Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 784 – Desperate Straits

“Hahahaha… hahahahaha! The heavens are aiding this king, the heavens are aiding this king!!”

The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laughed as he madly sprinted forward. His laughter was even more wanton and arrogant than it had ever been before. The Netherworld Udumbara Flower only bloomed once every twenty four years and it was this moment that he anticipated the most every twenty four years. Furthermore, this time he was many times more excited by it than ever before!!

Because this time, not only would the Netherworld Udumbara Flower repair his tattered soul origin, it would also greatly boost his soul power, vitality and profound energy for a short while! It would even increase the recovery of his wounds by several times! Before, all of these effects were useless to him but right now, they could completely change his destiny!!

The past few days, he perched on the ceiling above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, spending every second keeping watch over it, patiently waiting for the moment when it fully bloomed. Now that it had finally bloomed, it was like the heavens themselves had given him a gift as it had bloomed when he needed it the most.

He only needed a short span of twenty breaths to consume the fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower, which would allow his dark profound energy to mostly recover! During the vicious battle with Yun Che, he had come out only slightly worse than Yun Che. Thus, if he could recover to that extent, he would definitely be able to turn the tables on Yun Che and suppress him completely!

“You must catch up to him!! If he devours that Netherworld Udumbara Flower, your death will be all but assured!!” Jasmine’s voice was filled with immeasurable solemnity and resentment… Given her level of power, if they were in any other location, she would need a mere instant to extinguish the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!

But the battle just had to take place here. In this place, she could not even leave Yun Che’s body, much less use her powers!

Yun Che used all of his profound energy as he pushed the Extreme Mirage Lightning technique to its utmost limit, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly broke. When it came to the amount of profound energy they had consumed, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had roughly used the same amount as him but when it came to their injuries, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had clearly been injured worse than him. This coupled with the fact that Yun Che’s speed had always been superior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s speed in the first place meant that Yun Che was quickly catching up to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, even though both of them were traveling at their fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, he had forcefully closed the gap between them to about one hundred and fifty meters.

Now that all of his profound energy was devoted to increasing his speed, not only did the internal and external injuries he had sustained stop stabilizing, they quickly began to grow worse… But in the current situation, he could not afford to pay attention to that.

He should… be able to catch up!!

Within a few breaths, he had rushed into the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and pulled within one hundred meters of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The wailing laughter of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, echoing in his ear, became increasingly clear as he drew closer and closer.

Suddenly, Jasmine noticed something as she shouted in alarm, “Wait! Wait! Stop chasing him!!”

At this moment, a fantastical ghostly light had suddenly emerged within Yun Che’s eyes.

The previously curled-up Netherworld Udumbara Flower was finally fully bloomed, its nine fully unfurled petals arranged prettily as it released an extremely deep and gloomy purple light. In the darkness, that gloomy purple light completely engulfed everything. Yun Che was not able to see the base of the flower or the stamen and he could not see the gently swaying stalk either. It was as if those nine flower petals were floating in a sea of darkness as they released a mysterious and dangerous bewitching purple light.

Reflected in Yun Che’s eyes was… It was as if he had suddenly seen nine demonic eyes!!

The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a wild and triumphant laugh as he had already rushed in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He could sense Yun Che quickly closing in behind him but he did not turn around, the blood-smeared corner of his mouth hooking into a cold and mocking grin.

Ding!

The world in front of Yun Che changed from a dark world streaked with purple light to a completely white one that was still streaked with purple. Even the sounds around him had suddenly died down… the sound of wind that roared in his ears, due to the speed he was traveling, had vanished into thin air.

The only sound that was left was the ghostly wailing of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.

The whole world seemed to have transformed into a field of white in an instant.

Purple light swiftly spread within this white world as it gradually stained the entire world. The ghostly wailing began growing closer and closer, clearer and clearer. The sound was even growing more and more beautiful and pleasing to the ear… It slowly changed from the sinister and bone-grating sound he had first heard to something which sounded as sweet and melodious as notes from heaven…

The purple world and the sweet and beautiful melody were able to drown a person in a fantastical dreamscape. Within this dreamscape, familiar scenes and faces began to appear. Cang Yue, Feng Xue’er, Xiao Lingxi, Xia Qingyue, Chu Yuechan, the Little Demon Empress… Each of them appeared one after the other and every one of them had the most gentle and beautiful of smiles on their faces. One pair of beautiful eyes after another gently gazed at him as the purple world slowly began to drift away…

Further and further… more and more hazy…

“Yun Che! Retreat immediately!!”

A shrill shout resounded like thunder in the purple world.

Bang!!

The purple-colored dream world instantly shattered as all the illusions disappeared. After that, an enormous pain assaulted Yun Che. It felt as if hundreds or thousands of steel needles were piercing his heart and soul, causing him to hold his head with both hands as hoarse wails of pain escaped his throat.

He felt as if countless dark hands were tearing at his soul, as if they were trying to pluck all the memories, will and beliefs… from his living body!

Yun Che had experienced mental assaults and battles of the soul far too many times but none of them had been as terrifying and cruel as this one. This feeling of his soul tearing and ripping felt colder and clearer than a knife carving into his body… He had never known nor had he ever imagined that mental assaults could be this terrifying!!

As his soul struggled in pain, he nearly lost control of his power and body. His entire person knelt on the ground as his body shivered crazily, his forehead matted in cold sweat.

Moreover, he was still a full sixty meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!

“Hurry up and retreat!!”

Jasmine’s voice cracked like thunder in his head once more, helping Yun Che recover some modicum of clarity as he was engaged in a fierce struggle for his soul. He gave a fierce howl as he desperately gathered and focused all of his energy, tumbling backwards in an extremely distorted and painstaking fashion.

Bang!!

Yun Che’s head fiercely hit the ground and he rolled and tumbled backwards several times before coming to a stop. During this bumpy ride, he had rolled backwards more than sixty meters. It still felt like his soul was being torn to shreds but it had weakened to the point where he could easily deal with it.

Yun Che propped himself up using his arms as he gasped for breath. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead and rarely-seen fear and alarm could be seen in his eyes.

So that was the… Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing ability!?

To think that it was this dreadful… Why was it this dreadful!!?

He was still so far away just now, but it was already that terrifying! If he went even nearer in order to harvest it… The results would have been unimaginable!

How could such a terrifying thing exist in this world!?

“Now do you believe me?” Jasmine said with an extremely solemn expression on her face, “Once the Netherworld Udumbara Flower fully blooms, its soul stealing ability will be far more terrifying than you can imagine! It is definitely not something that a person from your plane can come into contact with!!”

Yun Che did not voice a reply to Jasmine, instead his head jerked upwards… Ahead of him, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign already stood in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. That gray-white face was spread wide by an arrogant, mocking grin. He greedily stared at those nine ghostly purple petals as he got drunk on the hellish aura that radiated from them. But he did not forget to cast a wanton, mocking grin in the fallen Yun Che’s direction, “Foolish and pathetic human being! To think that you even dared to dream of snatching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower from this king… hahahahaha…”

The wild laughter suddenly abated and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face twisted into a mask of fury while his voice grew thick with bone-grating rage and resentment, “It was you… who forced this king to transform, causing me to greatly harm my life origin as a result! Even if you lose your pathetic life ten thousand times, it would not be enough to assuage this king’s rage! After this king consumes this Netherworld Udumbara Flower… I will definitely allow you to experience all of the torture known to my devil race! I’ll leave you begging for death! I’ll make you forever regret being born into this world!!”

He turned his head back, his eyes completely focused on the nearby Netherworld Udumbara Flower. His previous violent fury immediately turned into ecstasy and agitation. He stretched out both his devil claws, covering them with black light as he slowly reached towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… His movements were so slow and gentle that it looked like he was going to handle the most precious treasure he possessed in his life.

“Ssss—” Yun Che gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke. Just thinking about the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower left him drenched in cold sweat. So this short distance that laid between him and the flower had now become a natural chasm that he could not cross!

No! No matter what, he had to stop the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…

The reason I risked it all to stay behind in this place was to obtain that Netherworld Udumbara Flower! If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign consumes it, not only will it be extremely likely that it will be the only of one of its kind to exist in this world, the lives of Hong’er, Jasmine and I will be lost forever in this dark place!

So I have to stop it no matter what!

No matter what!!

Both of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s claws were touching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as he prepared to slowly pluck it… Even though his movements were slow, his hands still trembled, his expression even contained a hint of fanaticism and devotion! As an ancient devil, he had never believed in any higher power. Nor was there any higher power worthy of his belief. But this Netherworld Udumbara Flower had become a sacred existence to him. Without it, he would have disintegrated into dust long ago! Moreover, it was only by relying on it that his soul origin could be fully recovered and he could see the light of day once more!

So every time he plucked it, he was exceedingly careful as he was afraid that he would hurt it. He had never fully absorbed all of the energy in this place, he would always ensure that enough of it remained so it could continue to nurture the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.

Black light wrapped around the nine petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In the next instant, he would perfectly pluck all nine of these petals… But at this moment, an extremely dangerous aura assaulted him from behind.

Yun Che bounced to his feet as he summoned the Heaven Smiting Sword and his Profound Handle once more. He nearly raised all the profound energy in his body to its limit in one instant as his sword and the Profound Handle blazed with gold-colored Golden Crow flames. After that, he launched an explosive attack in front of him.

“Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!”

Poof!!

Flowers of blood sprayed from his arms once more as the huge aftershock of his attack sent him tumbling fiercely backwards. The two images of a flaming Sky Wolf carried furiously vibrating spatial ripples as they exploded towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!

The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had never thought that Yun Che, who had clearly exhausted most of his profound energy, would still be able to launch such a ferocious attack. Furthermore, the two images of the Sky Wolf were moving at an exceedingly fast speed. Because the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had devoted all of his attention to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had only detected those two attacks when they were barely ten meters away from him.

Bang!!!

Both burning images of the Sky Wolf viciously rammed into the back of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. He gave a strangled cry as the black-colored scales on his back immediately exploded. Black blood flew through the air as severely deformed bones. that had yet to break, were exposed. His entire devil body shot outwards like a cannon before fiercely smashing against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away. He slid to the ground in a slump, not getting up for a very long time.

“It… succeeded!!” Yun Che said as he propped himself up using his sword. His vision suddenly went black and he nearly toppled over. The Sky Wolf Slash that he had just performed had exceeded the limits of his strength through sheer force of will. Furthermore, he also had to use energy to activate his Profound Handle. The enormous amount of energy he had used caused his body to feel drawn and weak for a while and he could barely hold the Heaven Smiting Sword steady.

But before he even had time to draw a few breaths, his pupils suddenly contracted fiercely.

His recent attack had been cleverly designed to avoid any damage to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign did not wish for any harm to come to it and neither did Yun Che. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was blown away but the stalk of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was practically untouched. However, of the nine glowing purple lights which swayed above it…

Shockingly, only four petals were left!

Furthermore, at the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, five gloomy purple lights were glowing where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid!!

“Crap!” Jasmine exclaimed, “When he was blasted away, he managed to grab five flower petals!!”

Before Jasmine’s voice had fallen, Yun Che shot towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign like an loosened arrow… He took a look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that he avoided before crazily racing towards where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid.

“Bastard!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign struggled to get up, his back arched in pain. He felt as if a hole had been blasted clear through his chest. But the moment he was sent flying, he had also managed to grab the five petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that were already in his hands. If not for Yun Che blasting him away, all nine of the flower petals would have fallen into his hands.

When he looked at the onrushing Yun Che, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grew so furious that he felt as if he would explode, “You damned bastard!! Your struggles will only increase the pain that you are about to experience!!!”

As he roared in fury, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grabbed those five gloomy and ghostly petals and tossed them towards his open mouth.

Yun Che’s expression suddenly went white as he yelled in a hoarse voice, “Shut your mouth!!”

Gulp!!

It was a simple swallowing motion, something that Yun Che would not be in time to stop even if he was ten times faster. He could only watch as those five petals fell into that wide devil mouth. He could only helplessly witness the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign swallowing them in one gulp.

Yun Che, “!!!”