Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 2005 - Shock

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Ximen Boyun continued, “That said, the Qilin Abyss Realm had probably never used a profound stele to verify the age of a dragon’s bones, so I could be wrong, and the margin of error is bigger than expected. What do you say, Sect Master Lie? Perhaps you have a more accurate method to verify the age of a dragon’s bones?”

Lie Qianhong wasn’t Yun Che, so of course he bowed his head and said, “The Fiery Sand Sect and the Qilin Worship Alliance are close allies, and I myself am extremely impressed with Alliance Master Ximen’s character. I see no reason to doubt Sir Knight’s integrity either, so I’m fine with this result… besides, the one person I truly suspected of cheating was Yun Che, not the Qilin Worship Alliance.”

Since there was no changing this outcome, why not butter up the other person so they would be less inclined to become your enemy?

Ximen Boyun sneered inwardly but turned to Yun Che. “In that case… it’s your turn to prove your and the Helian Empire’s innocence, Yun Che.”

Yun Che raised his eyebrows and exhaled a little.

He could imagine what would happen next with his nostrils.

He leaped into the battlefield and slowly pressed his hand against the bone measuring profound stele with a wry expression. A line of withered light shot up amidst countless gazes of anticipation and expectation, and… it slowed down after just reaching the thirty-year-old mark, and came to a complete stop before it reached the sixty-year-old mark.

It was like someone had dropped a giant wok on top of the entire Qilin Divine Domain. It was so silent that one could hear the drop of a pin.

The shockwaves Long Jiang created had barely subsided, and now they were back and several times stronger than before. Countless eyeballs, hearts and skulls bulged like they were about to explode.

“H-h-h-h-h-h-he’s u-u-u-u-under sixty years old!?”

In fact, he was below fifty since the profound light only took up two-thirds of the sixty-year length. He might not even be in his late-forties.

It was such a shock that everyone was dizzy and dazed.

Ximen Boyun straight up lost control of his profound energy and nearly fell from the sky.

Lie Qianhong’s hopes and expectations were dashed so brutally that he almost blacked out. He would spend the next few seconds trying to convince himself that it was all a dream.

“Below sixty?”

“How is this possible…”

“Crazy doesn’t even begin to explain it…”

……

A shocking number of people were stammering out the exact same words. Helian Lingzhu was screaming through her covered mouth, and Mo Cangying didn’t realize that he was clinging to Ku Xian for support.

A peak Divine Sovereign below sixty years old was already an accomplishment worth singing a thousand praises. An upper Divine Master who was below sixty years old…? Was that even possible?

“... ?” High up in the sky, Hua Qingying shot Yun Che a long look.

“Huh? I didn’t think he’d be so young. He’s way younger than even my youngest royal brother!”

Hua Caili was a Half-Step Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioner at the young age of seventeen, so she didn’t really understand how impossible this was.

“The profound stele must have broken from prolonged lack of use.”

Lie Qianhong roared over the shocked crowd and pushed Lie Zhuoyang forward, “Go check if it’s working, Yang’er!”

When Long Jiang’s age was revealed, they convinced themselves that the profound stele was inaccurate because she was a dragon. Now… the only excuse—oh no, explanation they could think of was that the profound stele was broken.

“That’s right. The bone measuring profound stele must be broken. That must be why it showed that Long Jiang is only ninety years old as well.”

“Yeah. An upper Divine Master who’s below sixty years old? That’s just impossible.”

“Now that I think about it, the bone measuring profound stele hasn’t been used for centuries. It’d make sense that it broke down due to neglect.”

No one believed that Yun Che was under sixty, not even Helian Lingzhu and Mo Beichen. It sounded far more believable that the profound stele was broken than otherwise.

Lue Zhuoyang landed beside Yun Che and pressed his hand against the bone measuring profound stele. Its light rose all the way to the 480-years-old mark and stayed there.

“What?” Lie Zhuoyang was stunned. Lie Qianhong literally couldn’t speak for a good few seconds until he blurted,

“I-Impossible.”

Lie Qianhong flew over and pushed his son away. Then, he grabbed the bone measuring profound stele with his own hands.

Once again, the stele’s profound light shot upward, and it stopped seconds after it passed the 4,200-year-old mark.

There was dead silence. Every Qilin Abyss Realm profound practitioner knew that the Fiery Sand Sect Master had just celebrated his 4,200th birthday seven months ago.

In other words, the bone measuring profound stele was functioning perfectly.

Lie Qianhong removed his hand from the profound stele like he was electrocuted. Pupils contracting and dilating uncontrollably, he shook his head violently and screamed, “No! This can’t be possible! This just can’t be possible!!”

He suddenly grabbed Yun Che’s hand and pressed it against the profound stele again. However, the result was exactly the same as before. The profound light had stopped about one-third away from the sixty-year-old mark.

“...” Lie Qianhong wobbled as his eyes grew unfocused, “This isn’t possible… this isn’t possible… this isn’t possible!”

It wasn’t even the fact that his final hope was extinguished that had shocked him to this extent. It was Yun Che’s impossible, common-sense-annihilating age.

Everyone fell into a shocked daze once more, and this time, they had lost even their final dignity-saving excuse. This was especially true for the Boulder Profound Sect and Thousand Blade Sect disciples who fought earlier. They looked like someone had sucked their souls right out of their bodies.

They were the greatest geniuses of the Qilin Abyss Realm, and yet they had been toyed with by a junior—no, not even a junior, but a grand junior who was less than sixty years old.

How could they accept this? How could they believe the reality before their eyes?

“Lingzhu,” Ku Xian was so shocked that he addressed his First Princess by her name, “It seems that you’ve picked up a true monster.”

“...” Helian Lingzhu was still covering her mouth. She was completely incapable of speech right now.

Yun Che shook Lie Qianhong’s hand away and turned around to face Ximen Boyun, “Will that suffice to prove our innocence? If it is, then you should announce the results, Sir Knight.”

“Of course, if you need to pull everyone over to test this profound stele’s efficacy first, that is fine by me.”

Ximen Boyun came back to earth when Yun Che’s voice pierced his ears. It was only now that he realized just how badly he had lost his composure. He quickly gathered himself and declared, “According to the profound stele, both Long Jiang and Yun Che are within six hundred years old. Therefore, neither the Qilin Worship Alliance nor the Helian Empire has broken the Abyssal Monarch’s rules. Do you accept, Sect Master Lie?”

“...” Lie Qianhong closed his eyes and shook his head powerlessly. He didn’t say another word.

Ximen Boyun declared, “The battle between the Qilin Worship Alliance and the Helian Dynasty has ended in a draw. As there is no first runner-up, they may both send three hundred and fifty candidates into the Qilin God Realm.”

No one cheered even though it was a cheer-worthy moment.

They simply stared at Yun Che as if they were unable to wake up from an impossible dream.

……

In the sky, Hua Qingying withdrew her divine perception and her gaze and said, “The show’s over, Caili. It’s time to leave.”

“What? We’re leaving? But…” Hua Caili’s first reaction was rejection. She wasn’t done enjoying the seemingly endless amount of pleasant surprises this Qilin Abyss Conference seemed to be throwing her.

Specifically, she wanted to know what other pleasant surprises the man named Yun Che would bring.

“Controlling your curiosity is also a kind of cultivation,” Hua Qingying saw through Hua Caili instantly. “No one may enter the Qilin God Realm without permission, and this place is useless to your cultivation. You’ve already lingered for too long. It’s time to leave.”

“B-But…”

“Of course, this is your decision to make. I am only giving you a suggestion,” Hua Qingying replied amiably. In fact, her voice seemed to be growing more and more distant. “It is clear that I have made my presence too obvious as of late. Starting now, I shall not respond to your musings or give you any suggestions anymore. I pray… that you won’t waste your life’s first ever trial.”

Hua Caili turned serious and mulled over her aunt’s suggestion carefully. A while later, she nodded, “Very well. I’ll obey you, aunt.”

This time, no response came.

Hua Caili shot the battlefield one last look before flying away without hesitation.

She had fun pretending to be the “damsel in distress” before revealing herself to be the hero, and she definitely enjoyed this Qilin Abyss Conference that could not bear to be boring for even a minute. The name “Yun Che” had been engraved deeply into her heart.

Even so, she thought she would quickly forget this memory just like everything she had experienced until now.

Some meetings, entanglements, love and hate were like fate. They couldn’t be escaped from. And there was no telling if this fate would end in flowers and rainbows… or abyssal despair.

……

The news that the Helian Empire had taken first place in the Qilin Abyss Conference quickly traveled back to the imperial palace.

It was such great news that Helian Jue rose from his “death bed” and laughed hard enough to blow a new hole in his palace hall. It wasn’t even fully repaired yet.

Why would he pretend to be sick when the news was good? He immediately prepared a ship, selected an entourage of juniors, and raced for the Qilin Divine Domain immediately.

The Qilin Abyss Conference’s final battle was the battle between the Boulder Profound Sect, the Thousand Blade Sect and the Fiery Sand Sect, but it would happen twenty four hours later. Everyone knew how it was going to end though.

Yun Che was uninterested in their fight as a matter of course. As soon as he left the battlefield, he found an opportunity to pull Helian Lingzhu away for a quiet chat.

“The dragons are just as powerful as ever,” Yun Che sighed, “That Long Jiang especially is abnormal even for a Dra… gon…”

His footsteps and his voice paused there. He then held his head with a painful expression.

“Are… Are you okay? Did you get hurt during the fight?” Helian Lingzhu asked worriedly. She subconsciously tried to touch Yun Che’s forehead, but Yun Che “naturally” straightened himself and avoided her touch.

He explained in a comforting voice, “Of course not. It appears that last month’s injuries hadn’t just damaged my memories. I believe that it’s put holes in my knowledge as well.”

“For some reason… I could not remember anything about the dragons or the beasts.”

“It’s okay,” Helian Lingzhu consoled him, “Seeing how quickly you recovered from your physical injuries, I’m sure your soul will gradually improve as well.”

“Yes, it will.” Yun Che nodded and said, “Just now… I vaguely remember that every other beast except the dragons are extinct.”

“But of course,” Helian Lingzhu replied, “Every other beast except the dragons and the last qilin have succumbed to the abyssal dust and transformed into Abyssal Beasts.”

“That’s right… the Abyssal Beasts,” Yun Che intentionally slowed down his speech and furrowed his brow. He was pretending to recall a lost memory.

“I remember reading an ancient book from somewhere I can’t remember,” Helian Lingzhu whispered. “It said that the beasts are actually a lot stronger than humans. The dragons especially are far stronger than us.”

“Unfortunately, they are far more susceptible to abyssal dust than us. That is why the beasts eventually went extinct, and only the dragons are left. According to the book, the dragons would probably become the rulers of the world if abyssal dust didn’t exist.”

Whoever wrote the ancient book was completely correct. The dragons used to rule the God Realm, and their throne had been unshakeable for a million years until Yun Che came.

“However, they are far more susceptible to abyssal dust than us”... That was the answer he needed to hear.

In fact, Mo Beichen’s soul fragment did remember something about the Abyssal Beasts. They were mindless beasts who had been corroded by the Power of Extinction and could not help but destroy everything.

“A month ago, I encountered an Abyssal Beast that was completely corrupted by abyssal dust,” Helian Lingzhu continued, “It was way stronger than an Abyssal Beast that was born from Abyssal Dust. If Ninth Senior Brother hadn’t shown up, I might have…”

There was lingering fear in her voice, but she quickly looked at Yun Che and beamed. “Still, I would not have run into you if I hadn't slipped into the Endless Fog that time. It was definitely the best decision I’ve made in my life.”

The way she looked at him, it was like she was worshiping a god.

Yun Che smiled, but he was really memorizing another important piece of information. It would seem that the Abyssal Beasts roaming the Mist Sea could be split into two types. One of them were ancient beasts who had succumbed to their corruption, and another… was born from abyssal dust!