Against the Gods

Chapter 489 – Unknown World

“Before you leave, can you tell me the name of your race?” Jasmine said as she looked straight at the spirit. But in her heart, she could more or less guess what the answer would be.

The remnant spirit kept silent for a while, and then faintly sighed, “Well, I guess there is no harm in telling you. Perhaps you have heard of the name, or perhaps it has long been forgotten. The race I belong to is called the “Sword Spirit God Clan.”

“Ah so it was really the case!” Jasmine said as her eyebrows quivered.

“But, the little mistress, she is not one of us.” The spirit continued.

“Oh?” Jasmine’s eyes flashed in shock, “If she is not a member of the Sword Spirit Clan, then why do you address her as ‘little mistress’? And she can obviously transform into a sword! In the records, the ancient race which could transform into swords was only the ‘Sword Spirit God Clan’.”

“Back then, this was a secret within my Sword Spirit God Clan, and only four people in the entire clan, including myself, knew of this secret. All the other clansman thought that she was the daughter of our king. But the truth is, the little mistress was someone our king picked up by accident and he let it be known that she was his daughter. As to why my king did the things he did, or where my little mistress came from, all of this knowledge was lost once my king died. However, while the little mistress’ ability to transform into a sword is the same as our clan, the sword she transforms into is entirely different. Because when my clansmen become swords, they have always been light and agile blades, but when my little mistress transforms into a sword, she becomes a heavy sword that is exceedingly difficult to control.”

“My king had never told anybody the origins of our little mistress, but he had always doted and cared for her in an extravagant manner. In those days, both my king and my little mistress had been struck by the devilish poison, and my king would rather die so we could use the Coffin of Eternity to protect our little mistress. My king definitely had his reasons for placing such great importance on her. And all these years that I have been bitterly guarding my little mistress and searching for the Sky Poison Pearl… have finally borne fruit. Whatever fates lie in store for my little mistress, I no longer have the ability to see it through or protect her from. So please, no matter what happens, please treat her kindly.”

“Besides the Sword Spirit God Clan, what other race could transform into swords…” Jasmine mused to herself silently

“Our Sword Spirit Clan are of the Celestial Spirit race. Once we are born, we innately possess the energy of heaven and earth. Of course, we still have to cultivate and the stronger our profound power, the stronger the sword we transform into becomes. But the little mistress does not need to cultivate; instead she consumes swords as food. Everytime she eats a sword, she will absorb a portion of its sword strength and sword spirit, and her strength will increase by a bit. The stronger the sword she consumes, the more she will grow. In those years, my king sought the most famous swords under heaven to be food for our little mistress and this resulted in immense growth for her. But after she was struck by the devilish poison, all of her sword strength was consumed to depletion. If you want to cultivate her strength, find all kinds of strong swords for her; the stronger the sword, the more my mistress would desire to eat it.”

“…There was actually a person who could rely on eating swords to strengthen herself!” Jasmine looked deeply at Hong’er. She rummaged through her memory banks, but she could not recall coming across such a record or rumor.

“I have already answered your question, Now, can you answer mine. Which Star God do you derive your strength from?” The lingering spirit asked Jasmine.

“Heaven Slaughter Star God!” Jasmine said expressionlessly.

“Among the twelve Star Gods, the Heavenly Chief has the disposition of a king, the Heavenly Wolf is the strongest, and the Heavenly Slaughter is the evilest, feared by all. You have inherited her power, but your mindset does not seem to have been influenced much. That is good.” The spirit said slowly.

“What?” Jasmine laughed coldly, “Hmph, don’t assume things. Even though I have only inherited the Heaven Slaughter Star God’s power for less than ten years, the amount of people I have killed in that time span is more than one hundred times the number of people you have killed in your entire life!”

“The amount of people you have killed has nothing to with the evil in your heart.” The spirit faintly said, “You have a spirit body, I am also a spirit, whether you are good or evil, I naturally have my way to judge… But I have one more question. You seem to place great importance on this human, to the point where you would not hesitate to use the ability ‘Soul Star Relegation” which you can only use once in your lifetime. So why did you not help him leave the Primordial Profound Ark after he had been trapped? And the eighteen months he spent braving the spatial turbulence, existing at the border of life and death, suffering an agony that surpasses that of the agony of one hundred generations combined; why did you seem to turn a deaf ear to it?”

“Looks like you aren’t that clever after all.” The corner of Jasmine’s mouth curved slightly, and she gave a cold laugh, “In the two years from when I first met him, I had used my powers to save him from certain death countless of times. At that time, the devilish poison in my body was incomparably intense, and the power I could use was much weaker than what I can use now, and whenever I used that power, I would have difficulty suppressing the resurgence of the devilish poison afterwards.”

“I did not want him to rely on my power, and neither did he. But as long as my existence and power remained, this reliance would never fade, even if he tried to reject it. When he faced a bleak situation, his subconscious would forever have the concept that ‘as long as Jasmine is here, I can never die’, and this would lead him to never being able to exhaust his determination in those dire situations. So, three years ago, I faked the sealing of my powers, and caused him to be unable to rely on my strength. Like when we were in the Primordial Profound Ark, he would have relied on my power to aid him in killing Ye Xinghan who was chasing him… When the spatial turbulence came, he would have relied on my power to leave the Primordial Profound Ark, and when it started its attack, he would have first thought of using my power to resist it… Even if he had wanted to use his own strength, he would not have used all his strength and willpower to endure, and go through the countless exceeding of his own limits that had happened in this period.”

“In the years that I had persisted in maintaining the perception that my strength was sealed, his growth became exceedingly fast in the period where he could not rely on my power. And he used his own strength and willpower to brave countless hopeless situations, and all this time, I have not raised a single finger to assist him. To the contrary, I even specially increased the intensity of the spatial turbulence within the Primordial Profound Ark. And the final result, had far exceeded my wildest expectations. Half of the devilish poison in my body has been purged in these years, and the remaining half has already been stabilized and is under control.”

Jasmine had said this very evenly, but if Yun Che had heard it, he would have been struck dumb.

In the years where Jasmine faked the sealing of her powers, Yun Che’s growth had far outstripped his previous growth. And it was precisely because he could not rely on Jasmine subconsciously, that he could decide to fight to death when he was buried beneath the Sword Management Terrace, why he could continuously evolve as he faced first the Burning Heaven Clan, then the Divine Phoenix Empire, and why he could keep on making breakthroughs time and again even though he kept facing life-and-death situations in the Primordial Profound Ark.

Without the slightest exaggeration, if Jasmine had not ‘sealed her powers’, Yun Che would never be able to climb to such great heights. As Jasmine had said, as long as her power existed, that reliance would never fade. What existed in one’s subconscious could not be overcome through sheer willpower.

“I hoped that he could become stronger at a much faster rate, because it is only if he is sufficiently strong that I can have a chance of attaining a new body. And I can only be his guide as he walks the path of the strong, because he needs to walk every step of that road by himself! Any obstacles he faces along that road, he needs to shatter by himself; any cliffs he faces needs to be crossed using his own strength as well. If not, he will never become truly strong.” Jasmine closed her eyes and said those words slowly. Even though her appearance was that of a thirteen year old girl, her words and demeanor was that of a wise master.

“However, if he had encountered an inescapable dead end, at the moment right before his death, I would have naturally intervened.” Jasmine said casually in an even voice.

“Ah so it’s like this.” The remnant spirit lightly nodded her head, her ethereal voice carrying both trepidation and admiration, “With you as a guide, his future will definitely not be a common one. With the little mistress in your care, I am much more relieved…”

“Even though she is not of our race, but she has indeed received all the remaining hopes and wonders of our clan and my king. I do not dare ask for much, but I can only hope that you will always treat her kindly. Or, if she does not mature, this lowly position would allow her to live every day free of worry or care, and that could also said to be a happy ending for one such as her… Even though that would differ from my expectations greatly, you are, after all, the ones who saved my little mistress, and I am merely a lingering spirit, unable to make you do anything. This profound ark… can be my compensation towards you… Only that it is a pity… that its power has just been completely depleted…”

The spirit’s voice and silhouette slowly vanished from the Sky Poison Pearl, never to appear again.

——————————————————————————

Yun Che, who had been floating in the midst of the dimensional vortex for a good long while, finally saw an exit. Following a flash of white light, he felt himself being fiercely thrown out of the dimensional vortex… What he did not expect was that the exit of the dimensional vortex would be so near to the ground, before he had any time to react, he had already hit the ground violently.

With a muffled thud, half of Yun Che’s body sank into the soft dirt.

Yun Che did a quick flip and bounced off the ground while spitting out the mud in his mouth. As he brushed off the dirt from his hair and his body, he carefully surveyed his surroundings. After confirming that there were no observers in the vicinity, he finally let down his guard, but his face had a greenish cast to it… He was the overlord of Blue Wind, The Royal Prince Consort, a person who had rocked the entire Profound Sky Continent. However, he had arrived in this new world face first in the dirt…

What kind of misfortune was this!

Yun Che calmed down and began observing his surroundings once more. This place was half-grasslands and half-jungle, with weeds running wild and short trees growing in a thicket. As Yun Che surveyed the scenery, he could not feel the presence of, or see any trace of any living beings nearby. The climate was warm and comfortable and the smell of the air was almost identical to that of the Profound Sky Continent.

“Jasmine, the elemental laws in this place do not seem to differ at all from the Profound Sky Continent.” Yun Che said in a cautious voice.

Jasmine’s reply came extremely quickly, “Unless we have landed on a different plane, the elemental laws are basically always the same. This place is definitely not the Profound Sky Continent, but it is definitely a plane close to the Profound Sky Continent. Slowly explore this place by yourself. However, what you need to do now is not to think of a method to return to the Profound Sky Continent, and instead stabilize your footing in this world to continue to grow quickly. If you want to return to the Profound Sky Continent, the only method is to become sufficiently strong!”

Yun Che did not ask any further. Instead, he concentrated on surveying his surroundings as he made his way forward with caution. He did not know what kind of world he had landed in, or what kind of living creatures existed here… And if there were even any humans among these living creatures…

After he had walked a few kilometers, Yun Che suddenly felt the presence of living creatures. His brows twitched and his steps slowed. As he neared the presences he felt, he soundlessly parted a cluster of high grass.

His gaze shot across the grass. In the middle of a small, dark swamp, he spied two mottled pythons that were two meters long and about as thick as the mouth of a bowl.

But these were not ordinary pythons because they were releasing the aura of the Earth Profound Realm from their bodies. The two mottled pythons were floating in the swamp and staring at each other intently as a feeling of deep enmity spread through the rotting air.

Two Earth Profound beasts naturally would not arouse too much interest in Yun Che, but just as he was about to leave, suddenly… He heard both of the Earth-realm mottled pythons conversing… and they were even talking in the speech of humans!

“What ya staring at!”

“Staring at ya bein’ a fool!

“Why dont’cha try doin’ it again!”

“Yeah I’m gonna do it again, what’s it to ya?!”

After this, both mottled pythons started fighting…

Yun Che just stood there staring… profound beasts which had reached a high level of cultivation would have a sufficiently high intelligence and could mimic human language. But they would have to be at least at later stages of the Sky Profound Realm, and they had to be long-lived and high-class profound beasts. The Snow Phoenix that Yun Che used to own was a Sky Profound beast, but it did not have the ability to speak human words.

However these two pythons which were only at the initial stage of the Earth Profound Realm could actually speak, and they even spoke with such fluency! If Yun Che had not witnessed it himself, and only heard the sounds of their voices, he would have thought it was two humans who had spoken.

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