Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-1996

Chapter 1996 - Qilin Abyss Conference (1)

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Yun Che immediately ran into Helian Lingzhu when he returned. As expected, she was looking for him all over the place.

“Young Master Yun Che!”

Helian Lingzhu had called out to him from afar while running toward him. She looked absolutely pleased to see him.

There was also a sheen of unwashed tears in her eyes.

“I thought… I thought you snuck off and left.” She had enough discipline to keep a close but respectable distance from Yun Che.

“Leave? Why would I leave?” Surprise flickered across Yun Che’s features before he smiled. “You are my savior, First Princess. I would never break your trust in me.”

“But why are you in such a hurry? What happened?” Yun Che asked even though he knew exactly why she was looking for him.

His question immediately turned her joy into panic. She subconsciously grabbed his sleeve and said, “Father… Father’s about to die! His heart is so damaged that not even our Guardian Ancestor can do anything about it!”

“You said you had a way! I… I know that Father doesn’t trust you, and his attitude toward you was extremely bad, but… you’re the only one who can save him now. Please, Young Master Yun Che… you must save him.”

Her speech was a little discombobulated due to how panicked she was, but thanks to everything that had happened before, she was inexplicably confident that Yun Che could help her even when her Guardian Ancestor could not.

A warm and gentle profound energy washed over her. “Alright. Let’s go check it out.”

……

Inside the main palace, Helian Jue looked as white as a sheet. The fact that he was bleeding from all his orifices made the contrast even scarier.

He was a half-step Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioner, and yet he was breathing so shallowly it was almost impossible to detect.

After being tortured by the Mo Beichen’s profound energy for several days, Helian Jue went from suppressing it with all his might to the point where he didn’t dare to suppress it. Now, he didn’t even dare to circulate his profound energy for fear that the devil in his heart would grow even crazier.

When Yun che arrived, the hall was full of people. The princes and the princesses were all kneeling on the ground. The strongest auras across the palace were gathered here as well.

They looked like they were getting ready for the emperor’s final moments.

The palace chief of the Heavenly Helian Palace and Helian Lingzhu and Mo Cangying’s master, Ku Xian, were present as well.

“Father! You must hang on, father! The Guardian Ancestor must have a way… Oh, Father!”

The crown prince, Helian Linglang was kneeling on the floor and wailing at the top of his lungs. If they didn’t know better, they would have thought that the emperor was already dead.

Mo Cangying had been frowning the whole time he was here. If Helian Linglang wasn’t the crown prince, he would have emulated Yun Che’s example and stomped his head into the floor.

At this point, he no longer had any hope for the Helian imperial family. As the most outstanding profound practitioner of this generation, he had, of course, received invitations from the Boulder Profound Sect, the Thousand Blade Sect, and the Fiery Sand Sect. However, he had always served Helian loyally for his sect and Helian Lingzhu.

But now…

He looked outside. Helian Lingzhu had finally come back after several hours of absence, and it was such a long time that he couldn’t help but be disturbed by it. [1].

“I’ve returned, Father.”

There was no time to waste. Helian Lingzhu forced her way through the crowd and arrived before Helian Jue.

Helian Jue turned his head. His dim eyes abruptly glowed bright when he saw Yun Che following behind Helian Lingzhu at a leisurely pace.

When he was truly pushed to the brink, when all hope seemed lost, he had remembered the one person who claimed that he had a way to save him.

Back then, he had rejected him without any hesitation, but after Yun Che had displayed his extraordinary qualities, his disbelief and scorn had quickly transformed into hope.

“Young Master Yun Che is here, Father. He will save you.”

Helian Lingzhu was beyond worried, and yet she truly believed that Yun Che would be able to do something about it. It didn’t make sense.

Helian Linglang turned around to stare at Yun Che. “He… He’s the ‘extraordinary person’ you said is going to save Father?”

Yun Che ignored him completely and walked up to Helian Lingzhu. He quickly scanned Helian Jue with his spiritual perception and, yep, it was more or less what he had predicted earlier. It was worth all the saliva and breath he wasted that day.

“Save… me…” Helian Jue uttered weakly. His voice was full of pain.

Everyone in the hall immediately looked at Yun Che in a different light.

Helian Jue’s condition was so bad that even the Guardian Ancestor could do nothing to save him, and now he was begging this young Divine Sovereign to save him?

Yun Che ordered, “I want everyone except the First Princess, Brother Mo, and Palace Chief Ku Xian to leave the room.”

Ku Xuan shot him a look of surprise. His order stunned everyone else as well.

Helian Linglang immediately rose to his feet and declared in a dignified voice, “Who do you think you are, you country bumpkin? Do you think you have the right to command the imperial family?”

“Get… out!” Helian Jue wheezed. His voice was raspy, but his voice was still dignified.

Helian Linglang spun around in disbelief. “Father! Not even the Guardian Ancestor could help you, and he is just a Divine Sovereign. This is obviously a—”

“Am I… dead yet!?” Helian Jue roared angrily. He was being tormented during every breath he drew, and these bastards were dragging out his misery. “No? Then GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! ALL OF YOU! OUT!”

Helian Lingzhu hurriedly echoed in agreement, “As you wish, Father. Everyone except M—Palace Chief Kuxian and Ninth Senior Brother, please leave.”

The “miscellaneous” people quickly filed out of the hall. It wasn’t long before the main palace fell silent once more.

It was at this moment a mighty aura lingered temporarily on Yun Che. It was incredibly powerful, and yet it felt hollow on the inside.

Is that the Guardian Ancestor? Yun Che didn’t react to the probing. He continued to stare at Helian Jue indifferently.

“Can you really save His Majesty, young man?” Ku Xian asked. His tone was doubtful, but he did not underestimate him.

He had learned how Yun Che had healed a young boy from Helian Lingzhu and Mo Cangying. It was why he was astonished and extremely curious about his background.

Yun Che replied, “My cultivation is weak, so of course I cannot interfere with a Half-God’s profound qi directly. But medically speaking, there is a way to treat His Majesty.”

“Medical?” Ku Xian frowned. He was a doctor himself, but from what he could tell, Helian Jue’s injury was impossible to solve from a medical standpoint.

“Everyone knows that if you suffer a wound in your life vein—and the heart is a part of it—then it is almost guaranteed to be a permanent injury not because it’s untreatable, but because the slightest mistake could result in death. In reality, the life vein can be split into seventy-two orifices, and seventeen of them can be destroyed without crippling the patient or causing their life energy to leak too rapidly. If their cultivation is strong enough, they can even heal back to full health, albeit slowly.”

“Since it’s impossible to neutralize the profound energy directly, my idea is to break open these seventeen orifices and guide the energy out of the life vein.”

Yun Che made it sound so simple, but to Ku Xian, it was practically a fantasy. As far as he knew, to damage one’s life vein was to kill someone. Even “poking one small hole” in it would severely cripple or outright kill the person, much less seventeen. Whatever Yun Che’s background might be, he found it difficult to believe that Yun Che could be more knowledgeable and experienced than him in this regard, and everything he knew told him that this was impossible.

Even if what Yun che said was true… how could he accurately breach only those seventeen orifices? This was the life vein they were talking about. One single mistake, and the emperor’s life energy might just leak out in a rush and kill him in an instant.

“Is that even possible?” Ku Xian frowned deeply. This was a stretch too far for him to believe.

Instead of explaining, Yun Che looked at Helian Jue and said, “I’ve told you the plan before, Your Majesty. I’ll be opening seventeen holes in your life vein. It’s up to you whether to proceed with the operation.”

Helian Jue’s eyes bulged. He looked like he would reject it, when in reality he said without hesitation, “Do it… do it now.”

It was because he already had one foot in the grave. Even if Yun Che was lying, the worst case scenario would be his death, which he was already on his way to anyway.

“Very well,” Yun Che declared, “but before we talk about treatment, we must talk about payment. After all, you were the one who sent me away first. I see no reason to save someone who distrusts me.”

Once again, Ku Xian shot him a look of astonishment. He had heard of Yun Che’s impudence already, but he really wasn’t afraid of the emperor at all. In fact, he acted like he was the emperor here.

Helian Jue squeezed through his lips again, “If you can save me… then I will accept… anything.”

Yun Che smiled and turned to Helian Lingzhu. “My condition is very simple. I want the First Princess to be in charge of the Helian side twenty days later when the Qilin Abyss Conference begins.”

“I know you’re the one who should be leading the charge, but your time is better spent resting in the palace, don’t you agree?”

His condition surprised everyone. Helian Lingzhu’s lips were parted, and Mo Cangying looked beyond conflicted to say the least.

Who would’ve thought that Yun Che would make a request that didn’t benefit him one bit?

Normally, the emperor himself was required to show up for a grand event like this. Of course, the emperor could delegate this task to his descendants, but if he did delegate it to Helian Lingzhu, then it was the same as saying that the future successor of the empire was her, not the crown prince.

“Young Master Yun Che, I…” Helian Lingzhu was at a loss for words.

“I… agree with your request.”

Right now, Helian Jue would agree to even the most outlandish requests, much less one as simple as this. After all, he was about to die.

Also, the Qilin Worship Alliance was going to participate in the Qilin Abyss Conference this time, and If the imperial family lost the right to enter the Qilin God Realm to them, then they would be the laughingstock of the century… which was exactly why he didn’t want to go in the first place. In that sense, this arrangement was perfect for him.

“Good,” Yun Che nodded with a cunning glint in his eyes.

Having Helian Lingzhu in charge of the Helian side was the same as having him in charge. After all, Helian Lingzhu was practically his obedient servant at this point.

This would make it so much easier for him to control things. It would also prevent accidents from happening to the maximum degree.

“Palace Chief Ku Xian, I’ll leave it to you to guide the outflow of the energy.”

Before Ku Xian could respond, he reached out and tapped Helian Jue’s chest with his right hand.

Bang!

Helian Jue’s chest split open. A moment later, Mo Beichen’s aura became tens of times clearer than before. The pressure it was releasing was immense to say the least.

Ku Xian forced himself to stay silent even as his expression warped into deep shock. Now was not the time.

He immediately thrust his wizened palms forward and summoned tens of thousands of soothing yet powerful streams. They all wrapped around Helian Jue’s heart.

Boom—

Rumble!!!

Violent streams of Half-God profound energy started shooting out of Helian Jue’s heart in intervals. They burst through the roof and into the sky with a kind of rage that would never fade.

……

Twenty days came and went in the blink of an eye.

During this time, no one tried to give Yun Che any trouble.

It was because the Qilin Worship Alliance could not find anything regarding Yun Che.

It was like he had suddenly appeared in the Qilin Abyss Realm one day.

It was unusual at the least, so much so that the Qilin Worship Alliance wisely chose not to single Yun Che out for revenge—at least not until the Qilin Abyss Conference was over.

Today, countless profound practitioners from all walks of life gathered at the center of the Qilin Abyss Realm.

Helian Lingzhu led the Helian Empire with Ku Xian by her side. Accompanying her were their best profound practitioners of their youth. They boarded a profound boat and flew toward the Qilin God Realm.

As they grew closer, Yun Che could feel the Heretic God Profound Vein shivering a little with anticipation.

This is it, Yun Che thought to himself, the complete Heretic God Profound Vein is just ahead of me.

This was just the prelude. His journey in the Abyss would truly begin only after he had obtained everything!

1. Poor guy. ☜