Against the Gods

“He Lin… wanted me… to find… you…. Finally… Ah…ARGHHHHHHH!!”

Just those few short words had completely exhausted the little clarity that Yun Che had fought so hard to regain. Following that, he once again fell into that nightmarish abyss, and besides his hoarse cries of pain and his furious struggling, he did not say another complete word.

“Lin’er… Lin’er!!”

He Ling’s heart and soul were thrown into complete chaos and her mind was filled with images of He Lin. To her, it seemed as if He Lin was the one who was painfully struggling and thrashing about in front of her. It caused pain to instantly pierce through her heart. Her body whirled around furiously as she cried out in a teary voice, “Master, I beg you, please save him… He’s Lin’er… He is my younger brother Lin’er… please save him, please!!”

“...” Xia Qingyue stared dumbfoundedly at the weeping wood spirit girl. She was begging for Yun Che’s life with nearly the exact same vigor that she did previously.

“Ling’er,” Shen Xi’s voice was overlaid by a small sigh of sadness, “He isn’t your little brother, his body merely contains your brother’s Wood Spirit Orb.”

“Ling’er knows,” the wood spirit girl said with tears dripping down her face. “But… he is Lin’er’s benefactor, he is the person that Lin’er has entrusted everything to, and he represents the continuation of Lin’er’s life…”

With a “thud”, she fell heavily to her knees, “Master, I beg that you save him, I beg that Master saves him!”

If a wood spirit had lost their Wood Spirit Orb, it had undoubtedly meant that they had died. Thus, robbing a wood spirit of their Wood Spirit Orb was the most heinous of crimes, and it would also make that person the wood spirit race’s mortal enemy.

However, the Royal Wood Spirit Orb was different.

The Royal Wood Spirit Orb within Yun Che’s body still retained all of its aura, it was a perfect and complete Royal Wood Spirit Orb. Moreover, for a perfect Royal Wood Spirit Orb to appear within a human’s body, the only possibility was that this Royal Wood Spirit had entrusted it to that person wholeheartedly.

As the purest living beings in the world, woods spirits had an innate ability to sense good and evil. As a royal wood spirit, to be willing to sacrifice his own life and pass his own Wood Spirit Orb to a human, it would mean that he either owed him a huge debt of gratitude that could never be repaid, or it meant that this human was someone whom he was willing to leave everything to.

As the descendent of the royal wood spirit family, He Ling understood this point better than anyone else in the universe.

“...” The only thing that answered He Ling was a long silence.

She could sense the pain and grief inside He Ling’s heart. Her greatest desire, and what one could even describe as the greatest motivation for her to continue living on, was to find her younger brother He Lin… It was just as He Lin himself had most desired to find her as well, because that was her closest family and also the last hope of the wood spirit royal family.

But today, He Lin’s Wood Spirit Orb had appeared in the body of a human, which meant that He Lin was dead.

And its greater implication was that… the royal wood spirit line was extinct from now on.

The impact this had on her was undoubtedly equivalent to the heavens and the earth collapsing.

Thus, the Yun Che who carried He Lin’s Wood Spirit Orb within his body was also the one thing which kept her from complete despair... He was like that final straw… or perhaps he could be considered the final consolation.

It was just that...

“Master…” He Ling kowtowed heavily as her teary voice grew hoarse, “Lin’er is dead… Ling’er… no longer has any family left… Ling’er’s parents died to protect her… and Ling’er… also lost Lin’er… Not only was I unable to protect him for that short period of time, I didn’t even… get to see him one last time before he…”

“He is the person that Lin’er has entrusted everything to… He is the last hope of any part of Lin’er still remaining in this world… So no matter what… I want to protect him… I beg Master… I beg Master to save him… Ling’er won’t go anywhere else after this… for my entire life… and even in all of my next ones, I will accompany Master wherever she goes… So please, Master… please save him…”

Grief… Tears… Self-recrimination… Guilt… Despair...

This pure and beautiful wood spirit, who was so frail and delicate, who seemed so innocent and unstained, her spirit and her will had now completely collapsed after she had sensed the Wood Spirit Orb in Yun Che’s body...

She had personally witnessed her parents and countless other kinsmen kill themselves by destroying their own Wood Spirit Orbs so that they could create the opportunity for them to flee… She had been separated from He Lin as they were escaping… During those years, she had not cared whether she was noticed or targeted by others as she had searched for him like a madwoman...

In a world that was incomparably terrifying and cruel for a wood spirit, finding He Ling was the greatest reason for her to keep on living, and nearly every day, she would live with the overwhelming guilt of having lost He Lin… Three years ago, she had gone to a star realm that was rumoured to have wood spirit sightings to find He Lin, and she had been surrounded and trapped by people there. But fortunately for her, Shen Xi saved her life and brought her to this place.

She served Shen Xi at her side, and her only request was to beg Shen Xi to help her find He Lin.

But today, she found out that she would no longer be able to see He Lin ever again, and the only thing left in this world was his Wood Spirit Orb.

All of the hopes, desires, and guilt that she had borne over the years… In her misery that had her teetering over the edge of despair, all of these emotions had become firmly attached to Yun Che…

“Ai…”

From the wispy fog of the Forbidden Land of Samsara came a long empathic sigh of resignation:

“It looks like this is also the will of the heavens. All those years ago, when I brought you back, I had already promised that I’d help you find your royal brother. Since I have promised you this, I will naturally not go back on my word. Ling’er, please get up… I will save him.”

He Ling’s weeping subsided slightly before she made a deep bow, “Thank… Thank you… Master…”

Those three words were said while her soul was shuddering. Even though she had only accompanied Shen Xi for three short years, she was deeply aware of what those words meant to her… This kind of heavenly favor was a debt of gratitude that would be hard for her to repay even if she had all eternity to do so.

She viewed Yun Che through teary eyes, his painful cries and tortured appearance caused her to feel so much pain that it was hard to even breathe. She grabbed his spasming hands, and consoled him in a teary voice, “Did you hear that, Master said that she was willing to save you. You’ll be fine in no time at all… you’ll get better very soon…”

“...” It was as if a huge boulder had been lifted off her shoulders, but just as Xia Qingyue’s heart was about to rejoice, she suddenly felt a deep exhaustion assault her. She glanced at He Ling and made a small bow to the empty space in front of her, “The great favor that Senior Shen Xi has shown today, Xia Qingyue will never ever forget it.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” the celestial voice spoke slowly as if it was in a dream, “I rescued him for Ling’er’s sake. Since he also has a Royal Wood Spirit Orb, it will not stain this place either.”

Xia Qingyue faintly shook her head, “Senior is willing to save him and that is the favor of heaven in and of itself. Once the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark afflicting him has been lifted, whatever Senior desires me to do, Xia Qingyue… will… definitely… obey.”

A divine sense lightly swept over Xia QIngyue’s body and it seemed that the celestial figure within the mist was only now truly taking a measure of her, “What an obstinate and stubborn girl, have you always been this way?”

Xia Qingyue, “...”

“Even though I can save him, the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark on his body is extremely tyrannical, if one desires to completely expel it, it will take at least fifty years. During those fifty years, he needs to remain in this place and he cannot take a single step out of it. Furthermore, I will need to seal his memories, so for the fifty years that he is here, he will not remember anything of his past, and once he leaves fifty years later, he will also not remember anything that has happened in this place.”

“That is fine, I thank Senior for fulfilling my wish,” Xia Qingyue did not find the words that rang in her ears the least bit surprising, “This junior will entrust this matter to someone to pick him up from this place once fifty years have gone by.”

“Oh?” The celestial voice expressed a bit of surprise, “Why won’t you be the one to receive him?”

“...” Xia Qingyue did not respond, instead she deftly changed the subject by asking, “Can I ask Senior Shen Xi, during these fifty years, before the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark on his body is completely expunged, is there any way to lessen his pain?”

“Don’t worry,” the voice very quickly became incomparably gentle as she replied her, “even though I am unable to get rid of the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark in a short amount of time, I can make it so that his curse gradually does not flare up. And even if it does flare up, it will not be to the point where it is unbearable.”

As the celestial voice rang in her ears, a white light that was so pure that it was inconceivable floated down from the mists and shrouded Yun Che’s body.

As the white light neared her body, Xia Qingyue’s beautiful eyes immediately focused… She felt as if her body, blood, profound veins, and soul… had all been gently cleaned by exceedingly pure spring water. The pain from the wounds that Yun Che had gouged on her body lessened and the pain and panic in her heart were also softly being eased, even her five sense had become exceptionally clear.

So this was the… “power” that foster father spoke of?

The white light softly engulfed Yun Che’s body and his contortions and spasms immediately grew much less tortured. The distortion of his muscles and blood vessels, and his hoarse screaming, lessened as time went by. It was as if his entire body had been fished out of a blood pond from hell, and bathed in a warm spring, as every cell and every pore of his body was being soothed.

A few motes of clarity appeared in those disordered eyes at this time and he slowly raised a trembling hand… He had, astonishingly enough, recovered some control over his body. He also managed to gasp out two words rather clearly, “Qing…yue…”

Alleviating his pain was in the end a help, but it was not a cure. Yun Che still felt unbearable pain run through his entire body, but it had been lowered to the point where his will was able to forcible withstand it.

Now that the greatest worry in her heart had dissipated, Xia Qingyue once again made a deep bow towards the empty space in front of her. After that, she spoke to Yun Che softly, “It’s simply too great… Senior Shen Xi has already promised to save you, so you don’t need to suffer from so much pain anymore. It’s already… no longer a problem.”

“Even though fifty years are very long, remaining in this place at Senior Shen Xi’s side means that no one will be able to hurt you again. If you are able to gain Senior Shen Xi’s admiration or fondness, it will also be… an extremely big opportunity for you.”

“Then during these fifty years, you can stay here without any reservations and forget about everything in the outside world.”

With the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark afflicting him, Yun Che would no longer be able to enter the Eternal Heaven Pearl. This meant that he had lost the extremely large opportunity to cultivate for three thousand years in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. But, given that he had been targeted by Qianye Ying’er, there was already no safe space for Yun Che to rest his head in this world. Staying in this place would undoubtedly guarantee fifty years of absolute safety for Yun Che.

Because even Qianye Ying’er would not dare to force her way into this forbidden ground.

“Since I have promised that he could stay, then there is nothing for you to worry about,” Shen Xi’s voice rang out slowly yet again, “You possess the Heart of Glazed Glass, and you are a woman who has received the protection of heaven. Since I am allowing him to stay, why don’t you stay as well and accompany him during these fifty years?”

To Shen Xi, this was also another exception that she was making… because Xia Qingyue possessed the Heart of Glazed Glass that was rare for her to see even over the hundreds of thousands of years that she had lived.

After lowering Yun Che gently to the ground, Xia Qingyue slowly stood up and said, “I thank Senior Shen Xi for your good intentions. Since he is staying with Senior in this place, Qingyue really does not need to worry about him at all anymore.”

“Qingyue has already disturbed Senior for quite a while, so it is time for me to leave and go to the place that I must return to.”

“Oh?” Shen Xi expressed quite some astonishment at this reply.

She took one last long and deep look at Yun Che before closing her eyes and turning around, and she steeled herself with determined resoluteness as she prepared to leave.

But at this moment, the edge of her skirt was firmly grabbed by a trembling hand. Yun Che’s entire body shuddered and his face started to contort once again, but the hand that was grabbing the hem of Xia Qingyue’s skirt was holding on very tightly, “Qingyue… where… are… you going…”

As his pain had lessened by a great degree, he had also regained a bit of clarity and conscious thought. Where else would Xia Qingyue go… but the Moon God Realm.

But after what had happened at the wedding celebration in the Moon God Realm, she had already become a sinner in the eyes of the entire Moon God Realm. Even if the Moon God Emperor was truly as she had said, and treated her like his very own daughter, and would forgive her even if she had made a worse mistake… besides him, there would still be the wrath of the entire Moon God Realm waiting for her.

Furthermore, no one would be able to bring themselves to believe that the wrath of the Moon God Emperor had actually completely subsided… So the Moon God Realm would likely imprison her, exile her, cripple her profound strength… or maybe even execute her.

“...” Xia Qingyue’s footsteps halted but she did not turn back, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine… This is something that I need to face.”

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