Against the Gods

This ring was normally always surrounded by a blue glow but its light was normally faint and almost imperceptible, it was nearly undetectable. But at this moment, this blue light was exceptionally dense, and when Yun Che raised his left hand, the blue light nearly engulfed his entire palm.

“This is…” Yun Che’s faced was filled with shock and amazement.

As Shen Xi watched Yun Che’s reaction, it was clear that he had no clue what was hidden within, Shen Xi waved her white hand and a cluster of white light landed on his ring, “WIthin this ring, there lives an extremely weak spirit. At this moment, this spirit is struggling to break free and emerge from the ring.”

Shen Xi’s words gave Yun Che a great shock, but following that, he suddenly recalled the words that Jasmine had said to him when she had forced Caizhi to pass him the ring:

“This ring is something that Big Brother left behind as his death approached. He said that he had left the very last vestiges of his spirit within this ring and it could protect me for an entire lifetime… Twelve years ago, I passed this ring to Caizhi before I ventured to the Southern Divine Region. Now, I pass it to you.”

“Could it be…”

Shen Xi’s light profound energy was so powerful that with just a single speck of white light, the spirit had stopped struggling and had become calm. Following the swiftly spreading radiance of the blue light, a blurry azure figure slowly started to coalesce in front of Yun Che.

It was the figure of a person!

This azure person’s figure was similar to Yun Che and even though it was only an image that was so blurry that one could not make out the face of the spirit, it caused Yun Che to feel a pressing aura of valiance and martial bearing… If a mere remnant of his spirit was already like this, then it was completely doubtless that this spirit had definitely been a person who had soared above and dominated all under heaven when he was alive.

“Master… Ah!” From a nearby place, He Ling clasped the jade-colored petals she had just plucked in her hands as she walked over. When she saw the strange and mysterious figure suddenly appear, she gave a startled cry as she stopped in her tracks.

“This day… has still come in the end…”

As the azure spirit grew gradually clearer, a weak and drawn-out voice rang out in the air, it was a voice that carried with it a deep lamentation and a hidden grief.

“You are… the Heavenly Wolf Star God… Xisu?” Yun Che asked in a wide-eyed manner.

At first Yun Che only thought that the “last bit of spirit Big Brother left behind” inside the ring was only referring to a small fragment of spirit, and that it contained the last emotions and sentiments Jasmine and Caizhi held towards Xisu… Perhaps Jasmine and Caizhi had also thought so as well, and they had definitely never thought that this was not only not just a fragment, but that it could actually appear and even talk.

In order to leave behind such a spirit fragment, it must have come at a cost of him heavily wounding both his lifespan and his spirit origin. But why exactly did he want to do such a thing?

Yun Che’s voice caused the azure spirit to react, and it was an exceptionally intense reaction at that. A distortion appeared in the spirit image and the voice it projected had now turned strict and solemn, “Who are you? Why are you wearing this ring on your hand?”

Yun Che could sense the anxiety in the spirit’s voice and he hurriedly replied, “This ring was given to me by Jasmine. She told me that this was the last remaining bit of her big brother’s soul. So, are you the big brother she was speaking of… the fallen Heavenly Wolf Star God Xisu?

Yun Che’s words caused the spirit to calm down a little. Following that, he was assaulted by the subtle sensation of his own soul being touched.. The lingering spirit was sincerely measuring him and he was trying to test the veracity of Yun Che’s words.

After a long period of time, the lingering spirit spoke once more, “Xisu is already dead, I am only a lowly bit of his soul that he left behind due to his discontent. Since Jasmine was willing to hand this ring to you, then it looks like she has finally found the person that I hoped that she would find, it’s just that… you’re actually this weak.”

“I’m ashamed,” Yun Che said with a bitter laugh. Compared to Jasmine, he was truly far too weak and small. “Big Brother Xisu, you left behind a bit of your soul and you chose to appear today, so did you have something you wanted to say to Jasmine? I will definitely report every single thing to her without missing a single detail.”

The previous Heavenly Wolf Star God Xisu had been Jasmine’s big brother and the closest family she had. His death had brought Jasmine boundless sorrow, hatred and resentment. Yun Che had also never thought that there would be a day that he could actually speak with his spirit.

But he was very clear that the price to be paid for the appearance of Xisu’s spirit today was the complete and utter dissipation of this fragment, and after today… it would no longer exist.

Xisu’s spirit image raised his head as if he was staring at the distant sky, “This bit of my soul was something that I forcibly left behind as I approached death’s door, confining it to that ring you are wearing on your hand. Moreover, this confinement would be released when the ‘Day of the Rippling Stars’ was about to arrive… I wanted to know if Jasmine had managed to successfully escape. You, can you tell me whether she did or not?”

Even though he had already died, he was also unable to put down the worry he had for Jasmine.

Did… Jasmine… successfully escape?

Yun Che felt as if his head was filled with fog, “Jasmine, she… escaped? Escaped to where? Why would she need to escape? What do your words mean?”

Shen Xi, “...”

“It looks like you are unaware of this. Indeed, you are so small and weak, so how could she possibly tell you. Then tell me this, where is Jasmine right now?”

“She… should be in the Star God Realm,” Yun Che replied.

“The Star God Realm…” The voice of Xisu’s spirit grew a lot more bleak, “Then do you know if the Star God Realm has made any strange moves recently?”

Yun Che’s eyebrows twitched ferociously, he had just heard about the strange movements made by the Star God Realm from Shen Xi… Furthermore, it had been an enormously strange move.

“I just found out that the Star God Realm seems to have opened the ‘Absolute Star Soul Barrier’,” Yun Che replied as a sense of unease swiftly assaulted him, his voice becoming rough and a bit hard to understand.

“Sigh…” Xisu’s spirit gave a gloomy sigh, “Why did she not run away? Given the Heavenly Slaughter divine power that she possesses, she could clearly have fled. Even if she had to betray her ancestors and her realm and be unable to ever live a peaceful life, that would still be better than becoming a sacrifice and having both body and soul destroyed.”

Those words were faint but every single one of them fiercely stabbed into Yun Che’s nerves. He was no longer able to maintain his composure and he fiercely rushed forward as he howled in a trembling voice, “What are you saying!? What is this about betraying one’s ancestors and realm!? What is this about being a sacrifice!? Why would both her body and soul be destroyed… What exactly are you trying to say!? What exactly are you saying!!?”

Even though Xisu was only left with a remnant of his spirit, something that could completely dissipate at any moment, at present, he could clearly see Yun Che’s eyes shaking, he could clearly hear the trembling in his voice and he could clearly sense the terror that came from his very soul… The man in front of him, even though he was indeed small and weak, was the person that Jasmine was willing to hand this ring to, and he was also a person who truly cared about her.

Amidst his cold sorrow, Xisu felt some comfort. Even though Jasmine’s life was walking towards its bitter and miserable end, at the very least, after he himself had departed, there was still someone who truly cared for her like he did.

“Since you have such a great desire to know, then I will tell you, even though continuing to be ignorant would be the best for you.”

“...” Yun Che sucked in a deep breath of air.

“It was about twenty years ago, when I was abroad, that I heard a story being circulated in the outside world. The story was that the Star God Realm was in the process of gathering a large amount of various high-level profound jade, it was as if they had found some sort of opportunity to become gods and they were preparing to carry out this so-called ceremony to turn them into gods.”

More than twenty years ago, the Star God Realm’s “True God Plan” had indeed circulated in the world for a while and news of it had even reached the lower star realms, even Yun Che knew about it. But it was just that the person who had told him, Ji Ruyan, and even Mu Bingyun, had all said that this was no more than completely nonsensical talk.

“I had originally believed that this was a nonsensical tale invented by a bored person. Even if the Star God Realm was truly undertaking a huge task, it would not be known to outsiders. But even wind from an empty cave will definitely have its source. Moreover, the Star God Realm was indeed gathering and purchasing a large amount of high-level profound jade at that time. In order to do so, they had not hesitated to dispatch people to the core merchant guilds of the upper, middle and even lower star realms. So when I returned to the realm, I asked royal father about this matter.”

“Royal father’s reply was exactly what I expected, he labelled it complete nonsense. Yet, I did sense that his eyes wavered for a split second when he gave me his reply, it was as if he was hiding something. And if it was something that he tried his best to hide even from me, it definitely wouldn’t be an ordinary matter.”

Yun Che held his breath as he listened to the tale. He did not dare to interrupt and Shen Xi and He Ling were also quietly listening as well.

“There was a day that royal father went abroad. So I stole into his God Emperor Palace, and discovered a bundle of jade strips which radiated an extremely ancient aura, and what was carved on those strips was the method to execute a sort of ‘blood sacrifice’.”

“What method of blood sacrifice?” Yun Che could not help but ask.

Shen’s Xi’s crescent brows faintly twitched at the mention of those words. But unlike Yun Che, what formed in her head was a slight and dull suspicion.

“It involved sacrificing the entirety of a Star God, including his flesh, his power, his soul and the divine power within, so it could be combined with another Star God! Moreover, once this succeeded, the Star God divine power would combine with the other Star God divine power and undergo a unique change, thus making it very likely for the Star God who received the power to break through the limits and step across that obstructions that basically could not be passed before… reaching the legendary Way of the True Gods.”

“This method of blood sacrifice cannot be realized by just using any of the Star Gods. It also requires an incomparably strict and stringent ‘compatibility’. Moreover, in order to reach that level of compatibility, the Star God that is to be sacrificed must be the direct kin of the person who is receiving the sacrifice, and the sacrificed Star God must also be within one generation of the person who is receiving their power.”

“That is also to say one’s birth parents, one’s brothers and sisters from the same father and mother, and… one’s very own children by blood!”

BOOOOOM————

It was as if millions of lightning bolts had exploded in his brain at the same time. Yun Che’s entire body shook fiercely, his eyes widened and his face instantly turned as pale white as wax paper… Even though Xisu had not finished recounting his tale, he already understood, he understood it completely.

Jasmine… She was the Star God Emperor’s daughter by blood...

The reason why they had opened the Absolute Star Soul Barrier was because of the “blood sacrifice” that Xisu had been talking about, and the sacrifice… was Jasmine herself!

“Ah… Master!” He Ling hurriedly ran forward to support Yun Che, whose entire body was shaking so fiercely that he had nearly fallen to the ground.

“I took this bundle of jade strips and looked for royal father to ask him about this matter. Royal father did not try to quibble or answer my queries with sophistry. He directly told me that he was going to carry out the blood sacrifice ceremony written in these jade strips. The reason why he was gathering a large amount of divine jade was in order to conduct this ceremony. The time for the ceremony came once every one hundred years and the day the ceremony was to be held was also the ‘Day of Rippling Stars’, the time when the power of the Star Gods reaches their apex. And I, the only one amongst his sons and daughters to inherit the divine power of a Star God, was to be a sacrifice in this ceremony… He told me that all of this was for the future of the Star God Realm, and that as his son and as a Star God, I had the duty to sacrifice myself, and that this would even be the greatest moment of glory in my entire life.”

Yun Che’s two hands balled into tight fists, his entire body was drenched by the cold sweat that continued to pour out of him… Shen Xi eyed him from the side, shocked that he would actually have such a large reaction.

Him and the Heavenly Slaughter Star God...

“Heh heh heh, HAHAHAHAHA…” Xisu’s lingering spirit let out a howl of laughter, “How utterly absurd, how utterly ridiculous. I was willing to give everything for the sake of the Star God Realm, even my very life. But how could it be due to such an utterly ridiculous and absurd method, a method that goes against all the laws of heaven and society… Furthermore, all for the mere sake of a ‘possibility’ at that!”

“I resisted mightily, I told him that I would never ever obey, and I even thought of fleeing far away from the Star God Realm before the Day of the Rippling Stars. Even if that meant betraying my ancestors and my realm, and having to live like a fugitive for my entire life… But, just two months later, I returned from one of my expeditions only to discover that… Jasmine had actually inherited the divine power of the Heavenly Slaughter Star God…”

Being able to obtain the recognition of a Star God’s power and being compatible with it was an unsurpassed moment of honor and glory in the Star God Realm. Before all of this had happened, he would have gone mad with joy upon hearing such news… But that day had nearly been the most painful and despair-filled one of his entire life.

And now that he recalled it, his voice was still filled with unbearable pain.

“I gave up on resisting and I never thought about running away again. I just quietly waited for the day I would become a sacrifice. It’s just that… I was not able to protect my own life…”

When it was just him alone, he could still run away, but now that Jasmine had also become a Star God, if he ran away, then Jasmine would simply become his replacement.

And if he chose to flee together with Jasmine, then he would implicate Jasmine in his betrayal of the Star God Realm… Furthermore, betraying one’s ancestors and one’s realm was the most contemptible and heavy sin in the entire world. Even if they were the Star God Emperor’s own children, they would have to live forever under the dark shadow of the Star God Realm, they would always have been pursued, never being able to even dream of living a peaceful and quiet life.

So if he obediently became a sacrifice, then Jasmine would have a lifetime of peace and safety, she would be the Heavenly Slaughter Star God and the princess of the Star God Realm that no one could afford to anger… This was his choice and he had not hesitated one bit.

But before he could wait until the day he become a sacrifice, he had died because of Qianye Ying’er… or more accurately speaking, he had died for Qianye Ying’er.

“Before I died, I told Jasmine everything… I told her to flee… flee for her very life… the further she fled the better… But… why did she… She clearly could have run away, she inherited the Heavenly Slaughter divine power after all…”

“She did escape…” Yun Che’s body continued to tremble. He said in a soft voice, “But after that she went back… Because… she made… the exact same choice you made…”

Xisu’s remnant spirit: “???”

“Do you know… who the present Heavenly Wolf Star God is?” Yun Che’s hands were clenched extremely tightly as every joint in his fingers steadily turned white, “Cai… zhi.”

Xisu’s spirit looked as if it had been swept up in a violent squall as it fiercely twisted and shook.

“Heh heh… Heh heh heh… HAHAHAHAHAHA…” He started laughing uproariously, a laughter that was incomparably wild and unrestrained, yet also incomparably mournful at the same time, “This goddamned heaven… this goddamned heaven, ah…. HAHAHA… HAHAHAHAHAHA…”