Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-2014

Chapter 2014 - Abyssal God Ash

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

The smear of blood and gore obscured everyone’s vision and pierced their hearts.

Anyone could tell that Mo Cangying was trying his best to save Yun Che, going so far as to risk his life against eleven Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm experts.

His sudden attack was also a choice made out of pure desperation. He was hoping to kill off Long Jiang with it so that Yun Che would not make the fatal mistake that would get him killed. But before Ximen Borong and the others could inflict their wrath upon him, Yun Che, the very man he was giving his all to save… had killed him in one strike.

Blood rained down on Yun Che from the sky. However, there wasn’t a shred of reluctance or hesitation in his eyes.

Ku Xian froze. Helian Jue, Zhai Kexie and everyone else froze as well.

“Yun Che, you…” Helian Jue’s face contorted with shock and disbelief, “What… are you doing!?”

He hadn’t anticipated this. Understanding was the farthest thing in his mind right now.

Bang!

The only response he got was an unbelievable step, and this time, Helian Jue’s heart skipped together with it. Ximen Borong, Zhai Kexie and Wan Lei could no longer smile either. The shockingly cruel murder and the killing intent so thick it almost defied imagination all inflicted a sense of unease in their hearts.

An explosive noise shattered the temporary silence. It was Ku Xian turning his arm into rock and unleashing a devastating attack aimed at Yun Che’s heart. As his eyes were glowing with profound energy, it was impossible to say if he had attacked in pain, sorrow, or both.

Wherever his hands reached, space was pushed apart in layers, and the sea of sand beneath him split into a three thousand meter deep sandy abyss.

He didn’t have much time left. Every time he attacked, his lifespan would decrease just a little more. He couldn’t remember when the last time was that he went all out, but right now… every shred of power he was unleashing was filled with fatalistic determination.

The determination wasn’t because Yun Che had killed his disciple, Mo Cangying. It was because he sensed great danger from Yun Che.

He was just a Divine Sovereign, and yet his eyes and darkness… every time he looked into his eyes, he felt like he was being pulled into a bottomless, pitch black abyss. An abyss he could never escape from.

His gentleness and affability were faked. His relationship with Mo Cangying was fake. His closeness with Helian Lingzhu was fake. Even the “fact” that he was saved by Helian Lingzhu and Mo Cangying… was fake!

It was said that a person on the verge of death could catch glimpses of fate.

Now that Yun Che had dropped his disguise, what Ku Xian saw… was a world-destroying devil god who had severed all ties with his humanity and emotions!

The world in Yun Che’s eyes swiftly darkened as Ku Xian’s deadly rock powers overtook the space before him layer by layer. It was accompanied by a grinding noise that sounded like the angry roar of a giant in despair.

Devoting sixty percent of his strength to protect Yun Xi and the remaining into his right arm, Yun Che performed an upswing with the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Kaboom!

The sand turned upside down, and the rock exploded. An explosion loud enough to rock over half the Qilin God Realm deafened the ears as he was blown back at least a couple of meters. The earth beneath his feet split and cracked like crazy.

From the first day he saw Ku Xian, Yun Che had already figured out that his profound energy was immense. Although it was incomparable to the squires accompanying Mo Beichen, Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang back then, it was still more immense than Long Bai’s.

Yun Che was a little stronger than he was when he fought Long Bai back then, but he was only using forty percent of his strength. Naturally, Ku Xian was able to push him back a little.

As for the eleven Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm experts, they were all as strong as Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang.

Helian Jue and everyone else looked shocked. Ku Xian had invested all of his power into his attack. One could say that it was the absolute greatest power an earth element Divine Master could unleash. And all it did was… push Yun Che back slightly?

This meant that Yun Che, a Divine Sovereign, had blocked the full-powered attack of a peak Divine Master with one hand. It also meant that the stunning prowess he displayed at the Qilin God Conference wasn’t his full power… It was just a game he was forced to participate in because of the rules. How could they not be shocked by this?

Just what kind of background and talent did he possess that he was able to grow into such a monster; one that completely defied imagination and distorted common sense?

He was under sixty years old as well!

If this monster was allowed to grow, he definitely could crush them like a bug!

An explosive chill and killing intent rose in everyone’s hearts. Not even Helian Jue was an exception.

Yun Che was unbelievably terrifying, and reconciliation was impossible. In that case, the only thing they could do was to end his life here. They were infinitely grateful that he was still young, and they were inside an isolated secret realm right now. For now, the situation was still completely under their control.

“He… Yun Che… must die!” Zhai Kexie uttered through gritted teeth.

Rumble! The sea of sand depressed yet again as Ku Xian unleashed another attack. His ancient body shone with thick rocky light as he swooped down on Yun Che like an eagle. He had summoned three thousand rock spears when he got close, and each one was shining with incredible energy.

Yun Che slowly looked up and met Ku Xian’s eyes. At that moment, Ku Xian paused for an instant even though he shouldn’t have.

Yun Che had been pushed back by his attack. This was a situation with no escape. And yet Ku Xian couldn’t sense a shred of anxiety, anger or frustration in his eyes whatsoever.

The young man looked so calm that it was terrifying.

For an instant, Ku Xian wondered if they had made a mistake; that they had awakened a devil who was planning to conceal its teeth and claws.

Bang!

The vermillion sword sank deep into the sea of sand, and a ball of yellow divine light appeared in Yun Che’s hand. It was only palm-sized, and yet it seized everyone’s eyeballs and their souls in an instant.

The profound light of the three thousand rock spears was magnificent, but this yellow light was easily a thousand times deeper than that.

What is… that?

Yun Che was holding the Heretic God Seed he had received from the deceased Qilin God.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to absorb it in full. Not even close. However, the Heretic God Seed was imbued with the Qilin God’s final divine origin. All of it.

Had he refined it while he was absorbing the final Heretic God seed, his cultivation would’ve improved by leaps and bounds.

It didn’t matter though.

His plan to withdraw without causing a scene, his chance to skyrocket through the cultivation levels in a just a short time… none of it mattered anymore!

The Abyss was a place where he must ruthlessly sever anything that might touch him so that he could act as coldly and perfectly as a machine. But the woman he was carrying right now… was his daughter!

Her safety mattered more than everything in the Abyss!!

Bang!

He smashed the Heretic God Seed into his chest.

He had sacrificed all of his divine origins during the battle against Mo Beichen. However, the Heretic God Seed was covered in the Qilin God’s primal divine origin. One that was completely untainted, undamaged, and unwarped by an inheritance.

In terms of load capacity alone, it exceeded any divine origin he had sacrificed in the God Realm.

Therefore, it was just enough…

For him to activate God Ash one time in the Abyss!

BOOM—

There was no painful or freeing roar. There was only exploding flesh and blood and a shockwave that engulfed fifty thousand kilometers of sand in an instant.

“Hmm…!?” Ku Xian was instantly pushed back by the shockwave. Half of his three thousand spears crumbled to pieces.

Behind him, he heard a cacophony of shocked cries and disbelieving screams. Before him, he could see nothing but a vermillion sword beam and a pair of bloodshot eyes that resembled a pair of abysses. It was disintegrating—not crushing, but disintegrating—his remaining spears chunk by chunk. His wizened features kept warping before the approaching, crushing pressure until the only thing that was discernible on his face were colorless eyes.

The final light in his eyes wasn’t fear. It was incomprehension. The kind of incomprehension that should only exist in an insane dream.

Psssh!

Yun Che stepped past Ku Xian, and the three thousand rock spears all vanished into the sand like fireflies. Then, the old Divine Master and the profound light covering his body snapped in half and exploded again, and again, and again, and again…

When all was said and done, only a rain of blood and an endless sandstorm was left.

Eleven pairs of pupils dilated and contracted wildly. It was as if an innumerable number of bloodsucking wraiths were sucking their blood.

“Half… Half God…” Ximen Borong was the only one who managed to squeeze some words out of his throat.

For the first time in his life, he was unable to believe his own eyes or his spiritual perception no matter what.

He had sensed a Half-God’s Pressure from Ximen Boyun many times at this point. One could say that he was intricately familiar with it, not to mention his desire to become a Half-God one day.

Yun Che’s aura was still that of a Divine Sovereign, and yet this unbelievable pressure that turned his limbs into water and shook his soul like a leaf no matter how much he tried to resist… it was clearly the pressure of a Half-God!

In fact, it was stronger than Ximen Boyun’s!

Not, not just that… it was slightly stronger than Mo Beichen, the man who was renowned as a legend of the Qilin Abyss Realm!

Before their shock could morph into horror, the nightmarish pressure abruptly got close.

Yun Che’s first target was the man standing closest to him, Helian Jue.

While God Ash was active, strength was hardly the only power Yun Che possessed. He appeared before Helian Jue in the blink of an eye, and the emperor was so stupefied that he only managed to raise his arms.

There was a loud explosion as both of his forearms were pulverized to atoms. His blood-stained body and his screams plunged god-knows-how-deep into the sand.

Rumble!!

He was simply turning, but he gave off the sound of thunder. The thought of escaping had just crossed Ximen Borong’s mind when the vermillion light appeared before him next. He immediately felt like he was being sat on by a million mountains, unable to breathe.

“Yun Che, sto—”

Boom!!

Ximen Borong tried to speak, but all he got was a slash across the chest.

His protective energy shattered like it was no more than a flimsy piece of paper, and a horrific wound several inches deep appeared on his chest. After the shower of blood had dissipated, one could see his shattered bones and displaced organs as clear as day.

“ALLIANCE MASTER!!”

The chief hallmaster of the Qilin Worship Alliance screamed in shock and horror and Ximen Borong flipped away like a leaking blood bag.

Suddenly, Yun Che stopped in his tracks and mustered a wisp of profound energy. Then, he carefully used it to wipe away a bead of blood that had touched Yun Xi’s hair.

Next, he charged toward Zhai Kexie.

Yun Che needed only one hit to crush Helian’s arms and severely injure Ximen Borong. This was the true difference between the so-called Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm and true Divine Extinction Realm; a difference that was like heaven and earth.

It was also why they had completely lost their minds when the opportunity to become a Half God presented itself. However, the price of their greed came far too quickly. It was more terrible than even the worst case scenario they had imagined.

“Run! Run now, sect master!!”

Everyone had lost their courage after what happened to Ku Xian, Helian Jue, and Ximen Borong. The thought of staying and fighting had never crossed their minds because it was just stupid.

As for their initial plan to silence Yun Che, it had become the saddest, stupidest and funniest joke they had ever conceived in their lives. Unfortunately, it was one they would not be able to take back.

It would seem that Zhai Kexie was incredibly well-respected in the Boulder Profound Sect, because the three elders actually chose to push him away to safety and attack Yun Che together to buy him time.

Zhai Kexie was pushed at least five kilometers by their combined strength, and he didn’t look back. Channeling all of his strength, he flew in the direction of the exit like a dog with his tail between his legs.

As the three Boulder Profound Sect elders cultivated the same arts, they knew each other’s powers like the back of their hands. They easily and seamlessly combined their power to form an isolating profound formation that was over three kilometers wide. When it wrapped around Yun Che, it shrank rapidly and locked down the space he was in.

Yun Che’s response was to swing his sword.

Boom—

Tens of thousands of cracks appeared across the profound formation, and the three elders looked like they had been struck by a hammer. Their bodies shook, their faces turned pale, and blood surged all the way up and into their throats. They forced it down.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—” They roared at the top of their lungs and did not take a step backward. The isolating profound formation quickly recovered as they injected their power into it with all their might.

Black flames erupted from the vermillion sword, and when Yun Che swung his sword again, it cut right through the isolating profound formation like it was shoddy fabric.

The profound formation crumbled, and the massive rebound caused all three elders to throw up blood like crazy. What followed afterward was the greatest and final nightmare of their lives.

The Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity struck them in their heads.

The brutal power of the greatsword fell down on the trio and overwhelmed their screams. They fell from the sky like three burning meteors. Standing right where he was, Yun Che stared emotionlessly forward while swinging the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword at them again and again.

Rumble! Rumble! Boom—

A Fallen Heavenly Wolf ripped their bodies to shreds, and a Destroying Sky Decimating Earth pushed them deeper into the abyss of death. Their bodies swayed helplessly like tiny boats in a thunderstorm on a sea of black fire.

Their screams were so horrific that Zhai Kexie subconsciously looked back. He immediately saw the three strongest cornerstones of his sect, the three great elders rolling and twisting amidst the black flames like three sinful ghouls who were being tortured by the flames of nine hells for their sins.

Numbness spread from his scalp all the way to his spine. Every bone in his body was shaking with bone-chilling cold.

Unwilling to watch his elders suffer and afraid to waste even a second longer, he vented his profound energy behind him like it was free. If breaking his profound veins could make him go faster, he would’ve done it. But just as he was about to look forward once more, he suddenly heard a crack of thunder. Then, his eyes met a pair of eyes that shook him to the core.

“Yun—”

He only managed to say one word before the world abruptly turned pitch black.

His head had vanished from his torso. In one hit.

This should not have happened, but the sect master of the Boulder Profound Sect was so shocked and afraid that he even forgot to muster his protective profound energy, which was an instinct that was ingrained to him countless years ago.

It took Yun Che just a moment to eliminate the four strong profound practitioners of the Boulder Profound Sect, and Yun Che never gave them a single word or even a fraction of a second to breathe.

Why? Because everyone present at the scene were people who deserved to die. Because they had committed an unforgivable sin.