Against the Gods - Chapter 2043: Abyssal Ghost

Yun Che’s “mature” guidance silenced Hua Caili for a long time. She seemed busy trying to understand and digest his words.

The culmination of her long silence was a snort. An unbelievably crisp and melodious snort, but still, a snort.

Yun Che subconsciously pressed a finger against the tip of his nose. “Did I say something funny?”

“No, no,” Hua Caili hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was clear that she was still smiling, “it’s just that your words reminded me of my father.”

Yun Che: “…”

“You’re so young, and yet you speak like you’re his age!” Hua Caili’s eyes were curled into crescents. “I will remember what you said, but there is one line you said that I cannot agree with.”

“Which one?”

“The line where you called yourself a cold and heartless being.” Hua Caili was still smiling, but her tone had turned serious and irrefutable. “I will admit that my experience is shallow, and I probably haven’t met as many people as you have. However, I am certain that you are not a cold, heartless being. On the contrary, you are the absolute best person I’ve ever met on this journey.”

Yun Che was going to say something, but Hua Caili interrupted him, “No need to refute me. The first day we met at the Qilin Abyss Realm, you chose to help me even though we were complete strangers at the time. Speaking of the Qilin Abyss Realm, you repaid the Helian princess by winning them the qualification to enter the Qilin God Realm and retaking their long lost pride simply because you owed her a favor.”

“Besides that, you have saved me more times than I have you, and yet you act like it’s the opposite and tried everything in your power to repay me tenfold. You even accepted my unfair request for you to accompany me.”

“Therefore, you are not a cold, heartless being. You are the complete opposite.”

Yun Che opened his mouth to speak, but once again he was interrupted by Hua Caili. “That isn’t all. I have one more piece of irrefutable evidence to offer you, and that… is your light profound energy!”

Hua Caili stared at Yun Che with bright, starry eyes. “I have never seen light profound energy before, but everyone knows that the reason profound practitioners with light profound energy are so rare is because only those with a divine, flawless body and a heart of ultimate goodness and purity can inherit it.”

“Assuming that there is even a grain of truth to the rumors, you would still be the furthest person from a ‘cold and heartless’ being, young master Yun.”

Her eyes were so pure, so clear, that Yun Che had to look away. He let out a wry laugh and said, “What you’ve heard about the unique characteristics of light profound energy are just rumors. You say that I’m the complete opposite of a cold and heartless being, but surely you haven’t forgotten how I physically and mentally ripped my opponents into pieces without mercy during the Qilin Abyss Conference.”

“Hells, I literally just killed three people without batting an eye. Care to guess how many people I’ve killed my whole life? You might be surprised by the answer…”

Yun Che’s words did not confuse or astonish Hua Caili in the slightest, however. Instead, she slowly shook her head and broke into a wider smile. “My father once told me that a person’s appearance and innate talent are fixed since we are born, immutable and unchangeable. But barring the immutable things, anyone who manages to discipline themselves so that they always value bonds and loathe evil, and always respond to both kindness and vengeance with haste is a rare, precious being. People who live like that usually are without regrets, and you cannot even find one such person in ten thousand people.”

“To be hesitant before an enemy is to be cruel to oneself; to be merciful to a villain is to promote evil…” she whispered to herself before blinking cutely. “I used to think that my father’s teachings were terribly boring and naggy, and I would clear them from my mind as soon as I was out of sight. But for some reason, I remember them clearly now.”

Her father was one of the seven gods of the six Kingdoms of God. To receive praise that might as well come from the man himself was equal to receiving praise from the highest beings of this world.

“Fine, fine.” Yun Che sighed both in exasperation and embarrassment, “I have no good reason to doubt your words. I guess I have no choice but to call myself a good guy from now on, huh?”

“You are a good person,” Hua Caili emphasized before adding, “on that note, thank you for uncovering the answer for me. If I was alone, I’m certain it would have been years before I found the answer.”

It wasn’t visible, but the distance between the duo seemed to have shortened and become warmer than before.

It was at this moment Li Suo’s voice rang inside Yun Che’s head, “Now I understand why you exposed your light profound energy on purpose.”

“It was not just to build trust and narrow the distance between yourself and your target, or at least, it was just the secondary objective. Your true goal was to awaken their common sense.”

“That’s right,” Yun Che answered mentally, “More than once, I had lamented that common sense is one of, if not the most horrifying things in this world.”

“You see what I did there?” He mused in a pleased voice, “By awakening her common sense regarding light profound energy, she now believes from the bottom of her heart that I am a man of ultimate goodness and purity. Even though she saw me torturing my opponents and killing others without mercy with her own eyes, she willingly made up excuses—excuse me, I mean ‘irrefutable evidence’—to cover up those facts.”

“… It is indeed quite the despicable tactic,” Li Suo commented.

Yun Che chuckled uncaringly. “That boat sailed from the moment I met her in the Endless Fog.”

Li Suo said, “You seem to have failed though.”

“Failed?” Yun Che’s eyebrows twitched a little. “How so?”

Li Suo replied, “You wanted her to build a romantic relationship with her, but she clearly stated that your words reminded her of her father. That is decidedly unromantic, isn’t it?”

“Nah, you don’t get it.” Yun Che explained, “She is a houseflower; someone so sheltered that the man she knew best and respected the most was her father. That is why she couldn’t help but bring up her father every once in a while.”

“Her comment means that her image of me is similar to her father, but this isn’t a failure, oh no. On the contrary, this is a sign that she is slowly transferring her trust and admiration of her father to me. This is perfect.”

“… ??” Li Suo could not understand what he was saying. She didn’t reply.

“Oh, sorry,” Yun Che exclaimed in realization, “You were born without parents. Of course you would find it difficult to understand what I’m saying.”

“…” Li Suo stopped talking altogether.

It was at this moment an unnatural stir of abyssal dust came from behind them.

Yun Che spun around immediately, and Hua Caili let out a cry of surprise, “Look! It’s… could it be…”

Both of them were looking at the middle-aged man Yun Che had impaled to the ground with his own broadsword. The man was as dead as he could be, but for some reason, his body was sucking in abyssal dust like an insatiable maw.

The lifeless body wasn’t consumed by abyssal dust, however. Instead, it was growing darker and darker. At the same time, a cold, violent profound energy grew stronger and stronger.

Creak!

The next moment, the darkening body twitched. Then, the dead man slowly rose to his feet—the broadsword still impaled in his torso.

The duo could vaguely see his pale, lifeless face despite the cyclone of grayish qi surrounding him. His eyes were gleaming black much like the abyssal beasts they had fought.

The middle-aged man’s profound energy should have disappeared eternally after his death, but not only was it coming back, it was greater than what it once was.

“Abyssal… Ghost!” Hua Caili whispered.

A profound beast that was fully corrupted by abyssal dust would transform into an abyssal beast.

A human who was fully corrupted by abyssal dust would transform into an Abyssal Ghost.

There was a difference, however. A profound beast that succumbed to corruption would transform into an abyssal beast without fail, but a human who succumbed to corruption would usually just crumble into nothing. The ratio of humans who succumbed to corruption and transformed into Abyssal Ghosts was less than one in one hundred thousand.

What type of circumstances would lead to a corrupted human transforming into an Abyssal Ghost? Some guessed that it was due to a special constitution, and some believed that it was caused by a unique soul becoming one with abyssal dust. Regardless of the rumors, no one had ever arrived at a decisive conclusion.

Yun Che’s eyes flashed brightly. He had encountered countless abyssal beasts and a handful of Abyssal Ghosts since entering the Endless Fog, but he had never witnessed a dead profound practitioner transforming into an Abyssal Ghost right in front of him… until now.

Meanwhile, the newborn Abyssal Ghost grabbed the sword handle with both hands and ripped it right out of his torso, spilling reddish black blood.

Staring at Yun Che and Hua Caili with pitch black, abyssal eyes, he let out an inhuman howl and swung his weapon straight at them.

An abyssal ghost was single-mindedly destructive just like an abyssal beast. But unlike an abyssal beast, they still retained their original’s mastery of energy and combat instincts. In the Endless Fog where abyssal dust was endless, their injuries would heal rapidly, and their stamina was eternal. That was why they were far scarier and deadlier than an abyssal beast.

Both the pressure and the intent of the attack was the same as when the middle-aged man was still alive. In fact, it was stronger since it was now empowered by abyssal dust.

A small groan escaped Hua Caili’s lips as she was driven back ten meters by the attack.

On the other hand, Yun Che charged toward the middle-aged man and activated Abyssal Monarch, grabbing the enemy’s blade with his bare hand.

There was a deafening rumble, and the bones in the Abyssal Ghost’s hands broke into pieces. At the same time, his fog-shrouded body was sent flying through the air.

Without hesitation, Yun Che raised his sword and smashed it into the Abyssal Ghost’s body.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Again and again, the power of a Half God smashed into the Abyssal Ghost. On the seventh strike, it finally could not maintain its shape any longer and shattered into several pieces.

Yun Che stepped forward and enveloped it in the power of the Ice Phoenix, freezing its broken body. Then, he scattered its remains into a billion specks of dust.

Thick, grayish fog rose from the icy dust. It eventually joined the Endless Fog and disappeared as if it never was.

Yun Che slowly lowered his palm, his eyes tracking the dissipating fog until the very end.

“That scared me.” Hua Caili strode up to him with astonishment and excitement on her face. “This is the first time I saw someone transforming into an Abyssal Ghost right in front of me.”

“Same here.” Yun Che nodded in agreement. “I suppose you can call it a pleasant surprise.”

It was at this moment the howls of abyssal beasts erupted from somewhere. They were clearly alarmed by the loud and sudden commotion.

“We can talk later. Let’s leave.”

The two profound practitioners withdrew their presence and swiftly moved away from the howls.

Right before the Endless Fog would cover him up, Yun Che soundlessly looked back where the Abyssal Ghost once existed.

“Why is your soul sea shaking so violently?” Li Suo asked suddenly.

He had never been this shaken even when he met the Qilin God at the Qilin God Realm.

“I think… I discovered something incredible,” Yun Che replied enigmatically, his voice distant as if distracted. “I need time to verify it though.”

……

Ten days later, at the periphery of the Endless Fog.

“… I still can’t face someone’s death as calmly as you do. Am I weak?”

“No, you’re just too good-natured for this world. Besides, you were born seeing the best and most beautiful this world has to offer. Of course you couldn’t get used to fates worse than death.”

“Fates worse than death…?” Hua Caili thought for a moment before asking a question, “What could possibly be worse than death?”

She had been asking far too many questions for the past ten days, and she didn’t even realize it.

“Oh, there are plenty.”

Yun Che stared forward at nothing in particular as he answered her question.

“It could be watching your homeland dissolve into dust…”

“It could be losing your loved ones forever…”

“It could be finding out the truth far too late to change anything…”

“It could be helpless despair…”

“It could be trusting in the wrong person and being wounded by those you trust…”

“There are plenty. Death is scary, but it is ultimately just a moment of pain and fear. In some cases, it might even be the sweet release many desperately seek.”

Hua Caili subconsciously pressed a hand to her solar plexus.

His tone was calm and bland, so why did his words suffocate her so?

She subconsciously recalled her father, her aunt, the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God… Hua Caili shook her head once and replied, “I had never thought of such things, and I… still don’t dare to think about them now. Just listening to them makes me feel cold all over.”

“To suffer any one of these fates would be tragic beyond imagination.”

Yun Che assured her with a smile, “Don’t worry. Someone as good as you would be protected by the heavens. Even if that’s not the case, your loved ones will never allow the tragedies of this world to taint even a speck of you.”

Hua Caili turned around to stare at Yun Che for a moment before asking seriously, “It’s strange. You’re clearly in your thirties, and yet you know so, so many things. It almost feels like you’re a… senior who has lived many lifetimes.”

“It’s probably because my experience is… unusual compared to many people. And…”

He paused and hesitated for an uncharacteristic amount of time. Finally, he bit his lip as if to affirm his resolve and said, “To tell you the truth, I… am not in my thirties, Sister Qu.”

“Huh?” Hua Caili’s eyes widened with astonishment. “But I clearly saw your bone age at the Qilin God Conference. You were just a bit over the thirtieth mark.”

Yun Che stopped in his tracks. “And the measurement is correct. It’s just that the tablet measured a human’s bone age, and I…”

A blue light abruptly flashed on his person, and the massive image of a blue dragon slowly surfaced from his back. The next moment, an ancient dragon’s pressure froze the entire space.

“Ah!” Hua Caili let out a cry of surprise and took half a step away from Yun Che. She stared at him and the draconic silhouette overlapping his body with widened eyes.

Yun Che lowered his arm smilingly, and both the pressure and the image disappeared. “My master bestowed me with a dragon’s marrow and soul, so my bones and blood are different from your average person. Naturally, a profound tablet tuned to measure a human’s bone age cannot measure my age accurately.”

“I told you that my master rescued me when I was around ten years old. It has been over a hundred years since. To tell you the truth, I’m probably around a hundred and twenty years old.”

When he saw that Hua Caili was still wearing a stunned expression, he said regretfully, “My master has instructed me to keep my dragon marrow and dragon soul a secret. That is why I chose to keep it from you. I’m sorry, and I… I’ll gladly accept any punishment to alleviate your anger.”

If Hua Caili was shocked, then Hua Qingying was beyond words. High above the sky, she felt as if a million mountains were collapsing inside her mind.

Hua Caili was far too young and inexperienced to tell what was so special about Yun Che’s dragon soul, but Hua Qingying was neither.

“The Dragon God…” She muttered to herself with abject astonishment, “It’s… above the Ancestral Dragons…?”