Against the Gods

Chapter 772 – Moon Slaughter Devil Nest

“What caused me the most concern was that Xuanyuan Wentian did not ask me where we were going just now. He also did not ask him anything regarding the ‘master’ that I had invented, yet he still gave me a very weird look.” Yun Che said to Jasmine in a low voice, “Moreover, when I visited Heavenly Sword Villa, that Xuanyuan Jiuding also gave me a very strange look as well.”

The strongest attributes Yun Che possessed were his powers of perception, insight and an intuition that was so strong that it bordered on terrifying.

“I’m just thinking that it’s extremely possible that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region may have uncovered some information. For example, for some reason, they already know that the ‘Old Man Duotian’ I invented is fake.” Yun Che said as his brows sank.

“Hmph, with me around, are you still actually afraid that you’ll die?” Jasmine scoffed. In the eyes of the profound practitioners of the Profound Sky Continent, Xuanyuan Wentian was someone that was akin to a god, a peerless individual. But in her eyes, he was just an ant that was slightly bigger than the rest.

“…So that is to say that for the duration that we are staying in Supreme Ocean Palace, I will need to rely on your power.” Yun Che said helplessly and reluctantly. He was not a person who was used to relying on others because he was extremely clear that relying on this sort of thing would for a major impediment to his growth—Jasmine knew this too, so for the past few years, she had kept up the pretense that she had sealed her own powers away.

This time, in order to grasp the slim chance that he might be able to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had no choice but to face the exceedingly powerful Four Sacred Grounds in advance. Therefore, he had no choice but to rely on Jasmine’s power… Otherwise, if Jasmine was still the state where “her power was sealed,” he would definitely not choose come to Supreme Ocean Palace at this point of time.

“Yun Che, you need to be exceedingly cautious about Xuanyuan Wentian.” Zi Ji suddenly said when he saw Yun Che’s solemn expression, “Xuanyuan Wentian is someone who is truly a sword maniac, and he has an insatiable desire for strength. Even though Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is the weakest of all the Four Sacred Grounds when it comes to aggregate power, Xuanyuan Wentian himself is slightly stronger than the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, and the Heavenly Monarch, Ye Meixie. Even when you compare him with the Saint Emperor, Huangji Wuyu, there is scarcely any difference in their power.”

“But if he was just a simple sword maniac, then that would be fine. Even though he seems like a refined, courteous gentleman and a respectable elder, the truth of the matter is that he is an extremely prejudiced and shrewd person, someone who is willing to do anything for the sake of attaining power. One thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family were destroyed for the sake of his insane ambition and even the rest of us became his accomplices during that sordid affair. In the end, we had no choice but to commit one wrong after another in order to protect the reputation of the Sacred Grounds.”

“Furthermore, your innate talent is extremely unusual and there are far too many unexplainable mysteries about you. If not for that inscrutably powerful teacher of yours, he might have already made his move against you… Just now he behaved in a rather odd manner, so it is something that you best pay attention to.”

Zi Ji’s voice was soft, but the warning in his eyes was clear for all to see. Yun Che and Xuanyuan Wentian had just met for this first time today, and someone who was at Zi Ji’s level would definitely know far more about Xuanyuan Wentian than Yun Che himself.

Yun Che nodded his head, “I understand. Thank you for your warning, Senior Zi… Senior Zi, this junior is also curious about one thing, but I’m not sure if it is a question that I should ask.”

Qu Fengyi… That was the name identified by Senior Zi as belonging to the Sovereign of the Seas. As one of the four Holy Masters of the Profound Sky Continent, her name was not domineering, but neither was it feminine or soft. Instead, it was a name that seemed to have weathered many storms.

The Saint Emperor, the ruler of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the head of the four Holy Masters, and the person who reigned supreme in the Profound Sky Continent. His name was Huangji Wuyu…

Wuyu? (No desires?)

It was said that the Saint Emperor was unable to produce a heir, and he only had a few foster children. Could it be anything to do with the words “no desire”?

…If a man had no desires, then how was he different from a salted fish?!

“Ah, do you want to ask what kind of relationship I have with the Sovereign of the Seas?” Zi Hi asked with a faint smile.

Yun Che replied with a laugh, “Senior Zi’s perceptiveness is indeed illuminating. When we were at the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Senior Zi was able to move a whole ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal in one transaction, this junior was very sure that Senior Zi definitely had an exalted position within Supreme Ocean Palace. And just now, when we were in the Ocean Imperial Palace, the Purple Veined Divine Crystals that had been held in reserve were also on Senior Zi’s person. Furthermore, the Sovereign of the Seas is an extremely imposing person, but when she treated Senior Zi entirely differently from how she treated her own great elder. So this junior cannot help but be extremely curious in regards to Senior Zi’s identity.”

Zi Ji have a faint smile as he said, “Then why don’t you try guessing it.”

Yun Che had already made a rather enlightened guess in his heart so he replied in a very frank manner, “This junior has heard Yuanba mention that there are seven existences that are above the great elder within Supreme Ocean Palace, these seven people are extremely powerful profound practitioners known as the Seven Venerable Ones, and they have the colors red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple in their names. The weakest of the seven is Venerable Red and the strongest is Venerable Purple, whose power is inferior to only the Sovereign of the Seas herself. Furthermore, Senior Zi just happens to have the color purple as a surname. So Senior Zi being the number two person within Supreme Ocean Palace may just pass muster as an explanation.”

“It is just that even though Senior Zi’s profound strength is extremely high, the pressure it gives this junior is less than that of Great Elder Mo Chenfeng. So it is definitely impossible for Senior Zi to be one of the Seven Venerable Ones… and because of this, the only answer that this junior can think of is that the both of you are…”

“Husband and wife!”

“…” Zi Ji gave a startled jolt before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.

“You are far worthier of the words ‘perceptiveness is illuminating’.” Zi Ji said with a great laugh, but his words did not confirm Yun Che’s guess, “If you are talking about status alone, I am indeed the husband of the Sovereign of the Seas. But the relationship of husband and wife that I have with her is utterly alien to your concept of what a husband and wife are.”

“…What does Senior Zi mean?”

“I have been married to her for a very, very long time. It was according to the wishes of our parents and the sect. However, when I married her, I had never dreamed that she would become the next Sovereign of the Seas. Her entire heart and soul was consumed by the profound way. This coupled with her extremely high innate talent paved the path for her to become the number one person in Supreme Ocean Palace. However, I have always been fascinated with commerce and I spent most of my time either at the Black Moon Merchant Guild headquarters or visiting the branches scattered around the Profound Sky Continent. I rarely ever return to Supreme Ocean Palace. I will normally only see the Sovereign of the Seas once every ten years on average and even though we are husband and wife, we don’t have many feelings for each other. Our union was ultimately meant to signify that the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Supreme Ocean Palace were one entity and not two powers that stood independent of one another.”

When he was relating his tale, Zi Ji’s tone was even and it was not melancholic in the least.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” Yun Che nodded his head slowly, “This junior does not dare speculate on whether the husband and wife relationship Senior Zi and the Sovereign of the Seas shares is shallow or not, but there is one thing this junior is very convinced of. The Sovereign of the Seas places a lot of trust in Senior Zi. And it may just be that Senior Zi is the one person in this entire world that the Sovereign of the Seas truly trusts.”

“Hoho.” Zi Ji gave a brief laugh before pointing ahead, “We are here. This is where the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is located.”

There was a gloomy blue light that was intermittently flickering about five kilometers ahead of them. There was a small island that was nearly perfectly round and on top of the island lay a dome-shaped barrier which fully engulfed it. The gloomy blue radiance was coming from the barrier that engulfed the small island.

The ocean surrounding the small island had sunk so low that it formed a trench around it. It was almost as if the seawater was being pushed away by some unimaginable power.

“This is the barrier that is used to seal the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.” Zi Ji said as he slowed down, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is inside this barrier.”

“This place is located in the ocean and it is more than one thousand five hundred kilometers away from the mainland. Normally, no one will approach this place because there are always disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace keeping watch. Even if someone manages to enter by accident, the Sovereign of the Seas will be alerted immediately once that person comes into contact with the barrier.”

The four of them descended towards the island. Immediately, an incredibly strong repulsive force struck them. The strength of all four people was at the very peak of the Profound Sky Continent, but they immediately found it hard to breathe as an oppressive force constricted their chests.

“What a powerful barrier!” Xia Yuanba exclaimed in a low voice, “We are so far away and yet the repulsive force that struck us was strong… Master said that this barrier has persisted for more than ten thousand years, and that it could even be called the strongest barrier that exists within the Profound Sky Continent. It looks like the reputation it has for being indestructible is richly deserved.”

“Just based on its isolating ability alone, this barrier is indeed unparalleled.” Zi Ji said as he nodded his head, his expression filled with admiration and reverence, “The founders of Supreme Ocean Palace used more than half of the Tyrant Profound artifacts that exist in the Profound Sky Continent and used up an incredible amount of profound crystals in order to set up this barrier all those years ago. If not for this isolating barrier, that dreadful yin energy would have run rampant for the past ten thousand years and the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

“My Ocean Palace has flourished for ten thousand years and even though we have made our shares of mistakes through the years, we have also maintained this barrier for ten thousand years as well. So my Ocean Palace has always been able to search its own soul without being found wanting, truly living up to the name ‘Sacred Ground’!” Zi Ji’s calm voice was laced with pride. He strode forward slowly and the Ocean Emperor Seal, which was flickering with blue light, was already in his hand.

Yun Che took a quick breath before walking up to Zi Ji’s side. It had already been an entire seven years since Jasmine had first mentioned that she needed to find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In these seven years, the only place where it was possible to even find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower was the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest that laid enclosed in a barrier before him.

And now, Jasmine had already been cleansed of the devilish poison and all the materials that were needed to reconstitute her body had been gathered, save for that very Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Even though there was a very slim chance that they would be able to find one, here he was. He could only hope that he was able to find the miracle flower in full bloom during the short hundred breaths that he could stay in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.

The closer they drew to the barrier, the more they understood just how strong this barrier was. Yun Che was completely convinced that even if he had ten times the amount of strength, he would not even be able to make a dent in this barrier.

When Zi Ji stood right in front of the barrier, he raised the Ocean Emperor Seal and hesitated for a moment before turning around to address Yun Che, “Yun Che, even though we are already here, and I know that I shouldn’t say anything to dampen your hopes… but you should be very clear that the chance of finding a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom is extremely slim. Moreover, even if you do miraculously find one, how will you obtain it?”

“Those Supreme Ocean Elders who had seen the Netherworld Udumbara Flower all those years ago were all peerless powerhouses who were at the Sovereign Profound Realm. Even though they only looked at it from a distance for a few moments before swiftly departing, all of them suffered through a terrible illness after that. So it is hard to imagine the consequences of even coming close to that flower, much less picking it. And from my own knowledge, there has never once been a recorded instance where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was successfully harvested in the history of Profound Sky Continent. The only records we have of this flower are the countless deaths that occurred because of it and its reputation as the ‘evilest of flowers’.”

“I have my own methods.” Yun Che said confidently.

The moment he had spoken those words, Jasmine’s voice also rang out in his mind, “If there is really a Netherworld Udumbara Flower, you must definitely not approach it. Even though you have the Dragon God Soul, if you come within thirty meters of it, you will definitely be wracked by extreme pain. And if you come within fifteen meters of it, you are simply begging for death! Leave the harvesting of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to me, I will bring it into the Sky Poison Pearl fully intact.”

“I know.” Yun Che replied. When he was living in the Azure Cloud Continent, his master had taught him about the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as well and the words that he had emphasized the most when he had taught Yun Che about this flower was that “you must never ever come close to one.”

Zi Ji slowly nodded his head. He did not attempt to speak any further. Instead, he slapped the Ocean Emperor Seal heavily against the surface of the barrier in front of him.

Immediately, they could see the barrier ripple where it came into contact with the Ocean Emperor Seal. Zi Ji’s brows sank and he said in a solemn tone, “The moment the seal on the barrier is released, there will be a large amount of yin energy expelled. This yin energy is extremely domineering and if normal people and weak profound practitioners come into contact with it, their lives will be put in danger. The yin energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is even more dreadful, and even if it is us, the moment we enter this place, our profound strength will be suppressed by two entire realms. At the same time, our vitality will also be drained away swiftly. Right now, you need to use all your strength to protect yourselves! You definitely must not underestimate the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!”

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