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 968 - Risking Life, Jadefallen Ice Soul (2)

An unceasingly large commotion arose due to the information on the Profound God Convention relayed through the Voice of Eternal Heaven. Other than the Eastern Divine Region, the largest Western Divine Region, as well as the Southern and Northern Divine Regions naturally received the news as well. Similar large uproars arose in these three regions.

Under these requirements for this upcoming Profound God Convention, that were strangely much harsher than the past conventions, there was only an extremely small number of disciples who possessed the qualifications to participate even in Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, which was of the highest caliber in the Snow Song Realm. Furthermore, nearly all of them were from Ice Phoenix Divine Hall. Those in the thirty-six Ice Phoenix Palaces who qualified numbered less than a hundred and all of them were at the very brink of being qualified.

The people in the Snow Song Realm who were qualified for this heavenly opportunity with the Eternal Heaven Pearl were all unable to contain their excitement. However, they were also incomparably aware that no matter how hard they were to work, it was definitely impossible for them to obtain the qualifications to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm… Squeezing into the top one thousand positions of the young generation of the entire Eastern Divine Region was but an illusory fantasy for profound practitioners of a middle star realm.

Because of this Voice of Eternal Heaven, Ice Phoenix Realm lost its usual calm. A large portion of people were focused on the Profound God Convention that was going to happen thirty months later, as it would definitely be more extraordinary than usual.  

“Junior Brother Yun, open the door. Master is looking for you.”

Standing in front of Yun Che’s cultivation room, Mu Xiaolan called out a little impatiently. The Voice of Eternal Heaven back then had evidently shaken him greatly. Mu Bingyun had thought that after he calmed down, he would take the initiative to look for her and seek a way to resolve this issue. However, five days had passed, Yun Che had still yet to make a move. Furthermore, from sensing his aura, it seemed he had stayed in the cultivation room for these five days and had not even stepped half a foot out of the room the entire time.

“Junior Brother Yun… Yun Che… Hey! Hurry and open the door, Master is looking for you!”

Mu Xiaolan’s voice gradually grew, yet the stone door of the cultivation room was still tightly shut, without the slightest of movements the entire time.

“If you don’t open the door now and incur Master’s wrath, I won’t help you! Open the door quickly and visit Master!”

“Hey!!”

Boom!!

A bolt of blue light slammed onto the stone door. Mu Xiaolan irritatedly stomped her foot, turned around and left.

“Where’s Yun Che?” Seeing Mu Xiaolan returning alone, Mu Bingyun asked, surprised.

“Hmph.” Mu Xiaolan pouted and said, “I called for him several times but he ignored me entirely. I even said it was Master who was looking for him… So infuriating! How can he behave so arrogantly just because he’s favored by Master!? So infuriating, so infuriating!”

“...” The light in Mu Bingyun’s eyes lightly stirred and she gently said, “Though Yun Che’s words and actions are more willful than regular people, he is not someone who does not know manners. Could something have happened to him?”

“Xiaolan, accompany me to take a look.”

“Ou.”

Mu Bingyun personally headed towards the cultivation room occupied by Yun Che. The moment she approached, a strange aura suddenly made her brows twitch. Her figure quickly moved forward and with a flash of blue light, she instantly pushed open the huge door of the cultivation room.

“Ah!” The instant the huge door of the cultivation room was opened, Mu Xiaolan cried out.

An icy cold aura that was as chaotic as a blizzard furiously poured out of the cultivation room. The origin of this chaotic aura, was actually the blue figure at the center of the cultivation room.

A slightly raging blue light was emitting out of that person’s body and his entire body was already encased within a thick layer of ice. His entire body was still and his features could no longer be clearly seen. Only the silhouette of his body and limbs could be faintly discerned.

“Ah… He… He…” Yun Che was clearly the only one who could be in this cultivation room. However, what surfaced before Mu Xiaolan’s eyes was but an ice sculpture that was constantly emitting a chaotic cold energy. Furthermore, this chaotic cold energy evidently carried the aura of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet.

Mu Xiaolan was a little scared stiff, as she stuttered, “He… Could it be… Could it be that he forcefully consumed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet?”

Mu Bingyun’s snowy complexion went cold. With a wave of her hand, the cultivation room’s stone door immediately closed and her figure flashed to Yun Che’s side. She reached out with her right hand, opened her slender fingers, that seemed to be sculpted from snow, and swiftly caressed Yun Che’s body.

“Is… Is he still alive?” Mu Xiaolan asked somewhat fearfully. The Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet was something even she did not dare to forcibly consume yet Yun Che had actually done it alone. With his mortal body… the consequence of this action was fundamentally a death sentence. Moreover, five full days had already passed.

By now, his entire body should’ve completely turned into ice powder inside and out...

Even though she didn’t like Yun Che that much, she didn’t dislike him that much either… Her only issue was that her master pampered him way too much.

When she asked this question, she didn’t have hope of receiving a positive answer. She immediately saw Mu Bingyun’s expression change from extremely grave to a bit odd. Then, she revealed more and more shock, as though she had suddenly seen something unbelieveable.

“Master, how… how is he?” Mu Xiaolan asked even more carefully.

“He’s… still alive,” Mu Bingyun answered with an odd tone of voice.

“Ah?” Mu Xiaolan was stunned.

“Furthermore, even though his meridians have suffered some damage, his profound veins…”

Ding...

Before Mu Bingyun finished her sentence, the layer of ice that encased Yun Che suddenly broke into a large amount of chunks. Then, when it scattered about, before the pieces even fell to the ground, they were sent far away by a current of air.

When the ice layer fell, Yun Che’s body was revealed… The profound energy scuttling on the surface of his body held slight tints of blue light. As for the clothes on his body, they had long since become ice powder so when the ice layer broke down, he appeared naked before both Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan.

“Ahh—” Mu Xiaolan’s beautiful eyes widened as she gaped. Before she had finished the latter half of her shriek, she had already been stopped by Mu Bingyun. “Don’t make a sound.”

Mu Xiaolan hurriedly covered her mouth as she turned around lightning quick. A captivating red instantly flushed from her cheeks to her neck, her breathing had also become panicked and it took a long while before she spoke with a trembling voice, “He… He… He’s… not wearing…”

“Not only is he not dead… he’s actually still continuously absorbing the medicinal power of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet.”

Mu Bingyun’s voice was extremely soft but deep shock was still within it. With a wave of her hand, an icy mist fell, covering half of Yun Che’s body. Then, she took two steps back. “Xiaolan, you can turn around now.”

Mu Xiaolan carefully turned around but she still didn’t dare to raise her head to look at Yun Che. She timidly whispered, “Is… Is he really alright?”

“Even though this is inconceivable, he really is in no danger.” Mu Bingyun didn’t explain further but her brows stayed wrinkled since the beginning and her eyes held deep bewilderment. From Yun Che’s internal aura, she sensed that the meridians in his body had suffered heavy injuries not too long ago… it ought to have happened within these past few days. That was the inevitable consequence of him forcibly consuming the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet. However, when she examined Yun Che’s body, she discovered that the damage his meridians had suffered was extremely light.

How could he have recovered from a severe injury to his meridians in such a short period of time… Furthermore, the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet’s medicinal force was still currently attacking his body too.

“How… How can this be possible?” Mu Xiaolan’s face was filled with disbelief. “Even if I directly consumed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet, I would also quickly lose my life. Yet he… had already lasted for five days. Ah… his profound strength!!”

It was now that Mu Xiaolan finally noticed that the profound strength aura Yun Che released was shockingly at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm… and closely approaching the late stage as well.

“Not only is he safe and sound, his condition has already stabilized. He has complete control over the medicinal force of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet,” Mu Bingyun stated. “From the aura of the medicinal force, he has already absorbed around eighty percent of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet’s medicinal power. In a few more hours, he will have absorbed it in its entirety.”

Another doubt flashed past Mu Bingyun’s mind… The medicinal force of a Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet was especially violent. Even if a profound practitioner in the middle stage of the Divine Origin Realm was able to absorb it, their profound cultivation would increase by at least a small realm.

Medicinal force that was able to allow profound strength in the divine way to increase by a small realm… Only gave Yun Che an increase of three small realms of the Sovereign Profound Realm after he had absorbed more than eighty percent of its power!?

This defied common sense.

Could it be… that because he tried to forcibly absorb it, most of pellet’s medicinal power had scattered and went to waste?

Mu Bingyun floated in the air and created an invisible isolation barrier, isolating Yun Che from anything that could possibly disturb him. Her gaze then fixed on Yun Che’s body.

His Sky Poison Pearl, his Sovereign Profound combat strength that can prevail over one in the Divine Profound Realm and his Sovereign Profound body that was able to forcibly refine the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet… Numerous things about him amazed her, so much so that some of it overturned her previous knowledge. There was still twenty percent of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet that had yet to be absorbed and she wanted to personally see what kind of change this twenty percent would bring to Yun Che.

Six hours slowly passed in silence. Yun Che’s expression was especially tranquil, the aura on his body become more and more stable. Following the final absorbing and refining of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet’s medicinal force, the icy blue light that covered his entire body disappeared.

Yun Che’s profound strength aura had finally stopped at the late stage of the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.

When Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan arrived, Yun Che’s profound strength aura was approaching that level but even after continuously absorbing the last twenty percent of the medicinal force, it still had yet to break through into the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.

This outcome caused great waves to churn in Mu Bingyun’s soul for a long period of time.

The last twenty percent’s absorption had progressed under her perception. Yun Che’s control of the medicinal force could be said to be perfect with almost no waste at all. If twenty percent of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet’s medicinal force had been absorbed in such a way by a profound practitioner in the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it was definitely enough for them to at least break through to the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.

But for Yun Che… it was not even enough for him to advance even half a small realm.

Could it be that his profound veins… or his profound strength laws were different from an ordinary person’s!?

The medicinal force of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet had finally finished being absorbed in five full days. Even though the medicinal force had been far more violent than Yun Che had expected, he still got through it without any mishaps.

Using medicine to forcibly raise one’s profound strength was still not enough to stabilize it. He still needed a considerably long period of time to do that. After sensing his new profound strength, Yun Che opened his eyes, making direct contact with Mu Bingyun.

“Palace Master, I’ve worried you,” Yun Che said somewhat apologetically. When Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan arrived, he had already sensed them but couldn’t afford to be distracted.

“...But it seems like your actions weren’t exactly due to impulse.” Mu Bingyun deeply gazed at him with an extreme complexity in her eyes. In her several thousand years of living in the God Realm, her cultivation stood at the summit of the entire Snow Song Realm yet she was unable comprehend anything that had happened in Yun Che’s body.

“Did you really… consume the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet?” Mu Xiaolan still couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah. As expected of spiritual medicine from your God Realm, its results are not ordinary.” Yun Che lifted his hands and then stood up during his commentary. The Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet had allowed his profound strength to surge from the fifth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm to the late stage of the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm in a short five days. In the Profound Sky Continent, the effects of this medicine probably had never appeared even in legends.

When he stood up, the icy mist Mu Bingyun had covered his body with previously scattered apart.

Mu Xiaolan suddenly let out a world-shaking shriek and firmly covered her eyes. Mu Bingyun turned around and said with closed eyes, “Put on some clothes first.”

“~！@#￥%……” It was only now that Yun Che finally realized that he was completely naked. The clothes he had been wearing before had long since become ice powder due to the medicinal force of the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet, not even a patch of cloth remained. He quickly grabbed a suit of clothes from the Sky Poison Pearl and donned them in somewhat of a fluster.

“Yun Che! You big bastard! Lowly bastard! You actually… you actually dare sully Master’s eyes! Ah—unforgivable!”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose.” Yun Che snuck a glance at Mu Bingyun and defended himself with a small voice. “Palace Master also didn’t say anything anyways. But you… you took my chastity and still have the nerve to yell at me.”

“Who… Who took your chastity?! You’re obviously the one who sullied our eyes!” Mu Xiaolan bared her teeth. If Mu Bingyun was not at the side, she wouldn’t hesitate to go at Yun Che.

“That’s enough, Xiaolan,” Mu Bingyun said softly, “Yun Che, you cannot tell anyone that you have consumed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet. When you forcibly raise your profound strength with medicinal power, you will be in greater danger the higher your profound strength is raised. You must stabilize it as soon as possible.

“Okay.” Yun Che nodded.

“The Starpicker Stone Mu Sushan gave you can assist you in cultivation. You will understand once you try it. If you have anything you have trouble deciding, you can send me a sound transmission. Try to not make such a reckless decision again… Let’s go, Xiaolan.”

When she exited the cultivation room, Mu Bingyun let out an extremely soft sigh. Her gaze distantly looked ahead and it was not known what she was thinking about.

“Master, didn’t you already get ahold of the dimensional stone that can send Yun Che back to the Profound Sky Continent? Why didn’t you tell him that?” Mu Xiaolan asked with confusion.

Mu Bingyun shook her head. “The reason why he didn’t hesitate to face extreme danger and forcibly consumed the Jadefallen Ice Soul Pellet is because he wants to raise his profound strength in a short period of time. He hopes to have the right to enter the Eternal Heaven Realm in thirty months. His resolution in finding that person has already reached the point where he doesn’t care about his life so it impossible for him to want to return to the Profound Sky Continent now. That dimensional stone is best off being returned to the first palace.”

“But reaching the Divine Tribulation Realm in thirty months is simply, simply… it’s just something that’s totally impossible.”

“As for shattering his illusions, it’s better to just let him do what he wants,” Mu Bingyun said slowly. “After all, he has yet to enter the divine way and does not know how difficult cultivating in the divine way is. After a while, he will understand that it is impossible or perhaps change his mind.”

“Xiaolan,” Mu Bingyun’s celestial figure turned around and looked at the sole disciple that accompanied her all these years. “During these years, due to the fatigue induced by the flame poison, I have yet to properly instruct you. Instead, you have always been taking care of me. Now that I have recovered from the flame poison, I will put more energy into helping you cultivate from now on and not take any other disciple within the next hundred years. I hope you won’t blame me for my strictness when the time comes.”

Mu Xiaolan gaped and was instantly moved to the brink of tears. She quickly kneeled in a fluster and said, “Xiaolan being able to meet Master and accompany Master at all times is already the honor of my entire lifetime. As long as Master doesn’t hate it, Xiaolan is willing to attend to Master for the rest of her life…”

“Silly child.” Mu Bingyun lightly smiled, shook her head and then supported her up. “You are a girl and are even the Situ Family’s little princess. You will marry someone and succeed your family one day so how can I keep you by my side forever?”

“Patriarch Situ brought you here to the Ice Phoenix Realm to not bury your outstanding innate talent yet I have wasted your time.” Mu Bingyun looked to the north and said softly, “With the Profound God Convention at hand, the Great Realm King will soon begin her direct disciples selection and she will definitely use the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake to do so. Although your profound strength has yet to reach the Divine Soul Realm and can barely endure the cold energy there, it is still a rare opportunity. Missing it will be too much of a pity. Thus, in this period of time, you must work hard.”

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