Against the Gods

Ice Phoenix Sacred Region.

This place was still eternally shrouded in snow, just like he remembered.

As he walked up those unmarked snowy steps and arrived in front of the Sacred Hall. His eyes swept across the area as he took in his surroundings. The pond, the ice bed, the ice sculptures... everything was as he remembered.

After Mu Bingyun had succeeded the title of sect master, the Ice Phoenix Sacred Hall had become her personal abode. But she had not touched a single thing in this place for the past few years, even the simple trinkets that Mu Xuanyin had loved were all in their original places.

In the corner, one could see a clear line run down the surface of an ice lantern. This was the crack he had created after Mu Xuanyin (Chi Wuyao) forced him to ingest the horned dragon’s blood, causing him to go wild and nearly push Mu Feixue down... To think that it still hadn’t been fixed.

When she saw Yun Che come to a complete halt as he stared at his surroundings blankly, Mu Bingyun said in a soft voice, “Come in.”

Yun Che did not make a move to go inside. He asked in a rather absent-minded manner, “If Master were to see me right now... would she detest what I’ve become?”

Mu Bingyun was taken aback by those words. This Devil Master of darkness who had slaughtered countless star realms and living creatures with nary a single word was actually too hesitant and timid to enter this Sacred Hall—a place where he had shared countless memories with Mu Xuanyin.

“Yes,” Mu Bingyun replied. “Because you’re actually still addressing her as Master.”

“It was fine for you to not understand. But now... do you still not understand why she was so insistent on expelling you from the sect?”

“So what if I understand?” Yun Che replied in a soft voice. He let out a miserable, self-deprecating chuckle. “How many people did my past naivete end up killing? I’d rather she detest me, hate me.”

He slowly bent down and looked at Mu Bingyun. “Palace Master Bingyun, do you still hate me?”

Mu Bingyun’s icy eyes shifted in his direction. After that, she gently walked forward and stood in front of Yun Che. As Yun Che looked on in dumbfounded silence, she raised a snowy hand and gently caressed his face with those ice jade-like fingers.

“Back then, I hit you even though you were suffering the most pain you had ever suffered in your life.” Her voice was soft and gentle, like mist, like a dream. Her icy eyes had misted over and the guilt which had lain buried in her heart for the last few years could be seen in them. “Does it still hurt?”

“...” He could feel a sensation that was as gentle as soft jade on his face. It penetrated straight to his heart and soul. His eyes started to tremble as his lips moved. “It didn’t even hurt in the first place.”

When he had bid farewell to her at the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, he had felt all of Mu Bingyun’s icy gentleness transform into pain and gloom. But when he finally saw her again today, all of her gloominess seemed to have vanished without a trace. She had once more returned to the Mu Bingyun of the past, a person who truly resembled her name, a cloud of ice that was cold on the outside but soft and gentle on the inside.

At this time, an extremely beautiful woman whose aura resembled an icy lotus walked out from behind one of the icy mirrors within the Sacred Hall.

Mu Feixue.

She saw Yun Che and the snowy hand that was caressing his face. Her delicate head drooped slightly as she spoke in a soft voice, “Sect Master, Senior Brother Yun.”

Her jade arm bent slightly as Mu Bingyun unconsciously withdrew her hand from Yun Che’s face. Before she could even utter a single word, Mu Feixue had already given them a courteous bow before she quietly withdrew from the area.

“Feixue has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years.” Yun Che looked in the direction that Mu Feixue had left. She was walking in a slow and unhurried manner and she was still within the range of his spiritual perception. He could sense the howling snow growing calm and gentle wherever she went.

A small smile appeared on Mu Bingyun’s face. “I was originally worried that she would be impeded by the distractions within her heart, but it turns out that I was worried for nothing. It looks like the same frame of mind can produce dramatically different results in different people. Feixue is a very outstanding child and she will definitely be able to shoulder the future of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect.”

Yun Che took out three purple crystal rings and extended his hand toward Mu Bingyun. “These rings contain resources that we took from the Eternal Heaven God Realm. They should allow the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect to develop very quickly over a short period of time.”

The resources gathered by a king realm were an unimaginable boon and fortune to any middle star realm. With these sorts of resources, they could nurture talents which would far surpass the previous eras in a very short period of time.

Mu Bingyun took them without question. Her divine senses swept over the rings lightly as she said, “Alright, I will put them to good use. These resources will cause our sect to undergo a complete and utter transformation within the span of a single generation.”

Mu Bingyun’s lack of hesitation in taking Yun Che’s gift actually left him dumbfounded for an instant.

She turned around and went into her bedchambers. When she came out, she was holding several sets of Ice Phoenix snow robes in her arms. The Ice Phoenix markings inscribed into those robes were meant only for the sect master’s direct disciple.

“These are your Ice Phoenix robes, all of them were personally made for you by Big Sister,” Mu Bingyun said. “Even though you’re no longer a disciple of our sect and you’ll never wear these robes again, they still belong to you. Leaving them here would only betray... the intentions she had when making these clothes.”

Yun Che’s head drooped as he slowly reached out to take the robes. His fingers lightly traced the ice-cold divine symbols. A long period of time passed before he finally raised his head and said, “Palace Master Bingyun, I’ve come for two reasons today. The first to see her. But the second is about you. I hope that you’ll leave with me today.”

Mu Bingyun had once been “kidnapped” by the Brahma Monarch God Realm and Yun Che would not let that happen a second time.

Mu Bingyun wasn’t shocked by his proposition at all. She gently shook her head and spoke in a voice as calm as still water, “Yun Che, never forget the status that you have today. Whether you are worried or feeling guilty, give all of those feelings to Big Sister alone.”

“As for me and the Snow Song Realm, we will and should never become something that binds or impedes you. Even if the Snow Song Realm were to one day meet with the most catastrophic end, I would still choose to die with it.”

Even though her voice was soft and gentle, it was filled with exceptional steel. It was clear that her words brooked no argument.

“Also, I don’t wish for you to see her as you are right now. The stench of blood and malice that is radiating from your body is far too thick, it will disturb her rest. If you ever achieve your objectives one day and finally allow her to cease her worrying for you, then you can come and see her.”

Yun Che: “...”

“However, if you truly must take someone with you...” Mu Bingyun’s tone grew thick with meaning. “Then take Feixue along with you.”

...............

After he left the Ice Phoenix Sacred Region, Yun Che hovered high in the air and allowed his body to sway within the howling snow. He stared at the boundless plains of snow with ice-cold eyes... But it wasn’t the sort of cold that would mercilessly penetrate into your bones, it was the kind of cold that was calm and serene.

This was the most calm he had ever been since his return to the Eastern Divine Region. He even felt as if the fresh blood on his hands and the malice in his heart had been temporarily covered up by the ice and snow.

He had not chosen to visit the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake in the end. Mu Bingyun’s words had indeed moved his heart, especially the part about him not sullying her presence with the blood and sin that now soaked his being.

Eleven years ago, he had followed Mu Bingyun to the God Realm with one extremely simple goal in mind, a goal that may have very well seemed ridiculously naive to anyone else. This was the beginning of everything.

At that time, neither he nor Mu Bingyun could possibly imagine that he would become the axis upon which the fate of the entire God Realm would turn.

He had already conquered the Eastern Divine Region and shown the world his shocking devilish might. The truth behind everything had also been exposed to the entire universe and he still had the Northern Divine Region, this perfect escape route that could not be cut off, the perfect stronghold that could not be toppled.

In terms of his authority, power, military strength, and charisma... he was someone who was already standing at the apex of the Eastern and Northern Divine Regions. He was on par with the Southern and Western Divine Regions and he possessed the authority and power to mold and remake the structure of the God Realm.

Even if the Dragon Monarch himself were to return right now, he would not dare to make any reckless moves in the face of the dreadful power that the Northern Divine Region had displayed. The situation had changed so dramatically that even he would have to tread carefully. As such, the Southern Divine Region’s caution toward Yun Che was well-merited.

However, Yun Che didn’t have the slightest intention of stopping now. The hatred in his heart had been stilled amidst the flying snow... but it hadn’t reduced one single bit.

Within this snowy region, the faces of the people who had attacked Mu Xuanyin swiftly coalesced into existence within his mind. Every single one of those faces had been painstakingly etched into his heart and soul with unspeakable clarity.

Foremost among them... was Long Bai, the person who had dealt the fatal blow to Mu Xuanyin!

At this time, a voice that only dwelled in his beautiful memories rang out within the flying snow.

“Ah? You guys really saw Senior Brother Yun? How does he look now?”

A slender woman dressed in an icy-blue robe asked in an excited and anxious voice. Her cultivation was at the Divine Soul Realm and it did not even reach the cultivation of the Ice Phoenix disciples around her, but it was clear that she possessed a very unique status among them.

Yun Che looked down toward the blue-robed maiden. After hearing the very first word she had said, Yun Che had already recognized Mu Xiaolan’s voice. Although so many years had passed, she still looked exactly the same.

“Just like in the images we saw... No, no, he was actually scarier than what the images showed us. Especially his eyes. Just a single look into those eyes made it hard for me to breathe,” a male Ice Phoenix disciple said.

Another male Ice Phoenix disciple anxiously tried to warn her. “Junior Sister Xiaolan, he’s the Devil Master now, you must never ever address him as Senior Brother. If... If the Devil Master grows angry because of that...”

He did not even dare to complete his sentence.

“He won’t! He won’t!” Mu Xiaolan shook her head vigorously as she said in a very confident voice. “I believe that he won’t ever harm the Snow Song Realm no matter how much he’s changed. Haven’t the events over the last few days already proven that?”

The Ice Phoenix disciple who was clearly the leader of this bunch spoke in a somber voice. “Our previous sect master died for his sake, so he obviously won’t be willing to hurt the Snow Song Realm. But everyone in the Eastern Divine Region has borne witness to just how terrifying he has become. You must never ever approach him or gossip about him in private. If he flies into a rage over something we said, it would be.... Uh...aaaah...”

He unintentionally raised his head to look up at the sky and he immediately saw the hovering Yun Che. His heart instantly stilled in his chest and all of the hairs on his body stood on end. The words he was just about to say turned into a garbled gurgle.

After everyone subconsciously followed his eyes, the world was instantly plunged into a deathly silence. Every single face turned stark white as their eyes widened to their limits. No one could even make a single sound.

“Yun... Che...”

Mu Xiaolan stared dazedly at the black figure floating in the air. She softly whispered a few words, but she immediately forcefully covered her mouth with her hand. She didn’t dare to let out another squeak after that.

When the Northern Divine Region had completely submitted to him, countless Divine Masters had no choice but to grovel and tremble at his feet. The current Yun Che did not even need to deliberately release any of his dark devilish might, just a single glance from those calm eyes was enough to cast countless souls into an abyss of fear and dread.

Even as he looked away, Yun Che did not utter a single word. Instead, he impassively flew off into the distance.

As the shock and fear left their system, nearly half of the Ice Phoenix disciples flopped down on their butts. They gasped for air heavily as the cold sweat that drenched their bodies started to turn to ice.

Mu Xiaolan blankly stared in the direction that Yun Che had flown in, her eyes slowly misting over.

This was the man that she and her master had brought to the Snow Song Realm all those years ago. The man whom she had constantly teased and scolded every day, but now he was as distant as a dream, someone she could no longer reach.

At this moment, a voice that was filled with a dignified might reverberated in the air far above them.

“The Flame God Realm’s Huo Poyun has arrived to plead for an audience with Realm King Bingyun.”

Yun Che, who had been flying toward the north, suddenly froze in midair. His head turned slightly, but his expression was still as coldly calm as it was just now. It had not changed in the slightest.