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 984 - Battle of Ice Spirits

The Snow Song Realm King atop the enormous Frost Dragon had no aura and no pressure whatsoever but Yun Che clearly felt that his soul had been firmly pressed down by an extremely heavy mountain. Even his willpower and beliefs were trembling lowly.

Yun Che had never felt this way before.

This was the highest realm within the divine way—this was the might of the Divine Master Realm! When she reached such a realm, she no longer needed to deliberately release her aura. Her mere existence alone was able to make others submit to her amidst their terror and reverence.

Yun Che got up along with everyone else, his heart pounding incessantly… It was the first time he had clearly felt his own smallness. The Snow Song Realm King above him was situated at the peak of the divine way while he was someone who had yet to step into its doorsteps. Although they were both humans, the difference between them was just too large. The total difference between millions of clouds to mud wasn’t enough to describe this disparity. If he had stayed in the Profound Sky Continent and the Illusory Demon Realm his entire life, then he would only have lived a life from the bottom of a well.

It was just that… him not being able to see what she looked like was a bit regretful.

Great Elder Mu Huanzhi took a step forward. With a raised head, he said solemnly, “Reporting to Sect Master, seventy two divine hall elders, thirty six Ice Phoenix Palace Masters, Freezing Snow Hall’s Main Hall Master and Chief Deacon, the divine hall’s two thousand disciples and Ice Phoenix Palace’s three thousand five hundred… and two disciples have all arrived. We all await Sect Master’s orders!”

“Very good.”

The oracle-like voice carried a supreme heavenly might as it traveled down. “Our Snow Song Realm’s divine vein is in our Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. It is our holy land in which only one person is allowed to enter once every three years and this number has never been exceeded. Three months ago, the Voice of Eternal Heaven clearly told all the realms that something huge is about to occur and it is extremely possible for it to be close at hand.”

The words of the Snow Song Realm King were heavy and oppressive to the extreme. Each word ruthlessly nailed itself into the depths of everyone’s soul. This voice, that was oppressive to the point where it could make the world tremble, caused Yun Che’s mind to form the image of the face of an extremely ice-cold, heartless woman who possessed a gaze frightening enough to split one’s galls.

“Because of this, the Eternal Heaven Realm did not hesitate share the power of the Eternal Heaven Pearl to profound practitioners of other realms. The Eternal Heaven Realm has never done this before in its entire history. Since that’s the case, then our Snow Song Realm also should not be stingy about the divine power of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

“The amount of benefits you will receive from being able to enter the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake today will be up to your own good luck! Huanzhi, arrange it so they can enter the lake.”

“Yes!” Mu Huanzhi replied deeply as his entire body shook once his name was called. He then turned around and said gravely, “Everyone here is a cornerstone of our Divine Ice Phoenix Sect’s future. The sect master has bestowed a huge favor upon us, allowing you all to enter the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. This is unprecedented good luck! The divine power of the heavenly lake will let you all be born anew and will be extremely beneficial toward your cultivation of the ice profound arts in the future.”

“The Profound God Convention’s preliminary selections, that will happen inside the Eternal Heaven Pearl, are in two years. Once you enter, anyone is able to benefit from its exclusive laws of power and today’s heavenly lake gathering will allow even more of you to qualify to enter the Eternal Heaven Pearl. Everyone’s constitution, innate talent, and comprehension is different. How much you all can gain from today’s event will depend on yourselves. Just remember that this kind of opportunity will not happen again in the future!”

When he finished his serious warning, Mu Huanzhi waved his hand.

With the divine hall at the front and the ice phoenix palaces behind them, they were uniformly lead by their respective elders and palace masters as they flew above the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

The closer they got to the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, the more pure and dense the frost aura became. Mu Xiaolan’s cultivation was only at the middle stage of the Divine Origin Realm. Aside from Yun Che, her profound strength was the weakest amongst the bunch, so her resistance against cold energy was naturally also the worst. At this point, she had no choice but the circulate all of her profound energy in order to withstand the cold. However, at the same time, she was also incomparably excited to feel that her circulation of ice profound energy and the speed at which it recovered was several times greater than it was normally.

Mu Bingyun brought Yun Che and Mu Xiaolan to the very end of the procession but she did not fly the two over the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. She had instead stopped at the lake’s edge.

“Xiaolan, Yun Che,” Mu Bingyun turned around and looked at Mu Xiaolan and Yun Che. Of the two, one was using all the profound energy in her body yet she still shivered from the cold. The other however, looked calm, as though nothing had happened to him. “Your cultivation levels are too low so forcibly entering the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake would do more harm than good. You two should stay here. The cold energy here is also borne from the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. Immersing yourself in it and tempering your body with the cold energy is enough to greatly improve your control of ice profound arts. This will bring great benefits to your cultivation later on.”

“Yes, Master.”

Mu Xiaolan said without any objections. She was well aware of her own abilities and knew she wasn’t strong enough to soak in the heavenly lake’s water. Being able to soak in the cold energy here which contained extremely high ice laws was already good luck she wouldn’t even dare dream about.

She quietly sat down. After quickly breathing in lightly, she closed her eyes, not daring to waste any second she spent here.

With the heavenly lake’s water so close before his eyes, after a bout of hesitation, Yun Che still voiced out in the end, “Palace Master, I want to try…”

“Remember what you promised me earlier.” Mu Bingyun seemed to already know what he was about to say and directly interrupted him with a solemn face, “You will do whatever I tell you to do and are not allowed to do anything I don’t want you to do.”

Yun Che opened his mouth but could only nod in submission, “Yes.”

Right when he went to sit beside Mu Xiaolan, Mu Bingyun’s sound transmission suddenly sounded beside his ear.

“You have a strange constitution. You are able to forcibly cultivate the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon without needing the Ice Phoenix bloodline. The cold energy here also will not affect you at all so even though your profound strength is weak, the heavenly lake’s water should not be able to harm you. However, your reputation has already preceded you. If it is heard that your body at the Sovereign Profound Realm is able to successfully soak in the heavenly lake’s water, it will surely cause great waves once more. This will certainly bring you no benefits.”

“The sect master and I owe you so she might pick a day when she will allow you to come alone.”

“...” Yun Che lifted his head and looked at Mu Bingyun’s back figure, which had not turned around the entire time. His heart warmed and then he quickly calmed down and closed his eyes. He no longer cared about his surroundings as he began to focus his senses on feeling the pure, cold energy in this area and comprehending the ice laws within.

This was the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. With Mu Bingyun at his side, Yun Che did not need to set up any defenses whatsoever. Soon enough, his consciousness had unwittingly submerged itself and he had even isolated all external sounds.

Mu Bingyun did not enter the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake and instead stood guard in front of the duo. At this time, Mu Sushan came over from behind them. His gaze shifted to Yun Che and amidst his shock, his footsteps halted before he exclaimed, “In a short three months, he has already reached the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Moreover, his profound energy is this stable… Palace Master Bingyun, I seriously don’t know how exactly you’ve taught him to produce such results.”

Mu Bingyun shook her head, “That has nothing to do with me.”

“Haha, then this could only mean that this kid is a freak that goes against common sense,” Mu Sushan stated.

Mu Bingyun gave an incredibly indifferent smile but did not comment.

The other thirty five Ice Phoenix Palaces had already arrived above the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. At the location of the first palace, Mu Yizhou glanced at Yun Che, who was sitting at the edge of the lake. After a disdainful mocking smile flashed on his face, he no longer bothered to look at him a second time. Following his palace master’s guidance, he then slowly descended, slowly lowering his body down to the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

The instant the tip of his foot touched the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, a current of cold energy instantly burst forth, immediately spreading through every corner of his body. It was as though he had instantly been sealed into the ice hell of legends. The profound energy in his entire body seemed to suddenly boil like fire as it began to quickly circulate.

Ripples continuously came from the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake and the dancing ice spirits were scattered into the distance from their shock. Aside from the thirty sixth palace, all the divine hall and ice phoenix palace disciples were now submerged into the lake. Terrifying cold energy caused them to instantly drop into an ice prison the instant they entered. The pain was intolerable but their hearts were excited to the point that they were close to bursting. Each and every one of them immediately mobilized their thoughts and profound energy, trying to contain and guide the cold energy within them.

Even though they had just entered, they were able to sense the extremely distinct changes occurring to their bodies and profound veins brought about by the extremely pure cold energy from the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.

Although they had long heard about the miraculous Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, they were still happy beyond their dreams after experiencing firsthand. In their joy, they gladly endured the pain brought about by the extreme cold.

Compared to the Ice Phoenix Palace disciples, the expressions of the divine hall disciples were relatively ordinary. There were no changes on the faces and expressions of Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue, who were the center of attention, when they submerged themselves into the lakewater.

Aside from Mu Bingyun, Yun Che, and Mu Xiaolan, everyone else had already entered the heavenly lake. However, the various elders and palace masters did not immediately enter the lake to temper their bodies. After waiting a long while, their gazes all turned to Great Elder Mu Huanzhi.

The breathing of Thirty-ninth Elder Mu Yunzhi was somewhat in disarray.

Great Elder Mu Huanzhi himself was also burning with anxiety. Then, he finally steeled his heart, lifted his head, and said, “Sect Master, about the direct disciple…”

Once these words came out, a majority of the divine hall disciples instantly opened their eyes and looked toward Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue.

“This king obviously has not forgotten.”

The Snow Song Realm King’s voice came from atop the enormous Frost Dragon, “Since we have already arrived at the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, then the matter of this king’s direct disciple selection does not need that many trials!”

A streak of blue light suddenly shone from up above and then formed into an oddly shaped profound formation. After that, a huge wave suddenly rose, landing onto the profound formation in the sky.

The enclosed lakewater slowly began to drip from the end of the profound formation, producing a crisp clinking sound that totally did not resemble the sound of dripping water. It was clear, like the collision of ice crystals.

“Sect Master, what is the meaning of this?” Mu Huanzhi was at a complete loss.

Mu Hanyi lifted his head as his usually limpid eyes released an intense fervor.

“The lake water in the formation will be depleted after six hours. Once it has all fallen, whoever attracts the most heavenly lake ice spirits will become this king’s next direct disciple!!”

After a brief period of being stunned, everyone immediately reacted. Mu Huanzhi cheerfully accepted it with a “Sect Master is wise” and then turned around lightning quick. He hollered with a thunderous voice, “Feixue!”

To the side, Mu Yunzhi also charged to Mu Hanyi from overhead. With a wave of her hand, she completely pushed aside all disciples that were within three hundred meters of Mu Hanyi. “Hanyi, begin now!”

Ice spirits of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake were by no means ordinary ice spirits. Each and every one of them were formed by the heavenly lake’s cold energy and possessed high level consciousness and close to complete souls. Even if it was a profound practitioner that only cultivated ice profound arts, not being rejected by these kinds of ice spirits was already extremely hard, let alone communicating with them.

As a result, even though this “trial” that came from the Snow Song Realm King herself seemed to be extremely simple, it was an overall test of one’s constitution, innate talent, comprehension of laws, and control.

The more one’s body had an affinity with ice type powers, the more thorough one was in comprehending ice type laws, the greater control one had over ice type power, naturally meant that it was much more likely for them to not be rejected by the heavenly lake’s ice spirits. After that, they could then try to communicate with them and slowly attract them over… if one’s control of ice type powers was great enough, then they could even master these ice spirits and use them as their own.

In comparison, one’s cultivation in the profound way wasn’t really important in this trial.

Every time the Realm King selected a direct disciple, she had never placed any importance in their cultivation level at that time. This was because cultivation level at a certain time was just cultivation level at a certain time. Comprehension of laws and mastery of control was what decided cultivation speed and the limits one was capable of reaching in the future!

This was why Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue were publicly acknowledged as the most qualified two people to become the Realm King’s direct disciple despite only ranking in the middle in terms of strength.

That being said, those with high innate talent would never be low in cultivation compared to peers of the same age. It was also Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue who were unmatched in terms of cultivation when compared to peers of the same age in the entire Snow Song Realm. After all, innate talent and strength usually went hand in hand anyways.

Mu Hanyi didn’t need Mu Yunzhi’s reminder as his body was already drifting with blue light. After several breaths, he had already channeled his frost powers to their limits. The rich, pure cold energy carried his soul energy, spreading it toward his surroundings.

At the other side, Mu Feixue’s eyes were closed, her quiet expression possessing the purity of a snow lotus. Just a kilometer ahead of her, an ice spirit that was originally about to fly away suddenly slowed down. Then, it gradually stopped and after a long period of silence, it slowly flew toward Mu Feixue with some hesitation.

It was obviously not just Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue who were attracting ice spirits. Almost all of the divine hall disciples were doing their best to release both their profound energy and soul energy… Even though they knew their chances were uncertain, if they were able to become the sect master’s direct disciple, that was undoubtedly the same as reaching heaven in one step. Even if their chances were slim, they still wanted to do their best.

The lakewater in the profound formation continuously dripped, bringing on the passing of time. Above the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, the fierce battle over the heavenly lake’s ice spirits began its first act. It was incomparably silent and incomparably intense.

At the edge of the heavenly lake, Yun Che’s consciousness had completely submerged inward. He was completely unaware of anything that was happening in the outside world, completely unaware of the fierce battle in the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake and was totally unaware of what the Snow Song Realm King had said previously.

Beneath his emptied out five senses, the rate in which the heavenly lake’s cold energy surged into his body was several tens of times faster than Mu Xiaolan beside him. Under the extremely pure and clean cold energy that contained extremely high level laws of power, the profound energy in Yun Che’s body quickly circulated the cold energy again and again, bringing about a quiet change every time.

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