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 964 - Thirty Sixth Ice Phoenix Palace

The area within Ice Phoenix City was especially vast, it looked boundless at first glance. The thirty six Ice Phoenix Palaces towered here, each and every one of them different. The atmosphere was silent; the ice cold spiritual suppression seemed to have completely frozen everything in the world.

The thirty sixth palace was located at the heart of Ice Phoenix City’s southern district. Although it was a palace, its interior was as large as a lower realm city.

Once he entered, Yun Che still sensed the same coldness and spiritual suppression. It was also extremely desolate as well.

“This is the thirty sixth palace you’ll be living in from now on,” Mu Bingyun said to Yun Che. “It is one hundred fifty kilometers wide and around twenty kilometers tall but the space within is far larger than what you see here.”

The space within is far larger than what I see here? That phrase confused Yun Che.

“Since you are now a disciple of Ice Phoenix Palace, you may freely travel within Ice Phoenix City, Freezing Snow City and Snowfall City. You are also able to use any teleportation formation available. However, Ice Phoenix Palaces are relatively independent of one another so unless you have obtained their permission, you are not allowed to enter them at will.”

“Oh.” Yun Che nodded.

“Hey! What kind of response is that!” Mu Xiaolan asked in dissatisfaction. “In our Snow Song Realm, just being able to enter an Ice Phoenix Palace is something countless profound practitioners wouldn’t even dare dream about. Even if their innate talent is high, those who are qualified to enter still have to undertake a really hard examination. Someone like you who has been directly appointed an Ice Phoenix Palace disciple by an Ice Phoenix Palace Master is really really rare, you know. It’s good luck that you can’t even cultivate using ten thousand lifetimes! And you actually… actually act like it’s only right for you to get in!”

Yun Che looked at her, then nodded again. “Oh, got it.”

“...” Mu Xiaolan couldn’t breathe for a moment as her face flushed red from anger.

Mu Bingyun had long since gotten accustomed to them fighting with each other so she just ignored them. “Those who enter Ice Phoenix Palace can be bestowed the surname ‘Mu.’ Since you are now an Ice Phoenix Palace disciple, you naturally have that right as well. The surname Mu is exclusive to our Divine Ice Phoenix Sect. Taking Mu as your surname will give you great benefits and make it easier for you inside the Ice Phoenix Realm and even the entire Snow Song Realm.”

Mu Bingyun turned around. “Xiaolan’s original name was Situ Lanlan, Mu Xiaolan was the name I personally bestowed upon her. In that case, what do you think about me giving you the name Mu Xiaoyun?”

Mu… Xiao… Yun...

“~！#￥%…” Even though Yun Che did his best to restrain himself, he couldn’t control the muscles in his forehead, his veins and the corner of his mouth as they continuously twitched. He lowered his head, maintaining a respectful pose and said with a resolute voice, “I thank Fairy Mu for the name but I still like my current name, so… so…”

“That’s fine.” Mu Bingyun didn’t exactly push for it, nor did she think it strange as she nodded her head.

“A stupid idiot who doesn’t know what’s good for him,” Mu Xiaolan muttered in disdain. Being granted the surname “Mu” was a supreme honor within the Snow Song Realm. Even if a country’s emperor were to be bestowed the surname Mu, they would be overwhelmed by the favor. Yun Che, a country bumpkin from the lower realms… actually rejected it!

Yun Che rolled his eyes at Mu Xiaolan as he complained inwardly: Even though Fairy Mu Bingyun is so beautiful, possesses an ice lotus’ elegance and has such a high status and divine power in the God Realm, her naming sense is just… simply tragic...

Mu Xiaolan… Mu Xiaoyun… they sounded like pet names for children no matter how he heard them!

Don’t tell me that the other disciples here are this disgusting?

Hm? Other disciples?

Yun Che earnestly tried to sense the auras in the surroundings and then asked, “Fairy Mu, why is it this quiet here? Where are the other disciples?”

“How could there be any other disciples?” Mu Xiaolan curled her lips. “It has only been me and Master here. Now, we have an additional baddie in our midst.”

“No other disciples?” Yun Che was stunned at first but he then thought about Mu Bingyun’s state during all these years and slowly understood.

“Xiaolan has been the only disciple in the Thirty Sixth Ice Phoenix Palace these past years. You are the second and I have not taken in any disciples for several hundred years before this,” Mu Bingyun gently sighed. “With my body afflicted with poison, my health slowly deteriorated during these thousand years. I passed every day knowing that I could possibly lose my life so I simply didn’t have the strength to support an Ice Phoenix Palace. However, the Great Realm King was not willing to let me lose my status as an Ice Phoenix Palace Master and stubbornly helped me retain my position. It was also from then on that the thirty sixth palace no longer recruited any disciples. As a result, in all these years, though there were still thirty six Ice Phoenix Palaces in name, the truth was that there were actually only thirty five. Even me accepting Xiaolan as a disciple was an accident.”

“The other Ice Phoenix Palaces all have around three thousand disciples, two Vice Palace Masters and a dozen or so instructors but I don’t envy them one bit.” Mu Xiaolan’s gaze flickered. “Because I was able to always be by Master’s side and have Master all to myself. The other Ice Phoenix Masters are all cold and stiff and they’re all so scary but Master is always this nice and gentle… Hmph, Yun Che, let me say this, you… you… you aren’t allowed to take Master from me. You can’t possibly win against me because the relationship between Master and I has existed for so many years!”

Yun Che, “...”

Mu Bingyun smiled as she shook her head.

“Fairy Mu, now that you are free from the flame poison, your profound strength and vitality will completely recover after a while. At that time, are you going to receive new disciples to revive the thirty sixth palace?” Yun Che asked.

Mu Bingyun actually shook her head. “At the moment, I don’t have that kind of plan. My temperament has become mild after all these years and I have become accustomed to quiet. Let’s see in a few more years.”

Yun Che had long sensed that Mu Bingyun’s temperament was exceptionally mild. He possessed a ton of odd, to the point of incomprehensibility, things. For example, his profound arts, his ice and fire combination, the Heaven Smiting Sword he revealed today and even the fact that he possessed the Sky Poison Pearl… all these would cause any ordinary person’s desire to investigate into further detail. Yet Mu Bingyun had never asked about them. If she ever asked any question, as long as Yun Che showed even the slightest of hesitation, she would never pursue any further.

This was definitely not the temperament any normal person would possess.

Or this was perhaps caused by her circumstances during those thousand years which made her indifferent and able to see through many things.

“Yun Che, I have already talked to the Great Realm King about your situation.”

Once the reason why he had come to the God Realm was mentioned, Yun Che’s mind instantly focused.

Mu Bingyun slowly said, “The Great Realm King has agreed to bring you to the Profound God Convention’s meeting area. However, she explicitly stated that bringing you to the area is already the limits of what she can do. Whether or not you are able to see that person will depend on your good fortune.”

“Alright.” Yun Che nodded somewhat excitedly, “I thank Fairy Mu and the Great Realm King for your assistance.”

“No need for thanks,” Mu Bingyun gently shook her head. “You saved my life so it is only right for the Great Realm King to consent to this. At the moment, there are still thirty months until the Profound God Convention begins. What do you plan on doing during this period of time? The reason why I have accepted you as a disciple of Ice Phoenix Palace is mainly so that it’s easier for me to help you without restricting your freedom.”

Yun Che pondered, then said calmly, “This world’s spiritual energy far surpasses my previous world’s. I won’t waste the chance to cultivate here during the thirty months I have to wait until the Profound God Convention. I will leave after that. Thus, during the period of time that I’m here, I will be concentrating on my cultivation and will not make contact with the outside world as much as possible, lest… some more trouble appears.”

Mu Xiaolan opened her mouth and was about to say something but then hesitated.

“That’s good too.” Mu Bingyun nodded. “There are five thousand cultivation rooms and five thousand living rooms. Aside from Xiaolan’s room, all of them are unused, available for you to pick at will.”

“Everything that you’ve done today will surely travel fast. At that time, there will be many people who will come over to check you out. Since you don’t want to make contact with outsiders, I will help you obstruct them so don’t hesitate to cultivate in peace.”

“Alright,” Yun Che immediately replied.

Mu Xiaolan dazedly looked at Mu Bingyun with an opened mouth.

“There are a few palaces at the city’s center. You can select all sorts of ice attribute profound arts to comprehend in Sacred Scripture Palace but I suppose you aren’t interested in those. Sacred Artifact Palace is where you can pick a weapon of your choice and Sacred Jade Palace is where you can go obtain your allocation of five thousand purple stones and natural resources every month just using your Ice Phoenix Engraved Jade.”

“Ah?”

“Purple stone? What’s that?” Yun Che asked.

“Profound Power Stone.” Mu Bingyun explained, “Based on the levels of strength and purity, they are separated into purple stones, purple crystals and purple jade from bottom up. Absorbing power from these Profound Power Stones can assist you in your cultivation. However, due to their low level, there is no way for them to help you make a breakthrough. They are mostly used to make profound formations, profound talismans, profound arks, profound ships and similar type power sources. At the same time, they are also the type of currency the God Realm uses.

Common currency! Yun Che instantly understood.

“These types of Profound Power Stones all weigh fifty grams. One thousand purple stones can be exchanged for one purple crystal. One thousand purple crystals can be converted into one purple jade.” Mu Bingyun glanced at Yun Che. “You probably have never heard of purple jade but you definitely have seen purple stones and purple crystals before.”

“Purple stones are what your Profound Sky Continent call Purple Veined Heaven Crystals and purple crystals are called Purple Veined Divine Crystals.”

Yun Che was instantly stunned.

The Purple Veined Heaven Crystals that the Profound Sky Continent views as a sacred object was actually only the lowest level Profound Power Stone in the God Realm!!

An ordinary disciple of Ice Phoenix Palace was able to receive five thousand purple stones every month… this was two hundred fifty thousand grams… two hundred fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Heaven Crystal!!

In a year, that would be three thousand kilograms of Purple Veined Heaven Crystal… which could be converted into three kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal.

If the first rate sects within the Profound Sky Continent heard this, they would die from the shock alone.

When she saw Yun Che’s state, Mu Bingyun said, “You’ve consumed too much energy today and it seemed as if it has at last affected your vitality. Go pick out a room of your choice and take a rest. If you need something, you can use your engraved jade to send a transmission to me or Xiaolan.”

“Alright.” Forcibly opening “Rumbling Heaven” gave him an immense burden and even now, his body ached with intense pain. Beneath this stress, he had even begun to shake after only standing there for a short while.

“Also, since you have now entered Ice Phoenix Palace, you will have to address me as Palace Master and address Xiaolan as Senior Sister Xiaolan. You must not be too rude.”

“Yes, Palace Master… Senior Sister Xiaolan.”

Senior sister’s just senior sister, it’s not as though saying it would cut off a piece of my flesh!

“Hmph, that’s just about right.” Mu Xiaolan was finally somewhat satisfied.

Mu Bingyun gently nodded before turning around. “Xiaolan, accompany me to the first palace.”

Right when she was about to leave, Mu Bingyun suddenly paused yet again. She turned her head. “Yun Che, the Starpicker Stone you obtained today is a divine stone that will absorb light daily. It will greatly benefit you whether you are using it to cultivate or heal. Furthermore, even if you use it to cultivate twenty four hours a day, it can still be usable for as long as ten years. However, that Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet’s medicinal force is too violent for you. It is definitely not something the current you can bear. Wait until you have broken into the divine way. After your divine energy has stabilized then, I will help you refine it.

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.” Yun Che respectfully replied.

————————————

After exiting the thirty sixth palace, bathed in fluttering snow, Mu Bingyun flew to the first palace with Mu Xiaolan. It was then that Mu Xiaolan finally could no longer endure it. “Master, you… why are you so good to him? Why do you comply with everything he wants? Why are you personally going to help him obstruct those troublesome things attracted by the commotion in Freezing Snow Hall?

“And just look at him, he actually just wants to stay there to cultivate and do nothing. He doesn’t want to go anywhere, doesn’t want to see anyone. In what way does he resemble a disciple? He simply… simply seems to want to stay here and be nurtured until old age!!”

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