Against the Gods

Chapter 2059: The Past

Author’s Note: I highly suggest that you re-read chapter 2024 before reading this chapter

It was a taboo to make a breakthrough in the Endless Fog, but with Hua Qingying by her side, this taboo naturally did not apply.

Hua Qingying’s sword formation only lasted a few breaths. Later, the sword images vanished into nothing.

It definitely existed though. When Yun Che tried to lean closer to the zone, he immediately felt a terrible might that chilled him to the depths of his soul.

An invisible sword formation barrier, huh? I don’t know why swordsmen like their flamboyant tricks so much… Yun Che complained mentally as some form of retaliation against her sudden “attack” earlier.

Inside the sword formation barrier, Hua Caili had assumed a meditative position as a matter of course. As her aura grew increasingly stable, the surrounding cyclone evolved into a massive profound energy tornado.

Maybe it was because Hua Caili’s talent in the profound way was just too good, but the dangers one could easily face during a major breakthrough did not happen to her at all.

Slowly relaxing, Hua Qingying finally turned around and shot Yun Che an indifferent look.

Sensing the gaze of senior Sword Fairy, Yun Che immediately stood up straight and exclaimed with barely controlled excitement, “As expected of Caili! She truly if the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God’s—”

“Go get some rest.” Hua Qingying did not want to listen to his bullshit at all, so she interrupted him and said, “I am here, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Since the day they encountered the Abyssal Qilin God, Yun Che had been protecting, caring for, and treating Hua Caili this whole time. Even though his injuries were clearly worse than hers, he had never truly had a proper rest because of Hua Caili.

It was difficult for her to like Yun Che, but it was equally hard for her to hate him.

Yun Che did not waste his breath. “Got it. Thank you, senior.”

He immediately assumed a meditative position and closed his eyes.

“You are too tired,” Li Suo whispered in his soul sea, “you should rest.”

Hua Caili was as pure as snow, and she was overflowing with innocence and romance when she was with him. On the other hand, he had to suppress his injuries and calculate his next move every second of the day. He even had to think thrice and weigh the pros and cons before he said a single sentence…

Li Suo’s quiet advice gave Yun Che the excuse he needed to finally relax and rest… at least temporarily. As he exhaled deeply and lowered his mental guard, an irresistible wave of fatigue slowly washed over him…

……

An endless expanse of mountains pierced through the clouds, and celestial winds were blowing everywhere.

A white-robed man with his hands clasped behind his back was standing on the clouds and admiring the mountains. All of the world was beneath his feet.

He was the Creation God of Elements, Ni Xuan.

“Big Brother Ni Xuan!”

The clouds split open, and a young man also wearing a set of white robes rode the wind to him.

The young man looked incredibly handsome, but his long hair was in disarray, and his expression was indignant. The robe with mysterious divine runes circulating around it was damaged in multiple places as well. It was a terrible look to say the least.

“Mm… hmm?” Ni Xuan side-eyed him and felt his curiosity jumping from zero to eighty in an instant. “Oh ho? What in the world happened to you, boy? Have our adventures finally gotten you interested in women, and you decided to woo one of your stubborn old coot’s concubines? Let me see… there it is! I knew there would be a shoe print on your butt!”

“What?? Where? Where? Ah… you’re making fun of me again, big brother.”

Mo Su sat down beside Ni Xuan without any decorum, eyes burning with so much indignance it looked like they might shoot fire. “I encountered a Devil Race woman on my way here and fought against her, but… but… she…!”

He covered his face, too embarrassed to speak of the outcome.

“Oh?” Ni Xuan exclaimed with two-fifths astonishment and three-fifths excitement. “You’ve attained great completion in the Ninety Nine Heaven Breaking Swords, haven't you? There should be no one among your peers be it in the God Race or the Devil Race who can match you. Was your opponent a higher Devil God?”

Mo Su shook his head and lowered his head even more. “She… She… her life aura is similar to mine…”

As the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince, he absolutely could not accept losing to a fellow peer in the God Race, much less the Devil Race… let alone a woman!

It was easily the biggest shock he had received since he was born.

Ni Xuan frowned.

A peer… has defeated Mo Su?

Since when did such a character appear in the Devil Race?

Could it be the one Li’l Yuan’er mentioned…?

“Do you know who she is?” Ni Xuan gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

“No.” Mo Su uttered through gritted teeth, “She said… she said a loser does not deserve to know her name.”

“She’s not wrong,” Ni Xuan nodded. “What else did she say?”

“She… she also said…” Mo Su’s voice started shaking, “‘Heaven Punishing Crown Prince your butt, you’re just a weakling. Now run back to your father and cry.’”

“Hmm…” Ni Xuan looked at the swelling Mo Su just suppressed on the left side of his face. “You didn’t need to repeat her words that clearly.”

“Big brother!” Mo Su abruptly looked up with beet red complexion and purple eyes. “I have never been shamed this badly in my life! To think that a mere Devil Race woman would dare… dare…”

“It’s bad enough you underestimate the Devil Race, you underestimate womenfolk as well? You absolutely deserved this loss.” Not only did Ni Xuan not try to console him, he seemed to be trying to fan the flames. “I know you feel humiliated, but I actually think that this is a good thing for you.”

Ever since Mo Su reached the great perfection realm in the Heaven Breaking Sword, the God Race had been praising him to the high heavens. Even his father’s eternally stiff face had loosened up a little. No doubt that the young man had been feeling complacent until this Devil Race woman gave him a wake-up call.

“Knowing your personality, I’m sure you cannot accept this.”

“Yes, of course not!” Mo Su clenched his fists and uttered through gritted teeth, “That damn Devil Race woman even stepped on my head!”

He sucked in a furious breath and continued, “I challenged her to fight me again in five hundred years at the same place! She agreed!”

“It will take me another three hundred years at most to attain perfection in the Great Way of the Buddha I invented. When the time comes, my power of Great Rage will surely improve further.”

His gaze slowly grew more solid. “The so-called ‘perfection’ realm of the Ninety Nine Heaven Breaking Swords is just the beginning. I’m beginning to grasp the ‘artless’ realm you speak of. Five hundred years is short, but… I’m sure I’ll be able to regain my honor when the time comes!”

“Well said,” Ni Xuan nodded approvingly, “this is how the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince should be.”

“What Heaven Punishing Crown Prince?” Mo Su waved him off. “It’s more comfortable to be your little brother, big brother Ni Xuan.”

“But er,” he abruptly shot to his feet and twisted his aching neck a bit. “I won’t be able to visit the lower realms with you today, big brother. Right now, I can’t wait even a moment longer to go into secluded cultivation. But don’t worry. Next time, I’ll definitely join—”

“Just do whatever you want,” Ni Xuan waved him off casually. “I prefer fooling around on my own anyway. You act like womenfolk are lava every time one of them so much as walks in your direction. I’m pretty sure some people thought we’re dragon and yang[1] because of the way you act.”

“Dragon and yang? What does that mean?”

“Get lost already! One more word, and I’ll kick you on the right side of your face so that you’ll have matching shoe prints!”

……

The same scene,the same sea of clouds, the same two people.

Mo Su was sitting on a cloud with his body slumped to one side and his chin pressed deep into his chest. No one would believe that he was the son of the number one Creation God and the heaven-famous Heaven Punishing Crown Prince if they saw him like this.

While leisurely making his way to Mo Su, Ni Xuan looked him up and down a couple times with a thoughtful look on his face. “You’re aware that you’re the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince, right? You shouldn’t look this bad even if you were ravaged by several hundred sows.”

“Big… brother,” Mo Su cried as he raised his head. Ni Xuan was surprised to find how tragic the young man sounded.

“You lost again?” Ni Xuan said calmly, “Your progress astounded even me considering that you only had five hundred years. However, your opponent isn’t just going to stand around and wait for you to catch up to her either. Just take the loss on the chin and fight on.”

“If only… losing the fight is all that happened…” Mo Su covered his face like an embarrassed lady.

“Hmm???” Ni Xuan’s eyes widened as he looked Mo Su up and down once more with a much, much more serious look on his face. “Y-You… don’t tell me that Devil Race woman… you’re a virgin! How could she?!”

“Huh?” Mo Su said dumbly for a moment before shaking his head in a hurry. “No! Nothing like that happened! What on earth is going inside that head of yours, big brother?? It’s just… just…”

His voice grew smaller and smaller, and his head sank so low it nearly touched his knees. A long time later, he finally mustered the courage to say, “I… I brought Big Rage and Small Rage with me…”

“...” Ni Xuan fell completely silent.

Mo Su groaned like he wanted to die, “I thought… I thought that all devils were treacherous and deceitful, and who doesn’t know that the God Race and the Devil Race hate each other? I was sure that she would bring a helper or two to help tilt the odds in her favor during our grudge match, so I brought Big Rage and Small Rage just in case. But… but…”

Ni Xuan finished his sentence for him, “She came alone, and it turned out that you’re the treacherous and deceitful bastard in this scenario?”

“Yes…” Mo Su was curled up like a prawn at this point.

Not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be labeled as “cunning and treacherous” one day. And rightfully so, too.

“What happened next?” Ni Xuan asked.

Mo Su groaned again. “I explained again and again that Big Rage and Small Rage are just my subordinates, and that they would not interfere with our fight. I had just commanded them to leave when she attacked me… I lost. Even Big Rage and Small Rage were injured in the process.”

“Hah? She managed to beat you and two Rage Gods?” Ni Xuan was seriously shocked by this.

“Not really. My shame had weakened me even before the battle began, or else—”

“If you lost, then you lost. Excuses are unbecoming of you.” Ni Xuan silenced Mo Su before he asked, “Anyway, I’m sure her opinion of you has ‘gone up’ by another level, right?”

Mo Su’s head was already touching his knees. Now, he looked like he wanted to kiss his own feet.

“She… she said… she said that I do not deserve the title. It’s bad enough that I’m a weakling, but I’m also an untrustworthy, despicable, shameless, cheap… I can’t. Her insults were too dirty. I can’t repeat them.”

“She also said that the entire God Race must be a swarm of self-seeking flies and dogs if even the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince is such a character.”

“Oh dear, that is going too far!” Ni Xuan shook his head disapprovingly. “How can one man’s failure apply to the entire God Race?”

“Yes, she really went too far.” Mo Su perked up a bit.

“What? No, I’m talking about you.”

Mo Su’s head sank below his knees once more.

“Hahahaha!” Ni Xuan finally burst out laughing and pulled Mo Su to his feet. “Cognitive fixedness is a difficult thing to change. You have lived your whole life at the feet of that stubborn coot, Mo E, so your impression that all devils are ‘villainous’, ‘despicable’, ‘intolerant’ and more is much stronger and more ingrained than most. It is unsurprising that you act this way.”

“Is it… really just cognitive fixedness?” Uncertainty flashed in Mo Su’s eyes.

“Don’t ask me. Don’t ask anyone.” Ni Xuan said smilingly, “Head out there and find out the truth yourself. Just don’t learn from your stubborn old coot and guard his shabby divine palace forever like a piece of stinky, weathered rock.”

Mo Su took a few deep breaths before facing Ni Xuan seriously. “I understand. Don’t worry, big brother. We promised to fight again in another five hundred years. This time… I will reclaim my honor no matter what.”

“Huh?” Ni Xuan looked surprised. “She agreed?”

“Not at the beginning, no,” Mo Su’s eyes grew shifty.

“You don’t say? I wouldn’t have agreed if I was her!” Ni Xuan rolled his eyes when realization suddenly struck him. His eyes turned strange as he asked, “Hey… you didn’t… beg her to fight you again, did you?”

“...” Mo Su gulped heavily before raising his voice and pretending to be calm, “I mean… what’s a bit more indignity when I’ve already lost all the dignity I have already? An able man can submit or stand tall as required. As long as I can beat her next time, then it doesn’t matter.”

“Right… right.” Ni Xuan nodded and fell silent for a moment. Then…

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

His loud, unrestrained laughter was such that it could be heard from thousands and thousands of kilometers away. Even the mountains beneath their feet were shaking from the sheer volume.

Mo Su finally couldn’t maintain his facade any longer and turned so red his face was practically purple. “Come on, big brother. If I hadn’t begged her… if she spread what happened today to the public… I don’t mind losing face, but if the entire God Race’s reputation suffers because of me, I… I…”

He couldn’t continue.

After Ni Xuan was done laughing, he looked down on Mo Su with a surprising look of gratification on his face. “An able man can submit or stand tall as required, huh? You’re truly becoming less and less like your father. I’m glad to see that all my years of teaching aren’t for naught… hahaha.”

“Er… big brother… Are you sure that’s a compliment?” Mo Su asked weakly.

“Don’t think about it.” Ni Xuan wrapped an arm around his shoulders and declared, “Come, I’ve discovered a great place recently. I’m sure it’ll wipe your worries clean when you’re there!”

“Okay. But big brother, you need to believe me. The next time I fight her, I’ll definitely, definitely, definitely—”

“Sure, sure, I believe you. Now move your legs already!”

……

“I lost again, big brother… but this time, I fought at my best and gave it my all. I’d be lying if I said that my pride isn’t wounded, but this time, I truly feel neither resentment nor regret.”

“This time, she’s the one who asked me to fight her again in yet another five hundred years.”

……

“Dammit… I was so close! But I lost.”

“Still, this battle made me realize that there is still room for the Great Way of the Buddha to improve… I’m planning to test it out on Big Rage and Small Rage first.”

“We’ll fight again in three hundred years. Third time’s the… er, I mean fourth time’s the charm, right? I’m sure I’ll win next time.”

……

“Hahahaha! I’m so glad! My hard work for the past three hundred years wasn’t in vain at all! You know, I’m starting to think that it’s a great blessing to have an opponent like her!”

“This time, we agreed to fight again in two hundred years!”

……

“We fought for fifteen days straight, and in the end, the fight ended in a draw. However! Hmph hmph, the woman doesn’t dare to look down on me anymore. After all, she knows that I am progressing faster than her. The next time we fight, she will lose for sure!”

“Our next fight is set in a hundred years… I’m not telling Father about this yet. When I finally defeat that woman, I will seek him out myself and tell him about my glorious victory!”

……

“... Our next fight is in one hundred years!”

……

“... Our next fight is in one hundred years!”

……

“... Our next fight is in fifty years!”

……

……

“... Our next fight is in a decade!”

……

……

“... She and I have agreed to fight every year from now on!”

……

The entire God Race knew that, for whatever reason, the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince had changed drastically from who he was before. He cultivated day and night everyday and made breakthrough after breakthrough. The Great Way of the Buddha he invented had also created the unbelievably strong and tough Rage God Race, and he had transcended perfection in the Ninety Nine Heaven Breaking Swords and invented the “Sword Beyond Sword”.

There was no one in the God Race who wasn’t astounded by it. Their praise for him was overflowing and never ending.

The Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor, Mo E was greatly relieved and happy as well.

1. ]Meaning in a gay relationship ☜

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