Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 2004 - Bone Measurement

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Lie Qianhong finally revealed his true intention.

In the God Realm, it was easy to deduce one’s rough age just by sensing their projected life aura. However, this was impossible to do in the Abyss because the abyssal dust greatly restricted and even distorted one’s senses. More importantly, abyssal dust could consume one’s life and muddy up one’s life aura, meaning that two people of the same age could possess completely different life auras depending on their living environment.

For example, a six hundred year old man living in a Kingdom of God could possess greater life aura than a sixty year old man living in the Qilin Abyss Realm.

That was why sensing one’s life aura was a thoroughly unreliable method to judge one’s age. It could barely be called a method at all.

Lie Qianhong’s argument sounded like a desperate, last ditch effort to get his sect into the Qilin God Realm, but it was a wake-up call to many people. Previously, no one bothered measuring the age of the participants because one, they all came from the same realm, so every participant’s background was well known to an extent, and two… the Qilin God Realm was a gift by the Abyssal Monarch himself. Who in their right mind would dare to fake something like this? Not to mention that an Abyssal Knight was supervising everything.

To lie about one’s age to enter the Qilin God Realm was the same as challenging the Abyssal Monarch’s authority. The consequences went far beyond just disqualification and dooming their whole sect.

To say that the risk and rewards didn’t match would be an understatement. That was why neither the three sects nor the Helian Dynasty had ever dared to pull such a stunt. Therefore, no one ever bothered to check the age of a participant during the Qilin Abyss Conference. One might say that this was the one thing the four factions still agreed on to this day.

This gave the Fiery Sand Sect one last chance to turn things around. If Yun Che or Long Jiang was over six hundred years old, then the Helian Empire or the Qilin Worship Alliance would lose the right to enter the Qilin God Realm. In fact, they might be permanently disqualified or worse. This would allow the Fiery Sand Sect to replace them and keep their position.

Helian Lingzhu’s abnormal reaction hadn’t escaped the others’ senses. Loud murmurs immediately erupted all across the Qilin Divine Domain.

The longer a profound practitioner stayed at a cultivation realm, the thicker and stronger than profound energy would become. While Yun Che’s feat of annihilating a bunch of lower Divine Masters as a Divine Sovereign was still beyond their imagination, the explanation that Yun Che was an old monster who had lingered at the Divine Sovereign Realm for god-knows-how-long was barely acceptable.

Speaking of which, a six hundred year old dragon who was also an eighth level Divine Master should also be impossible. Long Jiang was a dragon, and their growth was far, far slower than another human with the same talent. Even if she hailed from a Kingdom of God, it was still unthinkable that it was possible to nurture an eighth level Divine Master Chi Dragon that was below six hundred years old.

Mo Cangying frowned, but he wasn’t nearly as panicked as Helian Lingzhu was. When he first met Yun Che, the young man had been heavily injured and completely unguarded. The life aura he sensed at the time could only be described as impossibly young.

It was the main reason Helian Lingzhu had insisted on saving him.

Mo Cangying himself was 520 years old, and Yun Che had always addressed him as a senior, so… he should be younger than him, right?

Back to the battlefield, Ximen Boyun didn’t seem perturbed by the suggestion. “What are you suggesting, Sect Master Lie?”

“I request that we measure their bone age!”

It was difficult to tell a person’s age via their aura, but their bone age was impossible to fake.

Lie Qianhong’s voice boomed so loud that everyone’s eardrums were buzzing.

Ximen Borong actually smiled when he heard this. It was true that he didn’t know Long Jiang’s true age, but he was certain that she wasn’t older than six hundred.

Yun Che though… that was a different story.

That was why Ximen Borong wasn’t annoyed with Lie Qianhong’s action. In fact, he would have given the man an applause if this was a private setting.

If Yun Che really was over six hundred years old, then Ximen Boyun could punish him on the spot no matter who he was.

In the Abyss, no one was bigger than the Abyssal Monarch, and Ximen Boyun was one of His representatives. The Helian Dynasty would be kicked into the pit of no return, and the Qilin Worship Alliance would have a much easier time replacing them. It was a win-win scenario no matter how he looked at it.

Meanwhile, Helian Lingzhu was feeling quite frail. Completely unable to suppress her panic, she was about to jump to her feet and say something when Mo Cangying grabbed her and muttered, “We don’t have the right to say no. In fact, rejecting his request now would only make us look guilty.”

“Plus…” Mo Cangying almost smiled when he shot Yun Che a glance. “Brother Yun is a very sentimental person who wants nothing more than to repay what he owes. I don’t believe he will ruin you over something like this.”

His sound advice calmed her down greatly. Helian Lingzhu snuck a look at Yun Che and nodded.

Ximen Boyun continued, “Who would dare blaspheme His Majesty’s gift? That said, the rule was set by His Majesty himself, and it is true that such a verification had never been performed in the history of the Qilin Abyss Conference because of mutual trust. Since that trust is broken, the best way to mend it is to verify their ages.”

Very soon, a huge profound stele used to measure one’s bone age was placed at the center of the battlefield.

Ximen Borong offered, “The Qilin Worship Alliance may be young, but our thirst for the Qilin God Realm is unquenchable. We would never dare to blaspheme the Abyssal Monarch’s gift, so we humbly request the opportunity to clear our name.”

He then looked at Long Jiang and requested, “If you would please prove our innocence, Venerable Dragon.”

At this point, no one could resist the order. To reject it was to defy the Abyssal Monarch Himself.

This time, Long Jiang didn’t make Ximen Borong wait too long. Her aura remained as grave as death as she made her second appearance.

Everyone could tell that she was reluctant to show herself again, but… there was a reason she must enter the Qilin God Realm.

She stood in front of the profound stele and pressed her palm against its surface. A withered yellow light immediately appeared at the bottom and shot upward. However, the light slowed down drastically after it had exceeded the sixty-year-old mark. Eventually, it came to a stop.

The profound light… showed that Long Jiang wasn’t even ninety years old!

Long Jiang withdrew her hand and turned around coolly. Then, she vanished into the crowd once more, leaving behind a sea of disbelieving gasps.

“She’s… less than ninety years old!?”

“Is… is this even possible?”

“This profound stele must be broken! An eighth level Divine Master who is ninety years old? I heard that the Kingdoms of God own a kind of ‘inheritance’ that could allow someone to enter the Divine Master Realm instantly, but I never heard that the dragons have such a thing. Just what is…”

……

There was no one at the scene who wasn’t stunned by this result. Their realm was a realm where a profound practitioner who attained the Divine Master Realm in less than six hundred years old was a top genius, and now, they just witnessed an eighth level Divine Master who was less than ninety years old.

To say that they were stunned would be an understatement. Lie Qianhong went from looking expectant to complete disbelief, and even Ximen Borong looked speechless with shock.

Ximen Boyun slowly rose to his feet. His contracting pupils showed just how shocked he was.

Long Jiang had sought out the Qilin Worship Alliance and joined them of her own accord.

She only had two conditions: one, she wanted to enter the Qilin God Realm, and two, they weren’t allowed to probe into her background. They practically weren’t conditions because the Qilin Worship Alliance didn’t have to sacrifice anything to become the champions of the Qilin Abyss Conference. Add to the fact that she swore on her pride as a dragon that she was definitely below six hundred years old, the Qilin Worship Alliance just could not find any reason to turn her away. However, neither Ximen Boron nor Ximen Boyun could ever imagine that her so-called “below six hundred years old” was really ninety years old.

Ximen Boyun’s horizons had been expanded ever since he set foot on the Pure Land and became an Abyssal Knight. He started understanding the Kingdoms of Gods and the highest knowledge that was available in the Abyss. He also learned far more about the mythical dragons than when he was still in the Qilin Abyss Realm.

It was true that the Kingdom of God could produce an upper Divine Master who was less than a hundred years old using an inheritance, but the dragons did not possess such a thing. The only way they could grow strong was through cultivation.

Moreover, everyone knew that a dragon grew very slowly. It was why his first reaction toward Long Jiang’s result was disbelief, and his second reaction was that the profound stele was mistaken.

Dragons and humans were two completely different races, so it went without saying that their bones would differ greatly as well. The Qilin Abyss Realm’s profound stele had never been used to verify the age of a dragon’s bone, so it made sense that it would produce an unbelievable result… right?

It was the most probable and reasonable explanation he could come up with.

On the Helian’s side, Yun Che was just as stunned as the others.

Yun Che knew dragons very well. After all, he had been the butcher of their strongest races such as Dragon God Race, the Chi Dragon Race, the Hui Dragon Race and more. The Blue Dragon Race was the only one he spared and allowed to become their new sovereign.

A dragon’s growth was painfully slow. To put it simply, their power was built little by little via a powerful physique and a ridiculously long lifespan.

In the God Realm, even a God Emperor could only live to fifty thousand years tops. On the other hand, Long Bai was in his prime at the ripe age of three hundred and fifty thousand years old.

The Blue Dragon Emperor was a hundred thousand years old, but she was probably no more than a teenager in Long Bai’s eyes.

So, the fact that Long Jiang was an eighth level Divine Master “Chi Dragon” at ninety years old… Forget the Chi Dragon Emperor of the Western Divine Region, even Long Bai would probably drop to his knees if he was still alive to see her.

Is this how powerful the dragons are in the Abyss?

No, no, that can’t be right. Ximen Boyun looked like he had seen a ghost. This cannot be normal even in the Abyss.

The knowledge stirred Yun Che’s curiosity even more. What on earth was someone like her plotting in the Abyss?

“There is always a greater person out there, a bigger world,” Mo Cangying murmured. He thought he was a top genius among his peers, but now… he felt as insignificant as an ant.

Finally, Ximen Boyun spoke up, “This profound stele was made to examine a human’s bones, not a dragon’s. Even so, I don’t think that the margin of error would be so huge as to exceed six hundred years.”

The Abyssal Knight’s statement instantly diluted their shock and “enlightened” them on the “truth”. That’s right! Long Jiang is a Chi Dragon, and a profound stele made to examine human bones cannot possibly be worked properly on a Chi Dragon!

This was how all beings were no matter the race. When they were faced with something impossible, they would come up with a “reasonable” explanation to justify their disbelief. Not even an Abyssal Knight was immune to this disease.

After all, who would question the life they had led without good reason?

In the sky, Hua Caili asked curiously, “Is there really such a big difference between a human’s bones and a Dragon’s bones?”

“... It really is her,” Hua Caiying muttered.

“Her?”

“The profound stele is accurate no matter the race. These ignorant people are just trying to comfort themselves.” It was only now that Hua Caiying answered Hua Caili’s question.

Instead of pursuing the dragon girl’s identity, Hua Caili asked in a small voice, “So… do you know how old my bones are?”

“Nineteen,” Hua Qingying replied without hesitation.

“That’s good!” The girl giggled happily.

As expected, women would always care about their age no matter the universe.

Author’s Note: This is a vaccine to all of you people who harbor delusions regarding the Helian Empire—Don’t. Male or female.