Against the Gods

Chapter 1236 - Desperate Dragon Soul

Yun Che launched consecutive attacks but Luo Changsheng blocked every single one of them with ease. In fact, he blocked them with such ease that it seemed effortless. Furthermore, even the slightest countershock from him caused Yun Che to receive direct damage.

These two people had once been in engaged in a vicious fight that went down to the wire but at this moment, one of them stood on top of a heavenly tower whose height could not be imagined, and it was the result brought about by simply taking a single step from the Divine Spirit Realm to the Divine King Realm.

Luo Changsheng still did not move, nor did he launch any attacks at Yun Che. He merely extended a hand towards Yun Che, his eyes drawn into long and narrow slits. “Come, continue. Don’t you still have many tricks up your sleeve? The Manifest God, divine flame fusion, and that dragon soul as well, right? Don’t hesitate, play all your cards. Let me just take a good long look at whether these little tricks of yours can put up a fight in the face of a Divine King’s might.”

“It’s no good… He basically has no chance of winning. Even if his opponent is a Divine King, how can the gulf between them be so wide?” Huo Poyun said as he jerked his head back violently, “Furthermore, since Luo Changsheng’s power completely eclipses Brother Yun’s, why doesn’t he just end it immediately? Could it be that he wants to…”

“He clearly wants to defeat Yun Che in the most humiliating way possible,” Huo Rulie growled between clenched teeth. His eyebrows sank heavily as he continued, “As expected, this brat is really someone who is a sore loser!”

“Luo Changsheng comes from a most illustrious household. He was born with the most exalted status, he had the strongest teacher, and he was even given a heaven-blessed body that could cultivate three different kinds of divine powers and elements. Amongst the young generation within the Eastern Divine Region, he is definitely an unparalleled existence. Yet he was defeated by Yun Che in front of everyone. Yun Che, a complete unknown before this tournament and someone whom Luo Changsheng considered ‘baseborn and vulgar’...” Yun Juehai said as he sucked in small breath of air. “It looks like this brat’s mental state has collapsed. He has always been such an easygoing, genial, gentle, and cultured young man in the past. Or maybe it wasn’t that he was possessed of such a kind and good nature, but it was just that he had never been trampled on by anyone before.”

“Now that he has become a divine king, he wants to repay all of the failure, humiliation, anger, and resentment that Yun Che made him taste countless times over, until his heart regains its previous balance. Defeating Yun Che would be as easy as flipping a palm right now, but he doesn’t want to simply beat him. He not only wants to hand him a complete and perfect defeat, but he will also use every trick in the book to trample all over Yun Che’s dignity in the process.”

Huo Poyun was completely stunned by the words Yan Juehai had just uttered. He was completely unable to reconcile his impression of “Young Master Changsheng” with the Luo Changsheng that Yan Juehai had just described.

“It won’t go the way he wants it to,” Huo Rulie replied. “Even though that Yun boy is really stubborn and headstrong, he’s also extremely clever. He won’t keep blindly enduring just to be humiliated over and over again, especially when he is well aware that he does not have the slightest chance of victory.”

“No,” Mu Bingyun refuted those words with a worried shake of her head. A flash of pain darted across her icy eyes, “Even if Yun Che understands exactly what Luo Changsheng wants to do to him, even if he knows that there is no way that he can beat Luo Changsheng, he will definitely not willingly choose to surrender… On the contrary, he will use everything he has to hold on as he desperately searches for just the smallest ray of hope in this duel against him.”

Mu Bingyun’s words stunned Huo Rulie and Yan Juehai. Both of them exclaimed with mystified expressions, “Why? Could it be that… there is some hidden reason?”

Mu Bingyun, however, gave no reply. In fact, she was unable to reply. Her hands, which dangled beneath her snowy sleeves, unconsciously started to tighten into fists as she softly whispered in her heart: Big Sister, if only you were here, only you have the ability to convince him to listen. But right now, what exactly should we do…

When she had brought him back to the Snow Song Realm all those years ago, the Voice of Eternal Heaven had suddenly pronounced that all who wanted to attend the Profound God Convention needed to be at least in the Divine Tribulation Realm. This sent him tumbling into an abyss of despair.

Yet when he had finally climbed out of that abyss and arrived at the Profound God Convention, he then found out he could only enter the Eternal Heaven Realm if he became one of the thousand “heaven chosen children”.

He had not hesitated to betray his own principles, had not hesitated to stoop to those acts of cheating that he had despised in the past, he had not even hesitated to provoke the wrath of the Eternal Heaven Realm, and he had finally forced his way into the Eternal Heaven Realm… and all he had obtained for his efforts was this. He would only be allowed to see her if he could obtain first place in the Conferred God Battle.

This goal, which would have caused despair in anyone else, did not cause him to falter or give up. Instead, he trampled over heavenly geniuses, defeated the God Children and clawed his way up to the finals of the tournament. Furthermore, he was willing to put his very life on the line to defeat Luo Changsheng.

Fate kept playing jokes on Yun Che over and over again, each joke was more cruel than the last, each situation was more hopeless than the last, but he had persevered through them all. Nobody would be able to imagine what he had endured and experienced during this entire process, no one could imagine just what kind of price he had paid. Furthermore, Mu Bingyun was resolutely certain of one thing, that besides this man, no one else in the world could do such a thing.

But now, when he was finally half a step away from his prize… Luo Changsheng had became a Divine King in just one night.

Now that he had come this far, how could Yun Che be willing to go gently into the night?

Mu Bingyun felt as if her heart was getting squeezed tightly and for the first time in her life, she felt a strong resentment against the cruel fickleness of fate… Even during the thousand years she had been stricken by the horned dragon poison, she had never felt such intense resentment before.

He had left his homeland and arrived in the Realm of the Gods, just for the sake of meeting one person. For this infinitesimally small desire, he had already paid far far too much… Yet why did fate choose to subject him to such cruel torture again and again!?

On the Conferred God Stage, Yun Che straightened his body. There was no fear in his eyes, there was only a vicious evil light that continued to congeal within them.

Without him even saying a single word, two different kinds of flame suddenly burst forth from Yun Che’s body simultaneously. Golden Crow flames blazed up from the left side of his body while Phoenix flames ignited on the right side. After that, the two flames began to slowly merge as his will focused, gradually blossoming into an intense and dense crimson blaze.

It was at this moment that a vicious and evil light suddenly flash in Luo Changsheng’s pupils and his body seemed to flicker with the smallest of movements.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

Luo Changsheng’s figure had disappeared and reappeared like a ghost in front of Yun Che’s body. Luo Changsheng’s palm came into contact with Yun Che’s chest and a hurricane-like force fiercely exploded against his chest.

Luo Changsheng’s speed was lightning quick in the first place, so after becoming a Divine King and having his speed bolstered even further by the hurricane, it seemed to reach the very limits of one’s imagination. In that one instant, where his body flickered forward, the focused Yun Che had barely even noticed it, and even the other God Children gathered in this place, like Shui Yingyue and Lu Lengchuan, had not been able to discern exactly how and when Luo Changsheng had appeared in front of Yun Che.

As a gigantic explosion rang out in the air, a spray of blood spewed from Yun Che’s mouth as he was sent flying into the distance. The Golden Crow and Phoenix flames were simultaneously extinguished, and when Yun Che had flopped heavily onto the ground, there was no firelight emanating from his body.

Yun Che used both arms to push himself off the ground as he coughed out many mouthfuls of scarlet blood. His complexion had instantly gone from a ruddy red to a pale white and all the blood and energy in his body roiled and surged as if it was lava being tossed in an active volcano. Furthermore, all of his organs had shifted positions just from that one blow.

“Ah, I suddenly changed my mind.” Luo Changsheng’s haughty and arrogant voice rang out in elation, “However, I don’t want you to misunderstand this. It’s not that I’m afraid of that red-colored flame of yours, it’s just that I want to make one thing clear to you.”

“In front of me, the current you is no more than a pitiful toy that I can toss around and play with at my own whim. If I want to allow you to use a certain power, then you will be able to use that power. But if I don’t, then you can forget about ever using it in this match, alright?”

“Or perhaps,” Luo Changsheng’s finger slowly traced an arc downwards in the air, “you can immediately surrender and admit your defeat in front of me. After all, even though it’s ugly and unsightly to admit that you’re a defeated dog, it’s still better than suffering needlessly, wouldn’t you agree?”

“...” Yun Che fiercely gritted his teeth.

“How disgraceful!” Luo Shangchen roared as he slammed the table and rose to his feet, his face twisted in indignation and rage, “Changsheng, you…”

“Let him vent!” Before Luo Shangchen could even finish speaking, he was forcefully cut off by Luo Guxie, “You are definitely aware of just how great an impact losing to Yun Che was to him. If you don’t let him vent it all out, it might result in inner demons that may come back to haunt him in the future.”

“This isn’t a question about inner demons!” Luo Shangchen roared back, “Changsheng has always been a gentle and cultured lad. Yet he has gone completely wild. Don’t tell me that you want all of the people in the Eastern Divine Region to think that my, Luo Shangchen’s, son is actually a petty, vulgar, and malicious person?”

“Hmph!” Luo Guxie was unmollified by those words as her tone abruptly grew cold, “Luo Shangchen, even though Changsheng is your son, from the moment he was born to this very moment, it was I who has been beside him all this while. You kept on being the exalted ruler of the Holy Eaves Realm and besides occasionally lavishing praise on or admonishing Changsheng, when have you ever been deeply concerned over his well-being? So if you have never even been that concerned about him, then how could you actually truly understand him!?”

“I…” Luo Shangchen was left speechless after he heard those words.

“I couldn’t care less about the fate of the Holy Eaves Realm, but my understanding of Changsheng is one hundred times greater than yours. Changsheng’s current state is also due to me. This will only benefit his mental state when it comes to the profound way from now on, and there is no need for your interference!”

The corner of Luo Shangchen’s mouth twitched violently, but, after a long while, he chose to slowly take his seat again. Not a single word came out of his mouth after that, but his brows were still tightly knitted together in vexation.

Yun Che, of course, knew that Luo Changsheng was deliberately provoking him, and his intent was not for him to surrender immediately. But Luo Changsheng’s words were in actuality completely unnecessary because Yun Che had never intended on surrendering in the first place. From the start of the fight until now, that notion had never crossed his mind even once.

In fact, in his mind, only one thought reverberated. There can only be victory… I must win...

No matter what and no matter how... No matter what I have to do to accomplish this...

I MUST WIN!!

Yun Che slowly stood up and even though his entire body was wracked with intense pain, his heart and mind were doing all they could do to maintain Yun Che’s composure.

There had to be a way… There definitely had to be something.

Think, think… What other methods are left to me… and what aces do I still have left up my sleeve.

Moon Star Restoration? No, that would not work… Even if Luo Changsheng put all of his power into a single strike, reflecting that strike back at him would only wound him. Moreover, it would also reveal the most important life-preserving trick he had to the entire God Realm.

Ice flame? Perhaps it could heavily wound him, but it needed tens of breaths of time to form, so it was not a realistic option either.

The Manifest God, crimson flame...

None of these would work! Luo Changsheng’s profound strength was on a whole other level. No matter what tricks he pulled, there was no way to beat him… there was not even the possibility of winning this fight.

But…

Yun Che slowly looked up as the heart began to pound especially fiercely in his chest.

To win this final match did not necessarily mean he had to beat Luo Changsheng.

If he could smash him off the Conferred God Stage, then that would mean victory as well!

Yun Che’s gaze gradually grew focused… It was impossible for him to beat the Luo Changsheng who had become a Divine King. The only hope and possibility he had was to push him off this one hundred and fifty kilometer Conferred God Stage.

The change in Yun Che’s gaze was duly noted by Luo Changsheng. One of the corners of his mouth curled up as he spoke in a leisurely fashion, “Could it be that you’re thinking of some way to draw me to the borders of the Conferred God Stage so that you can use a certain trick to smash me off of it… For instance, that Dragon Soul that can cause a person’s consciousness to collapse?”

Yun Che’s gaze grew even more focused, “...”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Luo Changsheng made a show of clapping his hands, “To think that you are still thinking of how to defeat me even now. Ah, how truly admirable. It’s just such a pity that it seems like you’ve never heard a certain phrase before… In the face of absolute power, all petty tricks and schemes are little more than sad jokes.”

“However, I still would very much advise you to give it a shot, after all…” Luo Changsheng’s eyebrows arched up as he shot Yun Che a look of extreme disdain, “It wouldn’t be fun any other way!”

Yun Che did not say a word in response to that. Instead he summoned the Heaven Smiting Sword to his hand, his gaze was dark and heavy as he coldly declared, “You want to play? Fine, then I’ll play along with you!”

With an explosive roar, Yun Che did not seem to care about what damage he would inflict on himself as all of his profound energy exploded outwards and he smashed his sword towards Luo Changsheng’s head.

“Such a futile struggle,” Luo Changsheng said with a low chuckle. He extended a hand to grab the Heaven Smiting Sword directly as a hurricane-like force began to swirl out of his hand. This time, he was not trying to block the blow with his hand, he was trying to directly snatch the Heaven Smiting Sword out of Yun Che’s hand.

Yun Che’s eyes flashed with a cold light as he used Moon Splitting Cascade to instantly shift his position. The shadow of a dragon suddenly appeared behind his back as azure dragon eyes suddenly opened in the sky above them and an earthshaking dragon roar rang forth

Dragon Soul Domain!

ROAR!!!!!

The heavens and earth seemed to quake under the might of that dragon roar.

Luo Changsheng had just said the two words “dragon soul” with disdain because he resolutely believed that given his current Divine King soul, there was no way his consciousness would collapse the same way it did when Yun Che had suddenly released that dragon soul the last time.

But then again, just how could one such as he truly understand the oppressive dominance of the Dragon God’s soul?

Under the dragon roar which shook the very heavens, Luo Changsheng’s pupils instantly lost their color as all of his disdain instantly morphed into shuddering fear. The body of Yun Che’s sword ignited as its aura swelled explosively yet again before he sent it smashing down towards Luo Changsheng’s head.

“Earghhhh…” Luo Changsheng’s wail of terror rang out as what consciousness he had left registered the impending danger. Hence, he unconsciously stretched out an arm to block...

Bang!!

The arm which Luo Changsheng had extended to block that attack got smashed aside as the Heaven Smiting Sword, which contained the limit of Yun Che’s strength, fiercely smashed towards Luo Changsheng’s head, and a beam of fire light exploded forward fiercely with his head as the focal point.