Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-2007

Chapter 2007 - Close At Hand

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

“The Qilin God Realm will be open for three hundred days. Three hundred days later, everyone will be cast out be it alive or dead.”

“You may leave at any moment during this time, but you won’t be able to enter the Qilin God Realm again!”

Ximen Boyun was reciting the basic rules of the Qilin God Realm in a cold voice.

“Every breath you spend in the Qilin God Realm is a gift from the Abyssal Monarch himself. This should suffice as a warning. I don’t believe you guys are so foolish that you would waste this golden opportunity engaging each other in pointless conflict.”

Zhai Kexie hurriedly answered, “Do not worry, Sir Knight. There have been no records of conflict in the Qilin God Realm since its inception. If we obtained an opportunity or a breakthrough, it would be because we have obtained it via our own ability. We would never dare to blaspheme a ground that was bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch himself.”

“You better not!” Ximen Boyun swept his gaze across the crowd. “Also, the Qilin God Realm is filled with all kinds of sandstorms and earthly disasters. Be sure to take good care of yourselves. You only have yourselves to blame if you die in the Qilin God Realm.”

After he said this, he pressed the back of his hand—the one with the divine rune from the Pure Land—against the Qilin God Realm’s barrier. The barrier turned intangible amidst a bright flash, and an entrance appeared before everyone’s eyes. Everyone could sense a rich amount of earthly aura from the small opening.

“Finally!” His voice abruptly grew frigid and gravely serious. “I’m sure you already know this, but I must warn you anyway… do not get close to the Qilin God’s home! If you anger the Qilin God, then no one will be able to save you!”

“We understand, Sir Knight. You have nothing to worry about,” Ximen Boring answered.

Ximen Boyun moved out of the way. “You may enter now. I will stand guard until the day the Qilin God Realm closes once more.”

The members of the Helian Empire, Qilin Worship Alliance, Boulder Profound Sect and Thousand Blade Sect were all beside themselves with excitement. They entered the Qilin God Realm in a semi-orderly manner after thanking the Abyssal Monarch and the Abyssal Knight.

When Ximen Borong approached the entrance, he asked Ximen Boyun via sound transmission, “Are you not really entering, Boyun?”

Ximen Boyun answered, “No one above the Divine Master Realm is allowed to enter the Qilin God Realm. This rule has been around since the beginning. It’s just that few people are aware of it because it almost never comes into play.”

“In any case, I cannot enter the Qilin God Realm as a Half-God or an Abyssal Knight. Plus, the Pure Land’s resources are far greater than the Qilin God Realm’s, so you don’t need to worry about me, brother.” He looked at Ximen Borong and said seriously, “Sound transmission and auras are completely cut off inside the Qilin God Realm, so I won’t be able to assist you if something were to happen. If your life is in danger, don’t hesitate to escape. Nothing is more important than being alive.”

“I understand.” Ximen Borong gave him one last nod and passed through the entrance.

The world turned withered yellow the moment he set foot in the Qilin God Realm.

Both the sky and the earth were withered yellow in color. The sand was constantly shifting beneath the feet, and they were overflowing with an unbelievable amount of sand-and-rock power. Those whose cultivation was lacking could easily be sucked under and buried for eternity.

Although the ground, or rather, the sand was constantly shifting, one could see rock pillars of all shapes and sizes at the distance. They towered all the way to the heavens and remained as still as a tree despite the quick sand.

The dancing sand both in the sky and the ground gave the Qilin God Realm the appearance of a true world of sand. From time to time, a high level earth spirit would show themselves while spilling thick or faint profound light.

Whenever a wind blew, it was always a devastating sandstorm.

“Watch out for quicksand! It's far scarier than you can imagine!”

“My god… no wonder this place is known as the sanctuary of the Qilin Abyss Realm! I cannot believe how rich the sand-and-rock aura in the Qilin God Realm is. I can literally feel my bottleneck loosening, and I’ve been stuck at this cultivation realm for over a century!”

While the participants were all exclaiming in wonder, Yun Che was carefully examining his surroundings. A while later, he finally set his gaze on the east.

Now he understood why Ximen Boyun had warned them not to get close to the Qilin God’s home, but didn’t tell them where it was. It was because they would find out as soon as they entered the Qilin God Realm.

The sea of sand to the east was covered in a strange sheen of yellow light. It was probably the legendary light of the qilin. As soon he saw it, Yun Che immediately felt an invisible pressure piercing all the way to the bottom of his soul.

“Never go near the eastern area! That is where the Qilin God lies!” The elders of all four factions warned their young disciples sternly.

“The legendary Qilin God… I wonder what it looks like.”

“What unbelievable pressure. Just how strong was the Qilin God back then?”

“I heard that the Qilin God used to be incredibly powerful, but it slowly lost its power over the years due to the abyssal dust. It’s already a miracle it has managed to last this long. Even so, the Qilin God is untouchable to us no matter how much its power has receded… just stay far, far away from the east side, and we’ll be fine.”

……

The surrounding chit-chat caused Yun Che to lift his eyebrows slightly.

I could be wrong, but it’s looking more and more like my theories are true.

He pulled his attention away from the east and scanned the people around him next.

Helian Jue, Ximen Borong, Zhai Kexie and Wan Lei were all present. They were currently stuck at the Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm, and the Qilin God Realm was their biggest chance at breaking through their bottleneck. Why would they shy away from this place?

Ninety percent of the participants were younglings. After all, the youth was the future of their respective factions.

Yun Che’s attention was mostly centered on the ten percent though. The Boulder Profound Sect was accompanied by three other Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioners besides Zhai Kexie. They were probably the sect elders. It was the same for the Thousand Blade Sect. Even the Qilin Worship Alliance was accompanied by an additional Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioner besides Ximen Borong.

The large majority of profound practitioners in the Abyss would never progress further than the Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm. Usually the foundation of a sect, their thirst to become a Half-God was undying. In fact, their thirst only deepened as they grew older.

The Helian Empire had also brought a lot of family members with them, but to put it mildly, most of them didn’t deserve to be here.

Yun Che was surprised to find Ku Xian in the Qilin God Realm. The old man could perish at any moment, so logically speaking he shouldn’t have taken up a spot.

He quickly figured out the reason though. Clearly, Ku Xian was here to guide and support the disciples of the Helian Heavenly Palace and especially Helian Lingzhu and Mo Cangying.

The old man truly had given up his whole life for the Helian Empire.

“Young Master Yun Che,” Helian Lingzhu looked unbelievably excited as she stood next to Yun Che, “This is the first time in a long, long while since we entered the Qilin God Realm with this many people. I… don’t even know how to begin to thank you.”

“You flatter me, First Princess,” Yun Che replied smilingly.

Mo Cangying also walked over and asked, “Brother Yun, I’m going to assist my Master and help Lingzhu become a Divine Master as soon as possible. Would you like to join us?”

Yun Che shook his head. “I don’t cultivate the earth element, so the energies here are wasted on me. The only reason I came in is to satisfy my curiosity.”

“I thought this might be the case.” Mo Cangying nodded. “Feel free to do as you wish, Brother Yun. A word of advice though. We’re currently inside an isolated space, and I’m worried that our enemies may plot revenge against you. If you encounter any trouble, do not hesitate to send me a sound transmission. Lingzhu and I will bring our full force to assist you.”

Yun Che nodded gratefully. “Thank you.”

Despite what Ximen Boyun said, this was an excellent place to plot murder and revenge. That was why he needed to get away from the crowd as soon as possible.

Thankfully, this shouldn’t be too difficult to do. The Qilin God Realm was overflowing with sand and abyssal dust as well.

The Power of Extinction was one of the two primordial energies of Primal Chaos. Naturally, it couldn’t be blocked out by space alone.

Yun Che shot Long Jiang one last look before taking his leave. Helian Lingzhu subconsciously raised her hand as if to grab him, but she immediately lowered her hand afterward. Whatever she was trying to say had disappeared back into her throat as well.

She could tell that Yun Che’s eyes on her had changed after they entered the Qilin God Realm.

His expression, eyes, and smile were just the same as before, but for some reason… they no longer invaded her heart.

“Venerable Dragon,” Ximen Borong bowed toward Long Jiang. “It’s all thanks to you that the Qilin Worship Alliance is able to enter the Qilin God Realm in the first place. I don’t know what you’re searching for in the Qilin God Realm, but if you tell me, I swear that the Qilin Worship Alliance will do everything in their power to assist you.”

Long Jiang answered with her back to Ximen Borong, “There is no need. You and I are just fulfilling a contract. Now that we no longer owe each other, we should just stay out of each other’s way.”

Ximen Borong had an inkling this might happen. He sighed and replied, “As you wish, Venerable Dragon.”

Long Jiang was already walking toward a sandstorm.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew next to her. It was Yun Che catching up to her and asking with a sincere expression, “Clearly, neither you nor I are here to cultivate or make a breakthrough. In that case, why don’t we travel together?”

Long Jiang ignored him as if he didn’t exist.

Yun Che examined her closely before saying, “You know, I don’t think your name suits you very much. Jiang can be split into the characters ‘Sheep’ and ‘Woman’, and as you know—”

Shing!

A cold gleam stabbed out from under her gray robe and pressed against Yun Che’s throat.

“Take another step closer, and I will kill you!”

This time, Yun Che didn’t follow her. He just stood there as if he was stunned and watched her back until she had disappeared into the sandstorm.

The direction she was heading… was the south.

Yun Che turned around and walked in the opposite direction of Long Jiang, the north. At the same time, he withdrew his aura and reduced his presence to the minimum possible. Since most people were still basking in the joy of entering the Qilin God Realm for the first time or plotting their next move, it wasn’t long before he had vanished from everyone’s senses.

After flying for about five hundred kilometers toward the north and confirming that he couldn’t sense any foreign aura chasing after him, he abruptly took a turn and flew toward the east. At the same time, his body slowly turned intangible until his body had become as invisible as his aura. He completely vanished into the sand.

At nearly the same time, a grayish white figure venturing alone toward the south also changed directions and flew in a beeline toward the east. However, she was much slower than Yun Che because Yun Che was almost immune to the negative effects of abyssal dust at this point. By now, he could conceal his presence almost to the same level as in the God Realm, but still maintain a relatively quick travel speed.

Long Jiang though, she had to focus most of her strength on suppressing her aura. She also had to slow down to weather the storm of abyssal dust.

The strength of the sandstorm varied wildly and unpredictably, so of course Yun Che couldn’t maintain his Moon Splitting Cascade perfectly. In fact, his invisibility would break from time to time. Yun Che didn’t pay it much heed though. He was almost certain that the qilin in the east was in a deep slumber because staying awake would greatly hasten its death, so he only needed to suppress his aura. Moon Splitting Cascade was just additional insurance.

The yellow qilin light became clearer and clearer as he got close.

Suddenly, Yun Che raised his left hand and summoned a wisp of emerald radiance.

Inside his profound veins, the five Heretic God Seeds—Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder and Darkness—shone brightly as well. In fact, they were shining brighter than they had ever had since Yun Che had obtained them.

It would seem that they could not suppress the excitement of becoming whole and being reborn as well.

Although Yun Che had been almost certain that he was right for a long time now, his heart still couldn’t help but race a little faster.

It’s here! It’s just ahead of me!

He sped up unconsciously, but he quickly caught himself and slowed down once more.

The infinite sand, stone and dust trailed behind him. It was as if he had become the one and only being left in this world. In fact, no one could hear him even if he roared on top of his lungs.

Finally, when the light in his pupils had reached its peak, his feet finally touched the yellow qilin light.

He canceled Moon Splitting Cascade and stared straight ahead. In just the span of a few breaths, all the nervousness and tension in his eyes had receded, leaving behind only cold determination.

If no one was better at overcoming an obstacle via brute force than Yun Che, then no one was better at circumventing an obstacle via espionage and manipulation than Chi Wuyao.

He had rehearsed how his conversation with the last qilin and his retrieval of the final Heretic God Seed a million times in his mind.

This qilin was named the Qilin God. It was obvious that it was powerful beyond imagination.

Not even a hundred of him stood the slightest chance at retrieving the Heretic God Seed by force.

In that case…

He simply needed to convince the qilin to surrender the Heretic God Seed willingly!

This shouldn’t be difficult because the qilin’s personality had remained the same since ancient times!

While standing proudly atop the sheen of qilin light, Yun Che channeled his profound aura and shouted, “The successor of the Creation God of Elements, Yun Che has come to meet the Qilin God!”

His roar scattered the fog of sand, shook the space, and left ripples in the light which refused to fade for a long, long time.