Against the Gods

“Share? How?”

Hong’er’s sword soul had been made to mend her life and soul, and this alone was a feat beyond Yun Che’s understanding already. But his confusion deepened even further when Jie Yuan declared that she was going to make Hong’er and You’er share the same sword soul… Was that even possible!?

“Normally, that’d be completely impossible. But Hong’er and You’er were originally one and the same, so they share the same soul origin. Moreover, Hong’er’s life is connected to yours, so it’s possible to do this if we use you as the carrier!”

“Yun Che, “...??”

“Once it is done, You’er’s life will become connected to yours just like Hong’er’s. I won’t even need to make a new body for her because she’ll eventually gain one through your life aura.”

Yun Che, “...”

Hong’er’s soul, Hong’er’s sword soul, Hong’er’s mutation… everything about Hong’er was at the level of the Creation Gods. She was the one and only taboo child between a Creation God and a Devil Emperor, and she had gone through too much in her life.

Undoubtedly, no one but Jie Yuan knew Hong’er best in the entire world, but not even she could understand why she fed on swords.

The god race had the Devil Slayer Swords and the Sword Spirit God Clan, and the devil race had the Heaven Smiting Swords and the Heaven Smiting Devil Clan. However, none of them had the strange habit of eating swords.

Yun Che thought for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “Senior, you once said that light energy and darkness energy cannot exist with each other, but Hong’er’s soul was infused with light divine energy just like the Sword Spirit God Clan, and You’er’s soul is made of of pure, devilish darkness. Won’t their souls reject each other?”

“Maybe that’s true for another person, but you…” Jie Yuan’s pitch black eyes turned several shades darker as she stared at Yun Che. “You’re a monster who can survive and even control both the light energy and the darkness energy in you at the same time! It’s clear that your body completely disregards the basic law of light and darkness!”

“This means that You’er and Hong’er may very well be able to coexist as long as their lives are connected to yours and the unnatural law that exists inside your body!”

“One more thing. Once You’er’s soul is fused with Hong’er’s, the sword they transform into will become unimaginably powerful. They should be a great help to you.”

“Unimaginably powerful”, she said. Considering this comment had come from the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor himself, Yun Che could only imagine the boost he was about to receive!

“Will it… really work?” Yun Che asked unsurely as he stared at You’er’s blank eyes.

“The results will be clear once we give it a try!” Jie Yuan said evenly. It was clear from the confidence rolling off her that she was almost one hundred percent certain that it would succeed.

She was the mother of Hong’er and You’er. No one knew their souls better than her, not to mention that she had in depth knowledge of Hong’er’s special sword soul and the Soul Star Relegation that tied her and Yun Che together.

“Now, summon Hong’er.”

A red light flew out of the vermillion sword mark in response to Yun Che’s mental summons, and Hong’er appeared right in front of Yun Che. The girl let out a yawn before asking, “You want me to share my sword soul with You’er? Does this mean that You’er will be ‘moving in’ into my sword soul?”

Yun Che, “Uh... You heard everything?”

“My ears are working perfectly, so of course I did,” Hong’er said with a snort.

Mov… moving in?

“I guess you’re right.” Yun Che lowered his body slightly before asking, “So… are you okay with this?”

There were only two things Hong’er was concerned with in her whole life: eating and sleeping. Since the day he met her, she had never shown any interest in her background, her parents, or even her own unique existence.

“Of course I’m okay with this!” Hong’er’s eyes curled into crescents. “I like You’er a lot. Does this mean that I’ll be able to play with You’er all the time?”

“Probably, yes. But we don’t know if it’ll succeed or hurt you in any way yet.”

On the other side, Jie Yuan was also kneeling next to You’er and whispering quietly. A while later, she turned around and said, “Let’s begin… tell Hong’er to turn into a sword.”

Yun Che nodded and said, “Hong’er.”

A flash later, Hong’er had transformed into the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The vermillion light coming off its body was a shining beacon despite the darkness around them.

Jie Yuan walked forwards as a pitch black light entered her devilish eyes. Then, she put one hand on the vermillion sword and the other hand on You’er. “We may be merging You’er’s devil soul and Hong’er’s sword soul together, but the core and carrier of their souls is you. Starting now, you will unleash your life and soul aura completely, and you mustn’t reject them no matter what happens during the process.”

“I understand.” Yun Che nodded and bared his aura completely. Right now, literally any power could invade his life energy or mental energy.

A terrible flash of darkness burst out of Jie Yuan’s body all of a sudden. It flooded over his body, soul, and senses completely in just an instant.

In this world of darkness, he vaguely saw a black, odd-shaped profound formation circulating slowly somewhere in front of him. Although the darkness profound formation was clearly visible, he couldn’t sense anything from it at all… It was because its level was too high for Yun Che’s mental energy to perceive.

The darkness profound formation quickly grew larger and clearer… an unknown amount of time later, it suddenly disappeared and shattered his consciousness into countless pieces of darkness.

“Ugh…”

Yun Che groaned heavily before regaining consciousness. His eyes finally found a focus once more.

At the front, he saw Jie Yuan standing not far away from him as if she had never moved away from the spot. However, You’er was no longer by her side.

“How did it go, Senior?”

Something caught his attention right after he said this.

Standing quietly next to him was a giant sword. It had the exact same blade as the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with several differences. One, it was bright silver in color just like You’er’s silver hair.

Two, a black fog was circulating around its body.

And three, the gem connecting the hilt and the blade was now quad-colored instead of vermillion. They matched perfectly with You’er’s pupils.

Inside the gem, a pocket-sized You’er could be seen swimming around in an unfamiliar world. She seemed to be extremely interested and confused by everything around her.

“This is… the sword after You’er’s soul is joined with the sword soul…” Yun Che muttered to himself before looking at Jie Yuan. “Did it work!?”

“Yes, it did,” Jie Yuan said softly. “It was far simpler and easier than I’d imagined… well, I should’ve expected this. They used to be one and the same after all. No matter what terrible things have happened to them, they would never reject each other.”

She let out a sigh of relief before continuing, “There is one slight deviation from my expectations, however.”

“Deviation?” Yun Che raised an eyebrow in question.

“Sense it yourself and you’ll understand my meaning.”

Yun Che immediately concentrated. He immediately noticed that Hong’er had returned to the Sky Poison Pearl and was in deep sleep.

“As I thought, Hong’er and You’er could exist inside you even though they have contradicting elements. However, co-existence is all that is possible. Unlike you, they can’t unleash two completely contradictory powers at the same time.”

“This means that they can co-exist in the norm, but if in sword form only one of their consciousnesses will be awake, while the other one is in deep sleep.”

“If you’re using the Devil Slayer Sword, then You’er will fall asleep. If you’re using the Devil Emperor Sword, then Hong’er will fall asleep. Still, the fact that they’re co-existing is itself an irreplicable miracle already.”

Yun Che completely understood Jie Yuan this time. He stared at the new name engraved into the hilt of the sword You’er had transformed into. “Heaven… Smiting… Devil… Emperor… Sword!”

“The sword the people of my clan transform into is called the Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword,” Jie Yuan said, “but I’m an exception. The sword I transform into is called the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword. Finally, I have a successor to my name… She truly is Ni Xuan’s and my daughter. Even with just half a soul, her sword she transforms into is still a Devil Emperor Sword.”

You’er’s soul was the devil part of her original soul, so just like Hong’er she had her own unique sword… But this time, the darkness aura leaking from her was at a level that struck fear inside of him.

He stretched out both hands and grabbed it by the hilt. Then, he put strength into his arms.

His arms and his face instantly turned distorted at the same time, and he almost stumbled on his own feet.

It was because the sword hadn’t moved in the slightest.

Shocked, Yun Che opened four gates in a row and summoned all of his strength. As power surged into his limbs, he let out an animalistic roar and tried again.

“HAH!!”

This time, the effort nearly broke Yun Che’s arms, but… the giant sword glowing darkly on the ground still didn’t move an inch.

Both You’er and Jie Yuan turned to look at him… it was clear that there were some unspoken words behind their gazes.

Yun Che could hardly describe the shock he was feeling right now. Clenching his teeth, he activated “Hell Monarch” without hesitation.

Boom!!

His profound energy exploded like a volcano, its color as red as boiling lava. The silver sword finally moved slowly under Yun Che’s ultimate power, and he eventually was able to keep the tip pointed at the dark space in front of him.

Suddenly, a wave of dark, devilish power rolled across the entire pocket world. It was as if it was a cold tempest from the infinite abyss itself… Some distance away, the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers suddenly stopped swaying and closed their petals in fear. The shiny purple light that kept the place illuminated suddenly turned dim rapidly.

These plants were actually expressing their fear and submission.

Yun Che’s arms and teeth were shaking. “Hell Monarch” was the height of his power, but he was barely able to raise the Devil Emperor Sword… When he tried to perform a swing, his arms gave out just as he lifted the sword into position.

Boom!!

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword fell heavily to the ground, causing a terrible earthquake that nearly destroyed this world of darkness. 

Although Yun Che was still holding onto the sword, he was unable to lift it anymore. He was also sweating like there was a rain.

He was currently at the first level of the Divine King Realm, but he was as strong as someone in the early stages of the Divine Sovereign Realm at his absolute limit. He never imagined that this level of power was only enough to raise the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword briefly, and even swinging it was beyond his current level!

If one day he could master this weapon completely, he couldn’t imagine how powerful he would become!

“Heh.” Jie Yuan smiled indifferently at him. “You still have a long way to go.”

Yun Che turned a little red in depression.

Earlier, Jie Yuan had told him that the sword would become unimaginably powerful after the addition of You’er, and that increase in power was clearly displayed in front of him right now.

Although the sword Hong’er transform into also possessed the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s devilish pressure, it was only pressure. Her main power was divine light energy that was feared by all devils because the sword she transformed into was the Devil Slayer Sword. However, You’er’s element was the complete opposite of Hong’er’s. The sword she transformed into was a Devil Emperor Sword fueled by pure divine darkness energy!

Hong’er and You’er’s soul attributes were different, but they shared the same sword soul. Therefore, their sword pressure was the exact same even though the power they provided was completely different.

Basically, it meant that there was no way Yun Che could use Hong’er’s Devil Slayer Sword if You’er’s Devil Emperor Sword was beyond his power...

It was kind of a sad story if he thought about it...

“I guess I have to work harder to be worthy of Hong’er and You’er,” Yun Che said in self derision. It was at that moment that he felt like his body was about to give out on him, and he hurriedly cried out to You’er softly, “You’er!”

There was a silvery black flash, and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword instantly transformed back into You’er. It was immediately followed by a red flash as Hong’er jumped out on her own and blinked her eyes strongly, asking, “Eh? Why did I suddenly fall asleep just now? Did you do something weird to me just now, Master?”

Yun Che, “...” (I did not, stop lying!)

“Eh?” She suddenly turned around and looked at You’er next to her. You’er was staring at her as well. The duo looked into each other’s eyes for a long time, almost as if they were frozen… until finally, they extended a hand at the same time and touched each other’s cheeks.

This time, their hands didn’t pass through each other’s body… Hong’er felt something icy at the tip of her fingers, and You’er felt a surge of warmth that was both unfamiliar and unspeakably strange.

“Wah!” Hong’er’s eyes lit up like the stars. “I can finally touch You’er… Wah!”

Hong’er cheered happily. She didn’t know why she was so happy, nor did she want to. She didn’t realize it, but a pair of tears were flowing down her cheeks even though she was laughing in joy.

You’er slowly withdrew her hand before staring blankly at her palm for some time. Then, she very, very carefully touched Yun Che’s palm with a finger and felt a different kind of warmth.

This time, she didn’t withdraw her hand. Instead, she stared into Yun Che’s eyes and tried very hard to narrow her eyes and curl her lips, displaying… a near perfect smile for everyone to see.

“...” Jie Yuan turned away so that Yun Che wouldn’t see the tears welling inside her eyes. “They must be quite tired after the ‘fusion’. Let’s have them rest.”

“Mn.” Yun Che smiled at the two girls and said, “Hong’er, You’er, go enjoy a nice nap, okay? I’ll show you the outside world after you’ve awakened, You’er.”

You’er nodded and opened her mouth slightly. “Mn…”

It was very soft, very raw, but it was very clearly a word.

Jie Yuan shivered violently before she lifted her head even higher.