agreement here,” Yun Ting said slowly. His eyes reflected the lightning flashes of the pellet and some traces of piousness.

“Are… are we really going to refine it for Shang’er?” Yun Xiang looked at Yun Ting worriedly as he spoke. “Our ancestors said that no one poorer than a four stage lightning tribulation should consume the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet. Although Shang’er is absolutely qualified, she has just entered Divine Tribulation Realm recently. It’s too dangerous to feed her an ancient pellet our ancestors said that only a Divine Spirit can refine. If something were to happen to her…”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” the second elder Yun Fu said. “Of course, Shang’er won’t be able to do this alone, but there are twenty one of us including the clan chief and three grand elders. There’s no reason we should fail to control its energy.”

“The three grand elders are participating too?” Yun Xiang asked while knitting his eyebrows together. All three grand elders of the Yun Clan were nearing the end of their lifespans, so the use of any power would only decrease their lives further.

“Sigh.” One of the grand elders let out a sigh and said, “We are only seven days away from the deadline. If we don’t refine this pellet for Shang’er before seven days are up… I’m afraid we’ll never have the chance later.”

“Thanks to the master’s blessing, Shang’er’s body and profound veins have become extraordinary beyond measure,” Yun Ting said. “She is able to refine any pellet with ease, even intense ones like a dragon’s blood. With her constitution and all our strength combined, there should be no reason we would fail to refine the ancient Pellet. The only real problem here is Shang’er’s cultivation level. We’ll have to keep the pellet’s energy under control for a very long time until it is fully refined.”

“Xiang’er, this is why we’d asked you to join us. With you around, the chances of something unexpected happening are non-existent.”

“Alright!” Yun Xiang’s worry immediately melted in the face of his seniors’ certainty. He stood up and said, “I’ll go call Shang’er right now.”

A large purple profound formation quickly took form inside the ancestral shrine.

Yun Shang sat quietly at the center of the profound formation. She was linked with twenty two auras through the profound formations, the strongest profound practitioners in the entire Heavenly Handle Yun Clan. It was a group made up of the clan chief himself, the former young clan chief, and all the elders and grand elders.

The Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet and Yun Shang deserved all their attention.

“Shang’er, slow down the circulation of your profound energy and relax your mind,” Yun Ting said in the gentlest voice he could muster. “The energy of the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet is violent and intense, but it is the clan’s pellet, so it’s naturally compatible with us. You need to believe in us, and even more so your blessed body and profound veins.”

“I won’t disappoint everyone,” Yun Shang said calmly and obediently.

Yun Ting nodded and said, “Let us begin.”

Cha!

The profound formation flashed black and purple as it circulated slowly. Then, twenty two Divine Sovereign auras lifted the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet into the air and pushed it toward Yun Shang. The girl accepted the pellet and swallowed it without any hesitation.

“Release the seal!” The great elder, Yun Jian declared.

The moment the seal on the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet was released, the pellet’s energy immediately spilled out like a flood. However, the outflow of energy was immediately bound and channeled into tiny, gradual streams of energy that Yun Shang could refine.

"Alright…”

Although no one here had witnessed the true power of the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet before, and Yun Shang had only just entered Divine Tribulation Realm, the likelihood that a mishap might happen under the watchful eyes of twenty Divine Sovereigns was next to zero. In fact, everything was under control even though the initial outburst was incredibly intense.

“If this succeeds, Shang’er’s cultivation will improve drastically. It may even be enough to raise her into the middle stage! Her lightning powers will improve tremendously as well!” Yun Ting was fully concentrated on his task, but he couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice.

Fifteen minutes… forty five minutes...

The outflow of energy was maintained at a slow and steady rate thanks to the combined might of twenty two Divine Sovereigns. The refinement process was going extraordinarily smoothly as well.

“Chi…”

It was at this moment a soft and unusual noise entered everyone’s spiritual senses.

“What’s that noise?” Divine Sovereigns had extraordinary senses. There was no way it was a hallucination. Suddenly, energy stopped pouring out of the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet as if it had run dry already, catching everyone by surprise… Then, the strange noise happened again as the pellet’s shape changed abruptly, followed by an explosion of energy several, no, tens of times stronger than the initial outburst...

It was like a volcanic eruption that came out of nowhere.

“Wh… what!!”

The unexpected turn of events shocked everyone present, but something even more terrible happened right after. The explosion had struck the weakest point of the aura dam with uncanny precision, broken through like a flood, and poured straight into Yun Shang’s body and profound veins...

BOOM

All light vanished from Yun Shang’s world, leaving behind only an unending rumble of noises.

A long jet of blood burst out of Yun Shang’s mouth, carrying away all the color in her face.

“Ugh… aaah! Wh… what’s going on!!”

“A pellet spirit… it’s a pellet spirit! How can a pellet spirit be this deadly!” Yun Ting exclaimed in shock and anger… Not only did the pellet spirit have a mind of its own, it clearly had high intelligence. It had them absolutely fooled!

“Control it… control it now!!”

“Stop!” Yun Jian shouted at them. “Are you trying to kill Shang’er!?”

Yun Shang was only a Divine Tribulation profound practitioner, there was absolutely no way her body could endure the power of a Divine Sovereign. That was why they had gathered only a tiny fraction of their power at the start. If anyone increased their power level by even a little, they could kill Yun Shang on the spot.

Pfft!

Another jet of blood escaped Yun Shang’s lips. The uncontrollable energy was rampaging through her body and profound veins like a thousand nightmarish blades, extinguishing all signs of life in its way.

“Chief!” Yun Xiang was at a complete loss.

“Draw out the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet… quickly!” Yun Ting barked out the order. His eye sockets looked like they might tear themselves apart. 

Half a breath later and many flashes of profound energy, the slightly refined Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet was drawn out of Yun Shang’s mouth urgently. Then, some of the Divine Sovereigns unleashed their full power and sealed the pellet completely.

The profound formation dissipated, and Yun Shang slowly collapsed to the ground. Her face was deathly pale, and she was completely unconscious. Even now, the pellet’s energy was still rampaging inside her body like a horde of cruel and bloodthirsty animals.

Yun Shang only had a Divine Tribulation body. If they waited even a couple of breaths longer, the pellet’s energy would kill her completely or even make her explode.

“Shang’er…”

“Quickly! Drive the pellet’s energy into her profound veins!” Breathing heavily, Yun Ting shouted in a clearly shaken voice.

Yun Xiang looked up and asked hoarsely, “You… you can’t be planning to…”

“It’s still better than being dead!!”

A dozen or so profound auras immediately entered Yun Shang’s body once more and guided the rampaging pellet energy into Yun Shang’s profound veins carefully… They could extinguish this energy as easily as blowing out a candle’s flame, but if they tried this in Yun Shang’s body it would kill her on the spot.

So the only thing they could do was guide it somewhere else!

The reason they chose to guide it to the profound veins was because it was the only organ that was strong enough to hold the power without killing Yun Shang.

However… her profound veins would undoubtedly be damaged or even destroyed completely.

Soon, all of the pellet’s energy was guided into Yun Shang’s profound veins. It was damaged beyond recognition in just the blink of an eye. Yun Ting strode forward and sent a surge of profound energy into Yun Shang’s solar plexus through his fingertip… Blood poured out of his teeth the moment he did that.

BOOM— 

The rampaging energy was annihilated by Yun Ting’s power bit by bit.

By the time the pellet’s energy was completely destroyed, so were Yun Shang’s profound veins… Her profound energy quickly crumbled into nothing.

Silence enveloped the ancestral shrine. The only sounds that could be heard were the heaviest breaths they had ever drawn.

Everyone stared at the unconscious and blood drenched Yun Shang on the ground. Her life force had become incredibly weak, and she was losing profound energy every second. It wouldn’t be long before it was gone completely. 

Recovery after that was impossible.

It was because her profound veins were destroyed… utterly and completely destroyed.

“How… how did this happen…” Yun Ting muttered while feeling paralyzed. His hand was frozen, and his pupils were completely drained of color.

“Shang’er…” Yun Xiang called out softly before clenching his teeth. He bowed his head and trembled like a leaf.

“Sigh.” All the elders sighed sorrowfully. They looked like they had aged many years at the same time.

Yun Shang’s purple colored heavenly handle was a miracle. The transformation of her profound veins was a miracle. As for the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet, it was the clan’s most sacred and mysterious sacred object.

They were willing to give Yun Shang their absolute best. Today, they even gathered their strongest experts together to give her the Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet.

But...

Destroyed...

The Sacred Yun Ancient Pellet, no, they... had destroyed Yun Shang.

And with it, the clan’s hope and future as well.

The day Yun Shang returned to the clan, everything she showed them had lifted their spirits like never before. She was like a ray of light that parted the gray, dark world that was the end, and she made them feel like the heavens were still watching over their clan.

Although the blood in her veins didn’t belong to the clan chief, no one objected to her replacement of Yun Xiang as the young clan chief.

But… like a cruel joke of the heavens, Yun Shang was utterly destroyed.

Worse, they were the ones who had caused her destruction.

“Chief…” Yun Xiang couldn’t say anything else besides that.

Yun Ting kept his eyes closed for a long time. It was as if he was afraid to stare the cruel reality in the eye.

“Yun Ting,” the grand elder standing in the middle of the three grand elders started in an incredibly heavy voice, “let’s activate the Forbidden Blood Ritual.”

Yun Ting abruptly opened his eyes. Yun Xiang turned around to look at the grand elder in shock.

The grand elder on the right side said slowly as well, “It is a forbidden art our ancestors strictly forbade us from using, but at this point… we no longer have a choice. At the very least… we must preserve the purple heavenly handle.”

This so-called “Forbidden Blood Ritual” was really a cruel blood transfer method. It had the ability of transferring the heavenly handle divine power from one kin to another.

However, the Yun clansman whose blood was removed… would die for sure.

The heavenly handle divine power was a kind of bloodline power. It wouldn’t disappear even if one’s profound veins were destroyed.

Yun Ting’s shriveled flesh shuddered violently, but he ultimately wasn’t able to object against the grand elders’ suggestion. A powerless voice escaped his lips, “Elders, please prepare the blood transfer formation immediately.”

Yun Shang had become a complete cripple, and there was absolutely no hope of recovery. This meant that her miraculous purple profound handle was completely useless to her… It was extraordinarily cruel to Yun Shang to transfer it to another person, but at least the last miracle of the Yun Clan wouldn’t die with her.

“Xiang’er…” Yun Ting called out. He wasn’t able to finish his sentence, however.

“I understand.” Yun Xiang let out a sigh. “I will inherit Shang’er’s purple heavenly handle. I will also bear the burden that is her life… I will not… let her sacrifice go to waste no matter what.”

The Forbidden Blood Ritual, the taboo slowly began amidst the terrible atmosphere.

Yun Shang lay soundlessly on the floor. Even her lips had turned completely pale. Her world was crumbling in pain and darkness.

It’s painful… it hurts… someone… save me...

Her father’s figure, her mother’s figure… Yun Che’s figure, and a dark but warm light flashed across her eyes.

She tried everything in her power to touch the black light. A mutter that came from the soul resounded throughout the blurry world of her consciousness.

Se… nior...

    ………

Yun Che had been silent ever since he left the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan. Even Qianye Ying’er chose not to speak with him right away.

“Where are we going?” Qianye Ying’er finally spoke after a while.

“Wherever fate leads us.”

“In that case, I have a good place in mind.”

“Where?”

“The God Realm of Absolute Beginning.”

Yun Che turned around and looked at her with a frown.

“Think flexibly,” Qianye Ying’er said slowly. “You’re extremely good in the art of concealment, and you now have control over the power of wind. No one in the Eastern Divine Region will recognize you if you disguise yourself and pretend to be a wind profound practitioner.”

“As for me, I’m even safer than you are because of the Ni Yuan Stone. It’s true that you and I were driven into this place at the beginning, but those powers also can’t stop us anymore, can they?”

“I’ve been to the God Realm of Absolute Beginning many times. I can tell you that there’s no place in the world more suitable for cultivation than that place,” Qianye Ying’er said as a cold glint flashed across her eyes. “Of course, the danger we’ll be facing is equal to the opportunities we’ll receive.”

“I’ll consider it,” Yun Che didn’t accept the suggestion, but he couldn’t help but think of a girl in a rainbow dress when the name was brought up.

Caizhi...

I wonder how she’s doing right now. I wonder if she heard about what happened to me and Jasmine already...

Clang!

Suddenly, an unnatural flash of darkness appeared in Yun Che’s eyes.

“Hmm?” Qianye Ying’er also noticed it. “What’s that?”

She discovered that Yun Che’s face had become unnaturally dark before she even finished her sentence.

Without a word, he grabbed Qianye Ying’er’s shoulder and charged right back to the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan like a tornado.

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