Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“Ah!” A sweet cry rang beside him. “You’re awake, husband!”

Yun Che looked up. Su Ling’er’s face was just inches away from his own, and Caizhi and Little Demon Empress were right beside her. They had clearly been watching over him for a very long time.

He actually wasn’t sure if he had woken up from his slumber. The dreams were that realistic, and he had never remembered them as clearly as he was now.

“What happened?” Caizhi asked. “Why did you seal your senses for such a long time?”

“It’s nothing. It’s a special state of enlightenment,” replied Yun Che while returning his gaze to the courtyard. Still a little out of it, he asked, “So, how long was I out this time?”

“Seven days,” Su Ling’er replied.

At least it wasn’t half a month like last time.

Before he could relax though, Su Ling’er dropped another bomb. “Husband, you need to check on sister Lingxi now.”

“Lingxi?” Her panicky tone jolted him like lightning. He rose to his feet and asked, “What happened to her?”

“She fainted when you sealed away your own senses. I wasn’t able to wake her up no matter what I tried, and… she still hasn’t woken up yet.”

Yun Che was already gone before Su Ling’er finished her sentence.

Xiao Lingxi was lying quietly on her bed and breathing evenly. Her face looked pale, but thankfully it wasn’t so sickly that it was cause for worry.

However, her brow was knitted into a small but permanent frown. It was as if an invisible string was tugging at her mind and keeping her from true rest.

Yun Che grabbed her right wrist with one hand and tapped her solar plexus with the other. He slowly injected a vast amount of profound energy into her body in the gentlest way he could.

A careful examination later, Yun Che’s own brow relaxed for a second before knitting again in doubt.

Xiao Lingxi’s vitality and soul sea were perfectly normal. There were no internal or external injuries to be found either. If she was someone else, he would’ve assumed that they were pretending to be unconscious already. However, Xiao Lingxi would never pull something like that.

“How is she?” Su Ling’er asked nervously.

Yun Che rose up and answered, “She’s… fine. She’ll probably awaken very soon.”

Noticing Yun Che’s odd tone and expression, Su Ling’er hesitated for a moment before saying, “To tell you the truth, this isn’t the first or even the tenth time sister Lingxi has fallen into an unnatural sleep like this. It is the longest she has ever been unconscious though.”

“What?” Yun Che’s eyes narrowed. “When was that?”

“It began when you first left for the God Realm,” Su Ling’er said. “She fainted the moment you left with Senior Mu Bingyun.”

Yun Che: “…”

“She woke up really quickly that time, but her heart rate and pulse had become ten times faster than a normal person’s.”

“What!?” Yun Che exclaimed in shock.

Xiao Lingxi’s cultivation was extremely weak back then. Her heart rate and pulse should never be able to jump that high!

Su Ling’er continued, “However, it wasn’t long before she fully returned to normal, so I simply assumed that it was a case of excessive worry and didn’t pay it too much attention.”

“I was wrong. Since that day, she would fall unconscious from time to time, and the duration kept growing longer and longer. I was never able to find out the cause… after her thirty third coma though, the mysterious ailment suddenly vanished. She has been fine ever since.”

“But now, it’s starting again…”

Su Ling’er clenched her hands like she could somehow squeeze out her worries.

“Why didn’t I know about this sooner?” A deep sense of unease grew in Yun Che’s heart.

She replied, “You were gone for years, and when you returned you had lost all of your profound energy. How could we burden you with even more worry?”

“Sister Lingxi had already made a full recovery by then too. She told us again and again not to tell you about it and make you worry.”

Xiao Lingxi had always been like this. Even when they were younger, she had never been willing to burden him or add to his worries.

A heavy rock sat in Yun Che’s chest. He thought to himself in frustration, what is happening to Lingxi?

Please, just please don’t let it be harmful to her.

No. No. If it isn’t harmful, then all is well. If it is, then I will neutralize it no matter what it is.

I am the Great Emperor of the God Realm and the cultivator of the Divine Miracle of Life… there is nothing I can’t solve!

He exhaled slowly to enter a state of perfect calmness and sobriety. Then, he began his questions, “Besides the obvious, what other symptoms did she display during that time?”

Su Ling’er thought for a moment before replying, “There were a couple of times she would say weird things after she awoke from her slumber.”

“Like what?” Yun Che asked urgently.

“For example, on the day she saw you off to the God Realm she said… she said she saw you scattering into ashes amidst a terrible explosion of fire and starlight.”[1]

“!!!” Yun Che’s expression didn’t change, but his mind had become as turbulent as a sea storm.

He had in fact perished during his first trip to the Star God Realm.

The Star Gods of the Star God Realm had killed him with their starlight powers…

… and the flames of nirvana had claimed him in those final moments.

……

Illusion?

Coincidence?

Prophecy…

……

“Little… Che…”

A quiet voice abruptly brought him back down to earth. He looked down and saw Xiao Lingxi opening her eyes slowly.

“Lingxi!”

Yun Che immediately leaned forward and placed an arm across her back. He slowly helped her to a sitting position on her bed.

“Are you alright, Sister Lingxi? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Su Ling’er asked both worriedly and concernedly.

Xiao Lingxi shook her head. “I’m fine. I just… had a very long dream.”

“… a dream?” Yun Che’s features twitched a little. It so happened that he had woken up from a long dream himself.

“It was so long that I cannot even begin to describe how long it was.” Xiao Lingxi’s murmur was tinged with deep exhaustion. “But I can’t recall even a single bit now that I’m awake.”

“What… is happening… to me…”

“It was just a dream. It’s perfectly normal to forget the contents of a dream. You don’t need to recall it, much less pay it any heed,” Yun Che said smilingly. “If you feel tired, feel free to take a short nap.”

“Little Che.” Suddenly, Xiao Lingxi grasped Yun Che’s palms tightly. “Will… will you forgive me if one day, you realized that I had hurt you terribly?”

Her fingers were cold and trembling.

Yun Che returned the grip. “Why do you say that when you know that you can never bear to hurt me?”

His vision blurred the second the words escaped his lips.

He remembered saying something similar to a certain person.

However, that person had become someone who had wounded him like no other.

“I don’t know.” A shimmer of heartbreaking tears coated Xiao Lingxi’s eyes. “I… I keep hearing a voice telling me… that I did something terribly wrong and selfish… and it led to a most cruel and irreversible outcome…”

“You must be mistaken.” Yun Che shook her hands a little. “You don’t actually think that dreams are real, do you? Just… take a short nap. The strange thoughts will disappear when you’ve gotten over your sleepiness.”

“A dream…” Xiao Lingxi murmured, “Yes, it was a dream. So why… do I keep thinking of it as reality?”

“…” Yun Che didn’t say anything after that, much less demand answers from her. He simply embraced her in silence.

Yes, it was all just a dream.

Nothing was wrong, and nothing would go wrong ever again.

After Xiao Lingxi had shaken off her initial daze, she seemed to have fully returned to normal. Yun Che couldn’t detect anything wrong with her.

Once in a while when she was all alone, a vacant expression would overcome her features. She never stopped trying to recall her dreams.

To date, all three parts of the World-Defying Heavenly Manual were fully engraved into Yun Che’s mind.

Just like the previous times, he had entered a strange state of enlightenment, but he couldn’t even begin to identify what he had learned from the experience.

One thing was certain, however. The inheritance of the Ancestral God, the World-Defying Heavenly Manual and the Ancestral Divine Art were finally complete. According to the ancient records, it was an existence that transcended even the Creation Gods and the Devil Emperors!

Yun Che might be the strongest profound practitioner in the universe already, but that hardly meant that he wasn’t deeply curious about it.

However, he still couldn’t detect any change in his body or his soul.

Perhaps this utterly illogical power of “nothingness” would show itself on its own time just like before.[2]

In the meantime, he decided to visit a place he never thought he would ever visit in his life, at least not intentionally.

Floating Cloud City, the governor manor.

“H-h-h-h-h-humble servant Situ Nan, g-g-g-g-g-g-greets Spiritual Master Yun!”

When Situ Nan first saw Yun Che floating above his residence, he had blanked out for three full breaths before he finally broke out of his stupor.

The simple greeting had taken nearly every ounce of strength and willpower he possessed.

Moreover, he only remembered that he had forgotten to kneel after saying the last word. He hurriedly did so and hoped it wasn’t too late.

His sweat wet the ground as his body shook.

All around him, people were dropping to their knees and holding their breath as well.

As the governor of Floating Cloud City, Situ Nan was bestowed with great authority and good sense. He might not understand just how high Yun Che stood above the clouds, but he knew that Yun Che could crush him without even exhaling his breath.

Although Situ Nan resided in Floating Cloud City, he never hoped to meet Yun Che. Now that the legend had actually shown himself, he wondered if he should be honored or terrified.

“Governor Situ,” Yun Che started in an indifferent tone, “it has been a while since we’ve met.”

Situ Nan hurriedly said, “It is this humble servant’s honor to be remembered by Spiritual Master Yun. Everyone knows that the prosperity of Floating Cloud City and the peace of the entire world is thanks to Spiritual Master Yun, and this humble servant makes sure to thank your divine image at least once every day and night.”

“Where is your daughter, Situ Xuan right now?” Yun Che asked suddenly.

The question came out of nowhere, and again Situ Nan was frozen for three breaths before he looked behind himself and roared, “Get Xuan’er now! Go!”

Yun Che: “…”

“Ah… as you command!” One of the servants answered while half-crawling toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Situ Nan had bowed his head again and kept his silence. He didn’t dare to ask what Spiritual Master Yun wanted to do with his daughter as a matter of course, but he couldn’t stop himself from wondering about it.

Yun Che was practically heaven itself, and he had visited personally… to see his daughter!?

Could it be… no! It was impossible!

Although Yun Che was rumored to be extremely lecherous, all his women were a million times better than Situ Xuan in every way!

His daughter was a beauty among mortals, but that was only among mortals! There was no way she would fall into his crosshairs!

Did Situ Xuan offend him then?

That was even more impossible!

Forget that Situ Xuan utterly lacked the strength to offend Yun Che, why would he show up personally to enact her punishment? All he needed to do was to say one sentence, and everyone across the world would rush over to carry out the deed themselves!

It wasn’t long before the servant returned. Following right beside him was a fragile-looking woman and a maid supporting her.

“This humble girl Situ Xuan greets Spiritual Master Yun.”

She was between thirty to forty years old, and she was dressed rather sumptuously. She had a thin physique, and her life aura and profound aura were unusually weak. It was probably why she looked much older than another woman of her age.

She was soft spoken not because she chose to be, but because she lacked the strength to do so. He could tell that she would not live to a century even with the governor’s great wealth to sustain her.

Yun Che stared at her briefly.

Despite her aging features, she definitely matched her younger self in his memories.

She was definitely the Situ Xuan who had appeared in his dreams again and again.

1. Chapter 944 Goodbye, Blue Pole Star

2. (T/N:first dibs on theorycrafting, but I bet he can now traverse the Wall freely)