Against the Gods

“It is quite rare to see Luo Changsheng this serious,” Holy Eaves Realm King Luo Shangchen suddenly commented. “It seems like even though victory is within his grasp, he doesn’t have the absurd notion of underestimating the enemy. Not bad.”

“No,” Luo Guxie shook her head. “It is because Yun Che made him feel a sense of crisis.”

“A sense of crisis?” Luo Shangchen’s brows twitched. “You mean...?”

Luo Guxie slowly explained, “Since he was young, Changsheng has never suffered a loss from his peers and he has always been the one to look down at others. Forget about looking down at him, there wasn’t anyone who was even on par with him. His entire life has been like this and he has long since grown accustomed to it. But Yun Che… he is younger than Changsheng, and although his cultivation in the profound way is in the Divine Tribulation Realm, he was able to force Changsheng to such a state. He is the first person to make Changsheng feel a sense of crisis and the imbalance of possibly being inferior.”

Luo Shangchen, “...”

“The reason why Changsheng purposely wanted Yun Che to release his Manifest God and immediately extinguished it right after was not because he wanted to dampen Yun Che’s spirit, but because he was urged by that sense of imbalance. When Yun Che released his Manifest God during his battle against Lu Lengchuan and revealed an astonishing might that directly turned the tide, Changsheng had an intense reaction… because it was a power that even he was unable to comprehend.”

“...” Luo Shangchen’s brows pursed as he muttered, “I see.”

“Changsheng might not be aware of it himself but even if he was aware of it, he would never admit it,” Luo Guxie continued. As Luo Changsheng’s master and aunt, it was clear that her understanding of Luo Changsheng surpassed his father’s. “In order to steady this negative feeling that he has never felt before, Changsheng would naturally want to completely suppress Yun Che and thoroughly defeat him.

“Once he has completely stomped on Yun Che, the negative feelings brought about by Yun Che will naturally disperse.”

Lose? Luo Changsheng never believed that he would lose, and would never allow himself to lose.

Yun Che did not respond to Luo Changsheng’s trying, calm words. He advanced forward, traversing three hundred meters in one step. All of his profound energy had been released and the channeling of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World had reached its pinnacle. The might containing both sword and flame had perfectly fused on the Heaven Smiting Sword, its outbreak, which illuminated the sky with flames, seemed like it would burn through space.

Against this display of power, Luo Changsheng did not move. He was calm, as though he was watching some dazzling fireworks. The Holy Lightning Sword drew an arc in the air, slashing downward.

Yun Che’s attack was incomparably berserk yet Luo Changsheng’s attitude remained gentle and elegant, as though he was on an idle stroll. Following the Holy Lightning Sword’s downward slash, three thin sword beams appeared without a sound and instantly punctured space, marking it with three pale lines.

Sha!

A light sound instantly flashed past as Yun Che’s flaming sword blast was run through by the three thin white sword beams and torn apart, becoming a dispersed profound energy storm and flame fragments.

The spectators widened their eyes… They seemed to have seen space get completely split apart. The three sword beams had already faded but it took quite some while for the image of their pale light to disappear from the eyes of the audience.

Yun Che used Moon Splitting Cascade to flash away. The three white beams sliced past his sword blast and ran through his icy afterimage. Although he still held some shock in his heart, his body continued to move like flowing light and approached Luo Changsheng. A tremendous sword might was condensed once more, and was then sent blasting toward Luo Changsheng.

Boom!!

The Heaven Smiting Sword stopped a hundred meters from Luo Changsheng. Amidst the mingling cries of metal, a yellow barrier violently caved in after it appeared and suddenly exploded.

Both the flames and the Heaven Smiting Sword were ruthlessly forced back. Yun Che was flipped backwards, as though he had been struck by a giant mountain. Luo Changsheng finally moved. Both the sword and axe attacked together. Five sword beams conjured with the power of the storm swifty shot out as the silhouette of a giant hawk flashed behind him, causing an incredibly heavy pressure to descend.

The five sword beams tightly locked onto Yun Che’s aura, instantly drawing near. Unable to flip himself upright, Yun Che activated the Evil God Barrier at his quickest speed.

C-c-c-crack!!

The Evil God Barrier blocked three sword beams and finally shattered beneath the fourth. Surging with the power of the storm, the fifth sword beam mercilessly thrashed Yun Che’s back like a whip.

Accompanied by a loud sound, the back of Yun Che’s snowy robes disintegrated as blood splattered. However, before he had yet to counterattack, he was suddenly pressed down by an insurmountable suppression and rapidly fell.

Luo Changsheng flew over, his body rippling with a dense yellow profound light as a heavy force field firmly enveloped Yun Che.

Gravitational force field, one of the highest laws of earth attribute profound arts. The gravitational force field Luo Changcheng released was tyrannical to the max. This was especially so for Yun Che, who just happened to wield a heavy weapon, the speed of his sword was basically cut in half. Sensing Luo Changsheng’s power closing in on him, Yun Che used all his profound strength to barely flip himself back.

The moment Luo Changsheng’s power shot down, he barely managed to move the Heaven Smiting Sword into a horizontal position before him.

Bang!

Supported by the the yellow light, the Holy Lightning Sword’s might became exceptionally heavy as it descended upon the Heaven Smiting Sword.

The first strike caused Yun Che’s entire body to tremble severely. The aura in the space around him was completely pushed away by a terrifying wave of energy that had suddenly exploded.

Bang!!!

The second strike made the Yun Che’s arm gush with blood. Blood dyed his white clothes as his internal organs violently churned.

BOOOM

The third strike completely blew away the Heaven Smiting Sword. As though he had been struck by a heavenly hammer, a boom sounded in his mind before he was ruthlessly sent flying.

Luo Changsheng wore a look of indifference. The profound energy on his body then quickly changed from yellow to green. The Divine Wind Battleaxe flew from his grasp, immediately conjuring a terrifying storm that caused the world to change color. Several times faster than Yun Che, the windstorm chased him and heartlessly struck his back.

“Yun Che!” Mu Bingyun suddenly stood up, her face devoid of color.

BOOM

That brief sound of the windstorm resembled the eruption of a volcano as it swept through the entire Conferred God Stage, making it faintly tremble. A long streak of bloody mist trailed behind him as Yun Che was flung a dozen kilometers in another direction before heavily smashing onto the ground.

Having left his grasp, the Heaven Smiting Sword also fell quite a distance away.

“Sigh. It’s over.” Huo Rulie closed his eyes. The deadlock in the beginning had given him a sliver of hope but once Luo Changsheng truly used his full strength, Yun Che had been completely suppressed. Aside from when Luo Changsheng was burned, after being caught off guard by the Manifest God, Yun Che had not been able to come close to him at all.

“He is, after all, Luo Changsheng.” Yan Juehai also sighed. “Yun Che being able to make him use all his strength is already amazing enough. Entering the grand finals is also enough to leave his mark. No one is qualified to ask him for more.”

“Brother Yun… Is, is he alright?” Huo Poyun nervously asked. The battle was decided so the results no longer mattered, but… Luo Changsheng’s terrifying last strike had been blasted at Yun Che’s back!

The back was where the spine resided. He had previously been injured there by a sword beam and now he had been hit by such a terrifying attack after losing power… No one doubted that it was very likely for Yun Che’s spine to be broken.

No matter how strong a profound practitioner was, if their spine was broken, it meant that they were thoroughly paralyzed and were no longer able to fight in the future.

A legend was a legend after all, how could it possibly be defeated so easily? Even if Yun Che shook the Eastern Divine Region time and time again, he was still incapable of shaking the true number one of the Eastern Divine Region’s young generation.

Luo Changsheng stopped and gradually withdrew his profound energy. It was clear that he felt that it was no longer necessary to continue attacking. No one understood how strong of a power was within that last attack more than him.

What he felt when facing Yun Che was no different from what Luo Guxie had stated. He was the undefeated Young Master Changsheng. Since he was young, he had completely grown accustomed to winning, completely grown accustomed to looking down at others. However, when Yun Che revealed his outstanding talent, his heart began to stir, and it gradually intensified.

Even though Luo Changsheng was convinced that his power far exceeded Yun Che’s, it was impossible for him to display Yun Che’s battle prowess if he was back in the ninth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm, nor would he be able to wield the power of a Manifest God. At the same time, Yun Che had mastered profound arts of different attributes and also possessed multiple divine bloodlines and inheritances.

A sense of inferiority had uncontrollably bred at the bottom of his heart at that time. To him, who had always been the “number one God Child”, there was no doubt that this kind of feeling was very uncomfortable and unbearable.

However, Yun Che was now completely suppressed under his true power. Even though Yun Che had released his Manifest God, he was unable to put up a resistance and had easily been severely injured by him. At this point in time, it was impossible for him to turn the tide.

Yun Che’s heavy injuries formed a pool of blood. As Luo Changsheng looked down at him from above like a ruling regent, the discomfort which existed within him for several days instantly lightened, his gaze also became much calmer.

Everything seemed to have been decided. From the views of everyone present, the grand final had now ended. Before the Profound God Convention, Luo Changsheng was the publicly acknowledge champion. In the end, a mishap did not happen...

At this time, the bloody Yun Che was actually slowly standing up.

His back was badly mutilated and his arms were completely dyed red yet he stood perfectly straight. There was no sign of his spine being broken and when he turned around, his eyes that were filled with a gloomy sharpness did not tremble nor show fear.

“He’s… still able to stand up?” Many in the audience involuntarily cried out in surprise.

“What a shocking body! But even if his spine did not snap, both his internal and external injuries are severe. Though…. judging from his appearance… don’t tell me he wants to continue?”

Shock flitted past Luo Changsheng face as his brows twitched. He then smiled, “You can actually stand. It seems like your physique ought to have also undergone a special tempering.”

Yun Che, “...”

“I believe that you would not choose to surrender.” Luo Changsheng stretched out a hand. “Then let’s continue. Let me see how long you are able to last.”

Haah… haah… haah… haah...

Yun Che’s breathing was incredibly rough, the undulation of his chest was so intense that it nearly burst. He also slowly stretched out a hand. Just when everyone thought that he was going to summon the Heaven Smiting Sword to continue fighting, he recalled the Golden Crow Manifest God after a flicker of flames.

“Oh?” Luo Changsheng furrowed his brows, disappointment flashing in his eyes. “Don’t tell me that you’re going to surrender?”

The audience also revealed faces full of disappointment. Even though Yun Che had been crushed by Luo Changsheng’s full strength and there was no chance of him actually winning, as a profound practitioner standing at the peak, as one of the finalists in the grand finals everyone in the Eastern Divine Region was watching, even if he was bound to lose, he should at least fight to the last second. If not, wouldn’t he be looked at in contempt?

Yun Che did not speak and slowly closed his eyes.