Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“The only Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal we had in stock was just purchased by that young man.”

The old man sat there playing with with an azure-colored jade and did not even look up. But suddenly, the hand playing with the jade stopped, and he abruptly raised his head. He looked at the white-clothed woman behind the maid with an expression of shock. Afterward, his whole body stood up from the seat as if he had been shocked by electricity. His demeanor had also become especially respectful: “Esteemed customer, please forgive this little old man’s rude behavior. There was indeed one piece of Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal in the store, but it was just purchased by that young man.”

“I cannot be of help, esteemed customer. I am very sorry; please forgive me… How about esteemed customer leave behind a Sound Transmission Imprint? If another shipment of Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal arrives, we will definitely inform you first.”

The reason for the old man’s sudden attitude change was very simple; it was because he had casually probed this woman’s profound strength and actually discovered that her profound energy aura was as vast as the sea, making it impossible to find its limit. Without a doubt, the profound strength of this woman in front of him was at least a great realm higher than his own. How could he not be shocked?

Seeing this old man suddenly become so respectful and even a little terrified, that maid’s attitude also became much more respectful. Just as she was about to speak, a white silhouette in front of her flashed, and the white-clothed woman disappeared like a ghost in front of her eyes.

Yun Che left the Black Moon Merchant Guild and returned to the Blue Wind Profound Palace through the same path, but his footsteps were not as hurried as before, walking at a leisurely pace. At the same time, he was making an unusual bet with Jasmine...

“I bet that little fairy from before will immediately come to seek me.”

“Her? Seek you? Where’s your confidence from? With her level, she wouldn’t even give you more than a glance.”

“Do you want to bet with me then?”

“I don’t believe it.”

Just as Jasmine finished speaking, a gust of cold wind blew past Yun Che’s body. The scene in front of him blurred for a moment as white clothes fluttered, and the snowy-veiled woman appeared in front of him like an illusion. A pair of beautiful eyes emotionlessly stared at him. Yun Che’s gaze had been attracted to her the moment she appeared, because everything around him, even the sky and the earth, lost its color in comparison.

“Sell me your Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal. I’ll pay double the price.”

The woman’s voice was very soft, but an ice-cold feeling permeated through the softness. The cold directly pierced his bone marrow and an irresistible oppression was entrapped within the cold.

If Yun Che was only a normal True Profound Realm profound practitioner, he would have been frozen with nervousness under her cold gaze and oppressive voice, wouldn’t dare to make eye contact with her, wouldn’t dare to rebuff her statements at all, and would’ve obediently given the Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal to her almost out of free will.. because this power that was half a step away from the Emperor Profound Realm was not something a True Profound Realm profound practitioner could resist.

But Yun Che clearly could not be classified as a “normal True Profound Realm profound practitioner”; he did not evade her gaze with shame. Rather, he stared directly at her without any subtlety. His gaze revealed an unabashed look of amazement and appreciation. After a moment, he shook his head and said slowly: “I am definitely unwilling to sell something I just purchased for twice its price. But, I advise you not to try to buy this; the ice poison you are infected with is simply not something a Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal can dispel.”

This young man in front of her only had profound strength at the True Profound Realm, but under her coercion with power that was half a step away from the Emperor Profound Realm, he actually didn’t look nervous in the slightest and was completely unperturbed. This behavior surprised the white-clothed woman a little, and his following words made her crescent-shaped eyebrows crease slightly: “How do you know I’ve been infected with ice poison?”

Yun Che smiled lightly, and said leisurely: “Not only do I know you’ve been infected with ice poison, I also know that the ice poison you’ve been infected with is a Poison of Origin! If I didn’t guess wrong, you must have fought with an ice-attribute profound beast a few days ago, and not only did this profound beast have an ice attribute, it also had a very powerful poison attribute. You killed this profound beast, but in the instant before its death, you were infected by its poison.”

White-clothed woman: “...”

“I believe, with your profound strength a half-step away from the Emperor Profound Realm, that poison from that ice poison profound beast shouldn’t have affected you at all. However, you must not have that much experience with high-level poison profound beasts. It is useful to know that several powerful poison profound beasts’ profound cores will generate a type of ‘Poison of Origin’; this Poison of Origin is the source for all of its other poison, and is also its life source. Its toxicity is incomparably frightening so in the case it releases it, it would automatically die. As a result, unless it is facing certain death, the Poison of Origin would never be released. The ice-poison beast you fought against must have been facing its looming death and desperately released its Poison of Origin. I’m guessing you had assumed it was just a common poison, so you didn’t take it seriously. Once you realized it was impossible to suppress this poison, you thought of searching for a Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal to dispel it.”

The white-clothed woman revealed an expression of shock for a instant, because everything Yun Che had said was completely accurate.

Seven days ago, she had indeed fought and killed an ice-attribute poison profound beast, and was infected by its poison right before its death. After, outbursts of the poison had occurred rapidly, and her abundant profound strength could only forcefully suppress it, but was completely unable to dispel it. It was only at this point that she began searching for a Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal, which could dispel all sorts of ice poisons… And in her lone travel, no one else knew about her condition, yet everything had been described by this young man in front of her. He had even described her profound strength without a single mistake.

“What are you?” The white-clothed woman’s gaze at Yun Che had changed, and did not use the same gaze she used on a True Profound practitioner.

For one a half-step to the Emperor Profound Realm, with profound strength strong enough to be recognized as top ten in the Blue Wind Empire and the pinnacle of profound practitioners, to cautiously ask a True Profound realm little being “what are you”, one could only imagine how pleasurable this must’ve felt. Yun Che revealed a mysterious smile, and said: “My name is Yun Che, and I am only a common disciple from the Blue Wind Profound Palace… Additionally, I have another identity; I am also a genius doctor.”

“Looking at the symptoms of your poison, you can only utilize about one-third of your usual profound strength. With your incredible profound strength, there will be a day when the Poison of Origin in your body dissolves, but it may take twenty or thirty years for that to occur. Also, in this time, your profound strength will not increase at all, and you will only be able to fully utilize one-third of your total profound strength. As for this Poison of Origin, it simply cannot be dispelled by the Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal. On the contrary, you cultivate an ice-attribute profound art, and the Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal contains a rich accumulation of the flaming blood’s volatile fire; if you rashly consume the Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal and something bad happens, it is very likely your profound veins will be injured… Or even permanently damaged.”

“I’ve said everything needed to be said; if you’re still set on acquiring this Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal, you can go search for it elsewhere. For your best interest, I’m not going to sell this Devil’s Flaming Blood Crystal to you… No matter how much money you offer.”

After Yun Che finished speaking, he glanced at her for a moment, then took a half-step forward. He passed by the white-clothed woman, and continued walking towards the Blue Wind Profound Palace.

“How did you know she was infected by a Poison of Origin?” Jasmine asked with surprise.

“Regardless of the poison, symptoms will always show on one’s expression. If I can’t even tell whether she was infected by a poison, or what poison she was infected with, it would be embarrassing to call myself a genius doctor.” Yun Che replied.

“Then how did you also know she cultivated ice-attribute profound arts.”

“That’s even more simple. That little fairy’s profound strength is so scary that it is obvious she didn’t go out and personally hunt a profound beast for money. This means the only reason for her to do so is that the profound beast possessed something greatly beneficial to her. She was infected by an ice poison, so the profound beast she killed must have been an ice-attribute profound beast. And the item on the ice-attribute profound beast must be beneficial to profound practitioners that cultivate ice-attribute profound arts. It’s just like that time when the Burning Heaven Clan, which cultivates fire-attribute profound arts, mobilized their strongest members to kill that Flame Dragon.”

Yun Che patiently explained his thought process, but his attention was completely focused behind him. He felt that this goddess had already turned around, and her ice-cold gaze had landed on his back.

“Wait!”

Yun Che finally heard the sound he was expecting come from behind him. His paused his footsteps, cracked a smile, and then naturally turned around: “Did goddess call me over for something else?”

The white-clothed woman’s crescent eyebrows furrowed as her bright eyes cleared, and said lightly: “Since you can tell I’ve been infected by an Poison of Origin at a glance, and claim to be a genius doctor, then, do you also know how to quickly dispel the poison in my body?”

Yun Che was waiting for her to say these exact words. He nodded very casually and said: “Of course I know. Although this Poison of Origin is quite troublesome, there is indeed a relatively quick method to dispel it; the treatment only takes around ten days, and doesn’t have any side effects… Goddess, you couldn’t be asking me to dispel the poison for you?”

After hearing Yun Che’s words, the white-clothed woman’s eyes brilliantly shined. She slowly nodded and said: “Then, I’ll have to trouble you to dispel the poison in my body for me. I will reward you greatly after you do so.”

Yun Che’s face revealed a surprised expression, and then a hesitant expression. After quite a while, he finally said: “Goddess, not only is your profound strength immensely great, you are also the incarnate of an angel. I am but a lowly Profound Palace disciple, aren’t you afraid that I’m plotting something?”

“Your eyes are pure. At the very least, you are not a villain.” The white-clothed woman responded evenly.

Yun Che started laughing, happy she had spoken about her trust in him. He nodded: “Alright then, since goddess trusts me, I will try to dispel the poison in goddess’s body. However, I am a disciple of the Blue Wind Profound Palace after all, and I cannot leave for long periods of time… How about this; I’ll head back to the Blue Wind Profound Palace first, and you can come find me at Number 101 in the Inner Palace disciple quarters at dusk. I believe that with goddess’s capability, bypassing the guard for the Blue Wind Profound Palace should be easy. Also, the houses for Inner Palace disciples are very quiet, so it is also a good place for goddess to rest.”

The white-clothed woman didn’t speak and faintly glanced over at Yun Che. She then flew into the sky and her sleeves fluttered as she suddenly disappeared from Yun Che’s line of sight.

Eh? She left just like that?

Damn! She left just like that?!

If you’re going to leave, at least say something!!

Yun Che bared his teeth as he stared at the beautiful silhouette that had vanished into the sky. Did that little fairy think I was a trickster?

Ah, whatever...

Yun Che shook his head, and walked back to the Blue Wind Profound Palace.

He passed through the Outer and Middle Palaces and entered the Inner Palace, walking all the way to his courtyard. Yun Che stretched a little, and then pushed open the door to his house. Just as he took a step in, his entire person instantly froze on the spot.

Because in front of the bamboo window in his house, dressed in a snowy attire and possessing a dreamlike beauty, stood a woman’s silhouette.