Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1188 - Poyun Concedes

Huo Rulie took a big stride forward, as he said while laughing loudly, “Young Yun is right! Yun’er, you don’t have to be so discouraged. It is absolutely not because the Golden Crow flame is weaker than the way of sword that you lost to that little girl Jun Xilei. Besides a few other factors behind her victory, the ‘Misty Light’ sword of that little girl is quite extraordinary! Although the Devil Destroying Sword of the Flame God Realm is strong, it is really not comparable to ‘Misty Light.’ If we can obtain the ‘Golden Crow Sacred Sword,’ I guarantee that beating that little girl won’t… Eh?”

While Huo Rulie was speaking, Yun Che hurriedly glanced at him meaningfully. If it was so easy to come out of depression, it wouldn’t be called depression in the first place. Besides, it was the faith Huo Poyun had in himself which had supported him all his life that had collapsed after the battle. Although he was feeling a bit relaxed now that Yun Che had tried to convince and comfort him, it was absolutely impossible for him to feel relieved so easily. It would require a very long time for him to truly recover, and being overly hasty would only result in negative consequences.

Unless, something could provide them a positive stimulation of similar or even stronger power than the level of depression.

Looking at Yun Che’s meaningful glance, Huo Rulie obediently shut his mouth.

However… What was the “Golden Crow Sacred Sword” that Huo Rulie had mentioned? From the sound of it, it seemed to be even better than Jun Xilei’s “Misty Light.”

“Master, you didn’t hesitate to greatly damage your talent and profound strength so that this disciple could reach the the Divine Spirit Realm. However… disciple ended up disgracing you,” Huo Poyun said in an ashamed manner.

“You are the biggest pride of your master. It has been the case before, and it is true even now,” Huo Rulie said in an incomparably firm voice as he looked at his beloved disciple.

“Brother Poyun, what is the ‘Golden Crow Sacred Sword’ that Sect Master Huo mentioned just now? It certainly sounded like an extraordinary existence.” Yun Che asked all of a sudden, so as to divert Huo Poyun’s mind in another direction.

Huo Poyun raised his head, as his eyes revealed an expression of yearning, “Back when the Golden Crow divine spirit still existed in this world, it once told us about the ‘Golden Crow Sacred Sword’ that has remained in the God Burying Inferno Prison since the Era of Gods. Although following the elimination of the primordial aura, the energy of the Golden Crow Sacred Sword is growing weaker day by day, it would still be considered a supreme weapon in the current Primal Chaos. However, no one in the Flame God Realm has ever been able to come into contact with its existence.”

“The Golden Crow Sacred Sword is one of the things that I’ve most pursued in my life. If this wish of mine were to get fulfilled, I wouldn’t regret dying ten thousand times.”

“If it’s Brother Poyun, there is definitely hope,” Yun Che said smilingly.

When Yun Che returned to the residence of the Snow Song Realm, Mu Bingyun and others had also just come back.

“Has today’s competition ended?” Yun Che raised his brows. “Palace Master Bingyun, who is my opponent tomorrow?”

The next day, only the fourth round of Losers Group would be held!

The winners will make their way into the list of the top eight!

“Huo Poyun,” Mu Bingyun slowly said.

“Eh!?” Yun Che was stunned.

After the battles on this day, there were still eight people left in the Losers Group.

Among these eight people, Huo Poyun and Lu Lengchuan were the two people that he was most disinclined to bump into.

But in the end, his next opponent turned out to be one of those two.

“Huo Poyun is inferior to Wu Guike when it comes to the cultivation of profound strength, and the Golden Crow flame, which is his strongest means, should not pose much of a threat to you. Therefore, even if his overall strength surpasses Wu Guike, it would be even easier for you win against him,” Mu Bingyun said.

“It’s not a matter of whether I can win against him or not,” Yun Che said. “Huo Poyun has always considered the Golden Crow flame his pride, but he has suffered such a great blow after getting defeated by just one sword attack of Jun Xilei that he has even started to doubt whether the power of Golden Crow flame is truly as great as he has believed it to be. It should be very difficult for him to regain his calm in a short period of time. That’s why, he will most likely concede the battle tomorrow… Especially, when he finds out that I’ll be his opponent.”

Mu Bingyun slightly raised her brows, “Huo Poyun is, after all, still too young, and shouldn’t have experienced such a great setback before now. It is nothing strange for him to react in such a way… Jun Xilei most likely wished for such an outcome too.”

Yun Che’s brows tightened, as he seemed to be thinking something.

“Are you planning to go over and chat with Huo Poyun?” Mu Bingyun asked.

After a moment of hesitation, Yun Che shook his head eventually, “No. I’ll let Brother Poyun make the choice on his own. If he chooses to fight with me, that would be for the best. I’ll do my utmost and defeat him in the battle fair and square!”

If he chooses to concede…” Yun Che’s voice paused for a bit. “It will mean that he has suffered a far greater blow than I think. After all, not only did he have an extremely high sense of dignity of the profound way, only he can tell how deep the faith he has in the ‘power of Golden Crow flame’ is.”

“He has his own choice to make, and Yun Che, this is not the time for you to be distracted, either.” Although Mu Bingyun’s eyes were looking at Yun Che with a soft expression, they didn’t seem as calm as in the past, and there were some inexplicable emotions mixed within the look in her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re thinking at the moment, but your performance today was completely shocking, and countless people will want to know everything about you. So… you need to be even more careful than earlier now!”

“I’ve got it.” Yun Che nodded his head.

The night passed by quietly.

Next day, at the Conferred God Stage, the fierce battles of the fourth round of Losers Group were about to start.

Yun Che had arrived at an earlier time, but Huo Poyun hadn’t appeared in the seating area adjacent to the Snow Song Realm even when the first battle had begun.

Yun Che hadn’t asked anything from the people of the Flame God Realm, and just quietly waited for Huo Poyun to come.

In the first battle, Lu Lengchuan easily won against his opponent and was promoted to the top eight.

In the second and third battle, Meng Duanxi and Chao Feng, who had fallen out of the Conferred Gods Group, displayed their extraordinary strength and defeated their opponents. As such, they were also promoted to top eight.

The fourth battle…

“Now we will have the fourth battle of the fourth round of Losers Group. Huo Poyun from the Flame God Realm versus Yun Che from the Snow Song Realm!”

In an instant, the whole place became quiet. All gazes focused on Yun Che, as if they were forcibly drawn to a magnet.

At the eastern seating area, the gaze of every great god emperor shifted to the stage at the same time. Cang Shitian, who had been dozing off all this while, swiftly sat upright, like a spring.

Even Luo Changsheng would absolutely not receive such attention.

Yun Che got to his feet, but let out a sigh.

It was because Huo Poyun had still not appeared, and Yun Che could not sense his aura in the surroundings, either.

Yun Che flew up in the air and landed on the Conferred God Stage. It was only after a long while passed that everybody discovered that Yun Che’s opponent was not even present in the seating area of the Flame God Realm.

It was at this time that Yan Juehai stood up, as he said in a calm voice, “Honorable Qu Hui, Huo Poyun, the disciple of the Flame God Realm, wasn’t able to fully recover from the severe injuries that he had received in the battle yesterday, as the Time Wheel Pearl he had was completely used on a previous occasion. Therefore, he is unable to participate in the battle. This Yan concedes in place of disciple Huo Poyun.”

Yun Che, “…”

Immediately, hisses could be heard from the audience seating area.

Honorable Qu Hui’s eye grew serious, as he said in a heavy voice, “In the Conferred God Battle, no can make any decision in place of the concerned Conferred God Candidate!”

“Huo Poyun of the Flame God Realm, hurry to the Conferred God Stage in fifteen breaths’ time. Otherwise, it will be viewed as you conceding the battle!”

Honorable Qu Hui’s voice vibrated in all directions and… five breaths… ten breaths… time passed by quickly. Finally, Huo Poyun didn’t appear even after fifteen breaths’ time.

“Huo Poyun didn’t arrive at the Conferred God Stage, which will be viewed as him conceding the battle. He can no longer participate in the Profound God Convention!”

“Yun Che has won, and will be entering the fifth round of the Losers Group tomorrow!”

In the audience seating area, people had all kinds of expressions on their faces, as they were discussing with each other. Some were sighing, others revealed a look of puzzlement.

Huo Poyun might have suffered a defeat with just one sword attack from Jun Xilei, but it was because his opponent was someone as strong as the latter, not that he was too weak. On the contrary, he had already received the praises and acknowledgements of countless people in the Profound God Convention. A great majority of the audience and Mu Bingyun herself also believed that his overall strength was even above Wu Guike.

Therefore, everyone was really looking forward to the battle between him and Yun Che.

They didn’t expect him to break down after a defeat. As for Yan Juehai’s explanation that Huo Poyun couldn’t come because he hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries, because the Time Wheel Pearl had been completely used at an earlier date, they didn’t believe it in the least.

The audience found it regrettable that such an eye-catching dark horse had to end his journey in the Profound God Convention in such a way.

Returning to the audience seating area, Yun Che finally asked, “Sect Master Huo, Brother Poyun…”

Yan Juehai shook his head, as he gave a brief reply, “It is not because of you.”

“Looks like my attempt to get him over his worries only had a temporary effect,” Yun Che thought in his heart. “Sigh, come to think of it, Huo Poyun’s life had been smooth sailing until now, and to face such a serious setback would be quite an awful experience for him. That girl Jun Xilei is really a bit too ruthless!”

Hmm? Speaking of which, Jun Xilei’s current mental condition should not be that different from Huo Poyun too. Although it has been so long since that incident in the Snow Song Realm, her killing intent, anger and resentment seems to increase more and more every time she catches sight of me. She is dying to swallow me whole.

Man, what should I do about these spoiled youngsters? Sigh… Yun Che sighed while shaking his head.

Such an outcome meant that Yun Che would enter the ranks of the top eight without having to fight a battle.

He cheated in the preliminaries, and lost in the first round due to conceding the battle, which made Yun Che the biggest laughing stock in the Profound God Convention. If God Emperor Shitian hadn’t caused a stir like the maniac he was, Yun Che would have been driven out of the Eternal Heaven Realm.

God Emperor Shitian had done so because he wanted to annoy the Eastern Divine Region, and watch the Eastern Divine Region make a fool of itself. Who would have thought that Yun Che would surprise them so much again and again that even their eyeballs would pop out, and from the biggest joke become the greatest focus of attention. Moreover, he had even made his way into the ranks of the top eight.

This whole thing was absolutely the most peculiar development that had been seen in the history of the Conferred God Battle.

What did it mean to be among the top eight in the Conferred God Battle? It meant that you were placed at the top eight among the young profound practitioners of the whole Eastern Divine Region, who numbered no less than the stars.

As Yun Che was from the Snow Song Realm, he was also the sole person from a middle star realm among the Conferred God Candidates who had entered the battle between the top eight profound practitioners.

A young profound practitioner of a middle star realm had trampled upon the countless young geniuses of the upper star realms. There was no doubt that as the name Yun Chu became known in the Eastern Divine Region, due to him winning unexpectedly over and over again, the name of the Snow Song Realm would also reach unprecedented heights. At least, during the period of the Conferred God Battle, the name of the Snow Song Realm would surpass the fame of all the upper star realms.

It had been a jubilant atmosphere these past days in the very distant Snow Song Realm. The people of the Snow Song Realm hadn’t even dreamed of such an extravagant thing as someone from their realm reaching the Conferred God Battle stage, and the Holy Eaves Realm and the Divine Martial Realm were transcendent existences they could only look up to these realms. But not only had Yun Che succeeded in reaching the Conferred God Battle stage, he had also dealt a great defeat to the son of the Holy Eaves Realm, as well as sweeping the floor with the son of the Divine Martial Realm. Now that he had even entered the ranks of the top eight, it was simply too much of a pleasant surprise and glory for the people of the Snow Song Realm. They were so surprised that they even doubted whether they had fallen into a dream.

In the audience seating area, everyone from the Snow Song Realm had completely red faces as they felt restless with excitement. Luo Changsheng, Jun Xilei, Shui Yingyue… they were a group of monstrous existences that had been long famous in the world, so it was very natural for them to join the ranks of the top eight. But Yun Che, a disciple from the Snow Song Realm, was actually able to reach the same stage of the competition as the few of them!

But Yun Che had actually not the least sign of joy on his face, as his objective was far, far bigger than becoming one of the top eight.

Mu Bingyun’s eyes also looked cold and crystalline in this moment. She said to Yun Che in a low tone as she looked at the sky above the Conferred God Stage, “Right now, the three other people besides you in the Losers Group are, Lu Lengchuan, Meng Duanxi, and Chao Feng. So long as you aren’t so unlucky that you come across Lu Lengchuan, you should be able to put up a fight against the remaining two, even if they are also quite strong contestants.”

The fourth round of Losers Group had ended, and the voices discussing in the audience seating area had just begun to gradually become soft, when suddenly the audience became several time noisier than earlier.

On the screen of light at the Conferred God Stage, the match-up list of the battles that were going to be the held the next day had appeared at this time.

Third round battles of the Conferred Gods Group:

Battle 1: Luo Changsheng of the Holy Eaves Realm versus Jun Xilei of Jasper Heart Sword Pavilion

Battle 2: Shui Yingyue of the Glazed Light Realm versus Shui Meiyin of the Glazed Light Realm

Fifth round battles of the Losers Group:

Battle 1: Meng Duanxi of the Flying Star Realm versus Chao Feng of the Rising Sun Sacred Realm

Battle 2: Lu Lengchuan of the Shrouding Sky Realm versus Yun Che of the Snow Song Realm