Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“The… Nameless… Sword!”

“That’s the Sword Sovereign’s sword!”

Countless cries came from spectator’s stand and every corner of the Eastern Divine Region.

Yun Che’s pupils shrank. From the moment Jun Xilei pulled the Nameless Sword out of its sheath, the uneasy feeling had transformed into one that threatened death directly. Moreover, he had a clear sense that the sword could easily claim his life.

Jun Xilei clutched the bronze colored hilt of the Nameless Sword tightly with both hands, but even then the weapon shook intensely as if it was trying to struggle free from her grip. For some reason, the blade of the weapon was completely missing. It was almost as if the Nameless Sword was made up of nothing but a hilt.

But appearances could be deceiving. It was a fact that the sheer presence of the sword had wound up his nerves completely.

Countless experts had gotten to their feet in the spectator stands. Some of them looked shocked, and some of them were frowning. These people stood at the peak of the God Realm, and they were also the only ones who were aware just how powerful the Nameless Sword truly was. They knew that the likes of Jun Xilei was incapable of wielding this weapon, and that it would result in a terrible tragedy should she force the issue.

“Lei’er… Stop! Stop!!”

Jun Wuming had turned completely pale with shock. Although his reason kept him from entering the Conferred God Stage by force, everyone could see that his aura had fallen into disorder… He was this shaken because he knew better than anyone what kind of consequences would befall Jun Xilei if she tried to forcefully use the weapon.

The Nameless Sword was the Sword Sovereign’s sword, and it was meant to be passed on to Jun Xilei and no one else. The reason he had Jun Xilei carry the Nameless Sword day and night was so that she could grow into the weapon and wield it as soon as possible.

However, she was meant to use it only after she had reached the Divine Sovereign Realm!

If Jun Xilei forced herself to use the Nameless Sword now… she would lose most of her innate gift, her ability to become a cultivator, or even her own life!

But Jun Xilei was blind to all reason right now. All of a sudden, she bit her lips strongly and spat a mouthful of blood on the Nameless Sword. Her eyes were dark and determined.

The Nameless Sword’s struggles instantly grew weaker and weaker until they died off completely. The blood had given shape to the sword’s body and made it glow slightly.

“...” Yun Che’s eyebrows dropped heavily, his grip tightened around the Heaven Smiting Sword’s hilt. He could sense that blood Jun Xilei spat was no ordinary blood. It was her blood essence!

“Lei’er!!” Jun Wuming was stunned beyond words… Jun Xilei was his only disciple, and he was at the end of his lifespan. He wouldn’t be able to find another suitable disciple before he passed away. If Jun Xilei died here, it wouldn’t just be the loss of his only disciple, it would be the end of the Sword Sovereign’s legacy as well!

“...Has she gone insane?” Shui Yinghen exclaimed in shock. As the Glazed Light Realm King’s son, he was well aware of the Nameless Sword’s existence. Just how much did she hate Yun Che to unsheathe this sword and sacrifice her blood essence without hesitation!?

“...It looks like she values her pride more than her own life, or even her gift in the way of the sword.” Shui Yingyue inhaled slightly as she stared at Jun Xilei with complicated eyes. She had had several exchanges with Jun Xilei, and she felt that the latter was an extremely prideful person. However, she never imagined that Jun Xilei would be this extreme.

Perhaps her temperament was exactly why she had managed to cultivate to this extent at her age.

Suddenly, Jun Wuming pounced towards the Conferred God Stage like a hawk descending from the skies.

Honorable Qu Hui had been paying attention to Jun Wuming all this time. Subconsciously, he didn’t believe that Jun Wuming would try to enter the stage because he was the Sword Sovereign and the most senior expert in the entire Eastern Divine Region. The Sword Sovereign was famed for his great experience and steadfastness, and he was the person who experienced the greatest number of Profound God Conventions in his life. He knew better than anyone just how severe an offense it was to interfere with a Conferred God Battle.

Even then, the Sword Sovereign had chosen to take action.

Honorable Qu Hui acted immediately and stood directly in front of Jun Wuming’s path. Jun Wuming was an incredibly esteemed senior, so Honorable Qu Hui didn’t treat him harshly. He said slowly, “Senior Sword Sovereign, no one is allowed to interfere with what’s happening on the Conferred God Stage as long as an intentional breach of rules hasn’t occurred.”

“I’m forfeiting this match on behalf of my lowly disciple. Please allow me to take her away from the stage!” Jun Wuming forced himself to speak patiently.

“The combatants are the only ones who are allowed to surrender their own match!” Honorable Qu Hui said seriously.

Jun Xilei’s blood essence was spreading across the body of the Nameless Sword and increasing its power quickly, but Jun Wuming’s heart was also sinking just as quickly, like a rock in water. He furrowed his eyebrows and attacked all of a sudden. A wave of power immediately spread towards the front.

When the Sword Sovereign took action, how could it possible be insignificant. In an instant, it was as if an apocalyptic storm had descended on the Conferred God Stage. His power was so great that even the shockwave was powerful enough to send countless profound practitioners in the spectator stands flying away screaming like they were just struck by a mountain.

The barrier that covered the Conferred God Stage crumpled inwards. It had nearly shattered under a single strike.

Honorable Qu Hui was powerful, but he was no match for the Sword Sovereign. The attack had knocked him far, far away the instant they clashed. Jun Wuming was just about to charge into the stage and grab Jun Xilei when a long sigh suddenly reached his ears.

“Sigh.”

The apocalyptic storm instantly returned to calm as if it was nothing more but an illusion. An old man dressed in gray with a black beard and pure eyes stood before Jun Wuming. His mere presence was like a mountain that completely stopped Jun Wuming from moving even an inch forward.

It was the Eternal Heaven God Emperor!

“I completely understand your feelings, Sword Sovereign, but this is the Conferred God Battle. You should know that no one is allowed to blaspheme it, ever.”

He did indeed understand the reason behind Jun Wuming’s impulsive act. He might have done the same thing had he been in Jun Wuming’s position. However, this was the Eternal Heaven God Realm, and this was the Conferred God Battle.

“Don’t stop me!” Jun Wuming’s face was dark, and sword energys threatened to burst out of his body. “I only have this one disciple, the Sword Sovereign only has one successor! Allow me to take her away… I will justify myself to the Eternal Heaven Realm after this!”

“This is her own choice.” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor sighed. “And so she must bear the consequences she made! You may try to persuade her verbally… but you will not interfere with this battle by force! Otherwise, I cannot say that the Sword Sovereign’s reputation will remain intact after this. Sigh.”

“Mas… ter…”

Jun Wuming was just about to say something when Jun Xilei’s voice suddenly came from below.

Her voice was filled with pain, and it sounded like it took every bit of her willpower to say the words. “Your… disciple… is… unworthy…”

“But… if you stop me by force… Master…”

“I… will… hate… you… for… eternity…”

Yun Che, “...”

The absolute determination in her voice stunned everyone who heard it. Jun Wuming froze on the spot as his gaze trembled...

“Lei’er… you… you…”

It was at this moment Jun Wuming suddenly realized that he had never truly understood the disciple he had poured in every bit of effort and hope to raise.

“...” Yun Che frowned deeply. Nerves taut, he summoned every bit of profound energy he had inside his body… Holy f*ck, what a crazy woman!

Jun Xilei slowly raised her arms as the might of the Nameless Sword descended from above and kept a tight lock on Yun Che.

Jun Xilei couldn’t express even one thousandth of the Nameless Sword’s true power even after she sacrificed her blood essence to wield it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t more than capable of crushing Yun Che.

Jun Xilei had successfully forced merged her vital energy and the sword’s energy together, and suppressed her wounds with the sword’s aura. Although she had suffered severe internal injuries, she hadn’t actually lost too much profound energy yet. If she was willing to give up everything, she could swing the Nameless Sword three times in her current state.

This meant that she could kill Yun Che three times in a row!

The chaotic sword aura surrounding Jun Wuming slowly dissipated. His old eyes turned murky as an unprecedented level of fatigue gripped his whole body.

Jun Xilei had raised the Nameless Sword to the air, and Jun Wuming had obviously given up trying to stop her. Mu Bingyun finally lost her cool as she stood up and shouted, “Yun Che, that is the Sword Sovereign’s sword. It isn’t something you can defend yourself against. You…”

Jun Xilei was clearly determined to kill Yun Che, and there was practically nothing in the world that could stop her from doing so. That was why she wanted Yun Che to leave the Conferred God Stage immediately… However, she knew Yun Che too well. She knew that he would never admit defeat and run with his tail between his legs.

Not even when his life was clearly on the line.

Both he and Jun Xilei were actually very similar in this regard.

Unsurprisingly, Mu Bingyun’s cry failed to change Yun Che’s mind in the slightest. He held the Heaven Smiting Sword in front of him, surrounded himself in golden flames and made the Golden Crow’s flame silhouette float in front of him.

Yun Che showed no signs of retreat whatsoever. He was obviously planning to take the Nameless Sword head on.

“Yun Che!” Mu Bingyun shouted hastily, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Just like how no one could stop Jun Xilei in her current state, no one could stop Yun Che once he had set his mind on something either.

“Is he… going to fight the Nameless Sword head on?” Shui Yinghen exclaimed.

“Yun Che hails from a lower realm, and he has just arrived at the God Realm not long ago. He probably isn’t aware how scary the Nameless Sword truly is. If he tries to defend himself by force, he may very well end up… dead,” Shui Yingyue said softly before shooting a glance at Shui Meiyin beside her. She noticed that her sister’s face was deathly pale, and her legs were pressed tightly together. Her hands were gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.

She had never seen Shui Meiyin looking this anxious before now.

“Hmph, he doesn’t look like the type who’ll run even if he did know how powerful the Nameless Sword is. Remember how he took revenge against Luo Changan? This boy is a proud one on the inside. Now that I think about it, he’s quite the good fit with Jun Xilei,” said Shui Qianheng with a slight frown on his face. A trace of worry passed through his pupils.

Shui Yingyue, “...”

Deathly silence enveloped the God Conferred Stage. Every aura was sucked by an irresistible force into the Nameless Sword at an incredible speed.

Then, a wisp of energy affected its intent, and the Nameless Sword came down before everyone’s shrinking pupils.

“Yun Che!!”

“Brother Yun!!”

Loud cries erupted from both the Snow Song Realm and Flame God Realm’s seats, but their voices couldn’t reach Yun Che at all. It was because the Conferred God Stage was completely overwhelmed by the Nameless Sword’s power...

Jun Xilei couldn’t truly handle the Nameless Sword. She could only produce a basic sword blast even after she had sacrificed everything.

However, it was still the Nameless Sword’s sword blast!

It was just an invisible sword blast, but Yun Che still felt as if a bottomless abyss was descending on his head. In comparison, his own power and struggles appeared both tiny and insignificant.

He gritted his teeth and jumped backwards. At the same time, the Golden Crow’s flame silhouette let out an angry cry, summoned a sky of golden flames and charged straight into the sword blast.

Boom!!

The resulting explosion lasted for only an incredibly brief instant. The sky of golden flames was annihilated by the sword blast before it could even detonate in full, almost as if it was erased from the surface of the earth.

At nearly the same time, the sword blast passed through the Golden Crow’s flame silhouette and caused it to explode into nothingness after one final death cry.

Meanwhile, Yun Che had gathered all of his profound energy while the Manifest God bought him some time. Nearly everyone screamed at the top of their lungs when he stopped in his tracks, then charged towards the sword blast of his own accord.

“Destroying Sky Decimating Earth!”

“Don’t!!!” Shui Meiyin turned pale as she shouted as if she was crying blood… she could do nothing but watch as the ball of flame that was Yun Che slammed into the incoming sword blast.

BOOM

The dull sounding impact spread to every corner of the Eternal Heaven Realm. The clash was so great that even the Conferred God Stage was breaking under the pressure, a single crack splitting nearly all the way to the edge.

The explosion of golden flames shot up to the sky but it quickly dissipated in just a short time. As the golden flames died off at an unnatural rate, the Heaven Smiting Sword and a single figure were flung across the stage like a ruptured blood bag. The sky rained blood for a moment, and a long, bloody mark was left after the figure landed and skidded across the ground.

“Yun Che!!”

Everyone from the Snow Song Realm turned deathly pale in an instant. Some of them felt like fainting on their feet.

Jun Xilei half knelt on the ground as she spat out bloody spittle. At this point, her sleeves were completely drenched in blood. The attack had undoubtedly worsened her injuries, but for some reason she couldn’t feel any pain… or joy after having decimated her enemy.

She looked up towards the front… and a figure completely drenched in blood slowly climbed to his feet near the edge of her vision.

A terrifying, bloody mark could be seen on his body, stretching all the way from his left shoulder to his left rib. Blood sprayed madly out of a couple of open wounds like fountains...

But the attack had failed to penetrate his body entirely.

Yun Che’s face was contorted his pain. He brought up his numb right arm with difficulty, pressed it against the bloody gap on his body and forcefully sealed the wound with ice.

He was well aware that the Dragon God’s Marrow had saved his life yet again.

If not, the sword blast would’ve cut his body in half otherwise!

Jun Xilei’s gaze was cold and sluggish. The spectators were staring at him stupidly for a very long time… The Nameless Sword’s might wasn’t the thing that stunned them. They were stunned because Yun Che had somehow endured the attack head on!