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 992 - Heavenly Lake Goddess (3)

As he quickly neared, the light also became even more lustrous. It was absolutely not him just seeing things. Broken pieces of sand began appearing on the bottom of the heavenly lake. Each one was translucent and bright, like pearls as they reflected a dreamy blue light. Yun Che took a few of them in hand and had no doubt that the cold energy within them was able to instantly freeze five thousand kilometers of sea area.

After passing through the jewel-like broken sand, he came closer and closer to that exceptionally bright blue light. Yun Che had also accelerated quite a bit yet again and was soon able to see that it was astonishingly a block of ice.

Ice!?

Within this heavenly lakewater, which had never frozen before, due to the terrifying cold energy it possessed, how could there be a block of ice?

From a distance, he was able to see that the block of ice was shaped like a diamond. Having not yet reached three feet wide and ten feet long, it was positioned right in the center of the heavenly lake’s cold vein. Even though it was floating within the water, it was so peaceful that it felt as though it was embedded in a world of ice

After seeing the block of ice, Yun Che approached slowly, yet his eyes slightly dulled.

Because there was actually a person inside the ice...

The illusory figure of a girl.

The girl’s arms were wrapped around her knees and her head was buried between her knees too, hugging herself into a ball. She was completely naked, exposing long, white legs and feet as delicate as lotuses. Her naked skin looked as sparkly and glossy as the light of moons and stars, even through a wall of ice.

Her long hair spread down her body and every hair looked as white as ice, tinged with a tiny bit of light blue… It looked very similar to that seductive woman who called herself “Mu Xuanyin”. Every one of her hairs looked like they were enveloped in the cold light of ice and snow.

The hair that looked like ice jade covered up her face and her most forbidden private parts too.

Yun Che stared blankly at the girl. She looked as beautiful as a painting that could only appear inside a dream. Although he couldn’t see her face, there was no doubt that a dreamlike body like this could only be matched by a countenance that would make even ice and snow hang their proverbial heads in shame.

Who was this girl?

Why was she sealed in ice beneath this heavenly lake?

How long had she been sealed here? A hundred years? A thousand years? Ten thousand years or… even longer than that?

Did Divine Ice Phoenix Sect do this?

The only people who could approach the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake were members of Divine Ice Phoenix Sect … Could it be that this girl was a very important figure of Divine Ice Phoenix Sect from a certain time, who was sealed in ice and submerged into this lake to preserve her remains permanently?

Wait! With Snow Song Realm’s weather and divine way level frost profound energy, there was no need to submerge a body in the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake to preserve a body at all, not to mention that contamination of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake was absolutely forbidden.

Moreover, the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake was no ordinary lake at all. Any objects that were submerged into the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake would be annihilated into nothingness by its terrifying cold energy instead of sinking to the bottom.

But this ice and the girl inside the ice… were perfectly intact. They were actually not affected by the cold energy of this place at all.

Yun Che attempted to move closer until he was right in front of the ice. The icy, jade-like skin that was just inches away from him actually caused him to look away subconsciously. He didn’t dare blaspheme the girl’s beautiful body with his eyes. He slowly stretched out his palm and touched the ice.

Ding...

A small, blue flash appeared where his fingers and the ice touched. There were no other abnormalities except the blue flash.

He hadn’t detected any life or soul auras either.

Who was she… and why was she here?

Great curiosity and puzzlement were occupying his mind but he couldn’t find any answers at all inside this cold and quiet lake bottom.

Yun Che hadn’t forgotten his current situation either. He backed away a few steps and finally looked away entirely… He had already experienced the Snow Song Realm King’s cold-heartedness and tyranny once. If all he wanted to do was to prove himself to her, then he only needed to go below three hundred meters. But because he was too anxious to find a way to increase his profound energy at top speed and because of his own curiosity regarding the bottom of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, he had taken a great risk and sank to the bottom of the lake. If the Snow Song Realm King decided that he had stayed too long beneath the lake, considering her temperament the consequences were unimaginable.

Yun Che inhaled slightly and was ready to leave the place but suddenly, a girl’s voice rang in the depths of his soul.

“Who are you?”

“Why… are you able to come here?”

This voice felt as pure and intangible as a clear spring that flowed through the center one’s heart. Yun Che abruptly stiffened before turning back around as quick as lightning. He stared straight at the frozen girl and asked, “Are you… talking to me?”

Earlier, he had scanned this place and found no traces of life or soul aura inside the ice at all… but she was also the only thing that existed in this place besides him. She also said “here” earlier.

The girl didn’t answer but the surrounding waters of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake suddenly shook slightly. A divine consciousness that was as gentle as water enveloped Yun Che entirely.

Yun Che didn’t resist… because not only was this divine consciousness completely friendly and kind, it was also so vast and boundless that he was completely powerless against it.

At the bottom of the heavenly lake and inside the ice, not only did this girl possess a consciousness of her own, her divine consciousness was also absolutely terrifying.

Just… who was she!?

In a flash, the tremendous divine consciousness left Yun Che’s body and the girl’s voice rang inside his soul once more, “Ah… you inherited the Heretic God’s power. No wonder you can make your way to this place.”

Yun Che abruptly looked up, “Are you… the Ice Phoenix’s Divine Spirit?”

She was able to identify the power of the evil god inside him just by scanning his aura. The only beings who were able to do this were souls who possessed the memories of ancient True Gods like the Phoenix, the Dragon God and the Golden Crow!

The young girl didn’t reply and fell into a long, long period of silence instead. Then, she asked softly all of a sudden, “Can I… look at your memories?”

Although the divine souls Yun Che had encountered all had a personality of their own, they all carried themselves with the tall pride of a god. This being, that might very well be the Ice Phoenix’s soul, had not only spoken to him, a rude intruder, as gently as water, she was even asking his permission politely and sincerely.

In comparison, the golden crow spirit had violently read through his memories by force.

The infinitely vast divine consciousness that appeared earlier proved that the girl before him might very well be the ice phoenix’s soul. Her soul power was much stronger than the golden crow’s soul and it would be mere child’s play for her to forcefully read his memories against his will… But her tone was that of a gentle inquiry.

“Okay.” To allow another person to read his memories was the equivalent of exposing all of his secrets. It was a taboo that no one could accept but Yun Che had no choice but to accept it.

The water rippled and the vast divine consciousness enveloped Yun Che once more, slowly and softly entering into the depths of his soul. Yun Che’s mind immediately turned blank.

An unknown period of time later, Yun Che regained his consciousness little by little. That divine consciousness was long gone.

“Blue Pole Star… The Phoenix… the Dragon God… the Golden Crow… the Sky Poison Pearl… the Mirror of Samsara… Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…” The young girl muttered softly, “To think that so many things have happened to you in such a short lifetime.”

“You… haven’t answered my question. Are you the Ice Phoenix’s soul?” Yun Che persisted in his question.

“I am and I am not.”

“Huh?” Her answer puzzled Yun Che.

“I am different from the phoenix, dragon god and golden crow’s souls you’ve met earlier. They are soul fragments that have remained in the world in hopes of passing down their powers after their own deaths. I, too, have separated a part of my soul but that soul fragment disappeared a long time ago after it had passed down its final strength and bloodline to the Snow Song Realm.”

“Then… you are?”

“The me before you, is that soul fragment’s master.”

The girl’s voice was still as unbelievably soft as ever. A blank moment later, Yun Che’s face abruptly changed as he exclaimed, “You… you are the Ice Phoenix!”

She was not a soul fragment but the master of the fragment itself… This also meant that she was the divine spirit itself! The one and only Ice Phoenix!

She was a True God who survived to this day!

The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was a True Devil who lived… until the moment he was killed by him with the Heaven Smiting Sword but now, he had also encountered a living True God who survived to this day!

“There is no need for surprise,” The young girl knew what he was thinking, “I may still exist but I am incomparable to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign you encountered. He may have had the possibility of recovering one day but I can only preserve the tiniest shreds of my life source and soul sorce. Not only can I never recover but I may never be able to leave this cold vein either. I cannot even return to my true body and have no choice but to maintain the shape of a human.”

“There is but a little margin between me and true death.”

“So you mean… you’ve been here for more than a million years?” Yun Che was still shocked beyond words. He could hardly calm himself down.

Even if she possessed only the tiniest shreds of her life source and soul source, she was still a True God who hadn’t perished entirely… A True God! She was completely different from the fragments of divine spirits he met previously! She was a completely different level of existence!”

“Yes… before I knew it, a million years have passed since that disaster. More than once have I wished to die and end my petty life and eternal loneliness. The hope to see with my own eyes whether that day will arrive, has kept me from doing so…”

“Day? Which day?” Yun Che was puzzled.

“That day hasn’t arrived even though I’ve waited a million years. But you, did. I suppose this is the plan of fate… no, this is the Heretic God’s guidance. He gave up his divine title as a Creation God and was dubbed the most heretical and lonely god in the world… but just how many know that he, was actually the greatest of all the gods?”

The young girl seemed to be talking to both him and herself. Yun Che was completely confused by her erratic statements.

“Yun Che,” The young girl said his name softly. “The power of the Heretic God you now bear comes from a single drop of the Heretic God’s Indestructible Blood. His power is different from the rest of the divine powers you’ve gotten, for although the divine power of the Phoenix, the Dragon God and the Golden Crow inside your body all came from a tiny amount of divine blood, the indestructible blood of the Heretic God has nurtured an entirely perfect set of Heretic God Profound Veins in you. It is also the complete source of power of the Heretic God. The meaning it represents is completely different from the other divine powers you possess.”

Yun Che nodded. He understood this perfectly. His power had always been based around the power of the Heretic God and the reason the rest of his divine powers were able to coexist with each other and unleash power beyond their limits was completely thanks to the Heretic God’s Profound Veins.

“Do you know how hard it was for the Heretic God to leave behind this drop of indestructible blood? ...Not only did he need to eliminate himself entirely, he had to pay the price of at least six hundred thousand years of lifespan too. This means that the Heretic God could have lived on for another six hundred thousand years with his tremendous divine power even though he was infected with Myriad Tribulations.”

“But he gave up on the chance to live another six hundred thousand years with his divine power under the trappings of Myriad Tribulations and invested all of his divine power and life force into creating that indestructible drop of Heretic God blood. This was all for the sake of leaving behind the source of his power… even towards the end of his life, the Heretic God was only worried about the arrival of that day, going so far as to give up his life in order to leave behind one final hope to the future. Perhaps, he was the only person worthy of being called the greatest of all gods.”

“...I can’t understand what you’re saying at all. What exactly do you mean by ‘that day’? And why did the Heretic God forcefully leave behind a complete version of his source of power?”

Since she was talking about the Heretic God, it had to be related to him somehow but that didn’t change the fact that he seriously couldn’t understand a thing the girl had said.

__________

alyschu: It’s pretty hard to change it here because there are so many instances of “Heretic God”, but when we go into publication, we’re most definitely going to call him the Heretic God in the ebook. 

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