Against the Gods

Chapter 2031: Cruel Death of a Half-God

“Release him,” Meng Jingzhe said for the third time, although his words were clearly much more powerless than they were before. “In the name of Meng Jingzhe, I swear on my life’s honor that I will not harm a hair on your head if you release him. I promise that I will overlook this matter as if it had never happened, and I will not harm you directly or indirectly if we meet again in the future.”

Meng Jingzhe’s words weighed a lot considering his identity and status, but as soon as he met Yun Che’s scornful eyes, even he… felt that he had said something stupid.

“Meng Jingzhe?”

Yun Che continued to provoke him, “I have never heard your name before, and as for your honor… you know best what type of subhuman Meng Jianzhou is. You are his protector and supervisor, and yet you ignored his behavior and allowed him to do as he pleased. Honor? Do you even deserve the word?”

Meng Jingzhe’s chest heaved up and down in anger and frustration… but it wasn’t entirely because of Yun Che. In fact, most of his ire was directed at Meng Jianzhou.

He had already tried to change Meng Jianzhou’s mind and stop him from doing what he did, but it was useless. Profound practitioners ventured into the Endless Fog in order to put themselves in danger and break through their wall, but Meng Jianzhou… any abyssal beast that could even remotely threaten him would send him into a wild panic, and when he finally escaped to safety, he decided that bullying weaklings in the periphery of the Endless Fog would be a better use of his time.

The man was literally the epitome of the idiom, “Mud cannot stick to the wall,” meaning that a useless person will remain useless no matter how much you try to help him. And since Meng Jingzhe had been assigned as Meng Jianzhou’s mentor from the beginning, they were joined at the hip no matter how much he wished it wasn’t the case.

In the beginning, he had actually taken pride in the fact that he was Meng Jianzhou’s mentor. Not only was one of the only two sons the Dreamless Divine Regent, Meng Kongchan had, the young him was definitely deserving of the word, “Genius”. Everyone had high expectations for him including the Divine Regent himself.

Unfortunately, after Meng Jianyuan was born, and he awakened his divine essence at a young age. To say that Meng Jianzhou’s status in the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God took a nosedive would be putting it mildly. The disparity was too much for Meng Jianzhou to handle, and he couldn’t help but want to win against Meng Jianyuan in every way, no matter the cost. Unfortunately for him, Meng Kongchan was no fool. He saw through Meng Jianzhou’s intentions and grew increasingly displeased with him.

“Luckily” for Meng Jianzhou, Meng Jianyuan died. He had died such a “good” death that not even Meng Kongchan could find anything wrong with it.

Meng Jianzhou thought that he had finally broken free from his nightmare, but this dream had only lasted two short years when his inconspicuous and perfectly ordinary younger brother, Meng Jianxi, awakened his divine essence and even became the Dreamweaver Divine Son.

Naturally, Meng Jianzhou lost it. Meng Jianyuan was an unparalleled genius who had awakened his divine essence since when was born, but he was ultimately young and inexperienced in the ways of the world. As a result, it didn’t really take too much effort to assassinate him.

Meng Jianxi sat on the opposite end of thespectrum, however. When he was young and weak, he kept a low profile and ensured that no one would pay so much as an extra glance. After he awakened his divine essence, he shook the entire kingdom like a whale breaking through the sea.

Countless streams joined together to form a sea. Although most people believed that Meng Jianyuan was assassinated by another Kingdom of God, a not insignificant number of people believed that Meng Jianzhou was the true killer. They just didn’t have the evidence to support their theory.

Meng Jianxi was a wise and careful man, so he never lowered his guard around his brother. In fact, he didn’t hesitate to suppress the man and trample him every time a chance presented itself.

Crushed in both his mentality and his willpower, Meng Jianzhou was unable to make even the slightest progress since. Not only did his personality and conduct get increasingly worse, he vented his inability to do anything before Meng Jianxi a hundred fold. This trial especially disheartened Meng Jingzhe so much that he had almost given up on his student completely. More than once, he could not help but tell himself that Meng Jianzhou truly was the black sheep of the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God! But no matter how undeserving and despicable Meng Jianzhou had become, he was still the son of a Divine Regent. His life must be preserved no matter what.

Taking a moment to calm his mind and straighten his expression, Meng Jingzhe replied, “You can choose not to believe me, but as you’ve heard, his father implanted a soul imprint inside his soul. If you kill him, you’ll be cutting off your own retreat. Your friends, your family, everyone you ever know will no longer have a place in the Abyss.”

“You haven’t killed him yet. It’s because you don’t want to die, no?” Meng Jingzhe stopped using his soul to pressure Yun Che and tried the opposite method of persuasion. “There is no river of grudges between you two. Is a moment of satisfaction really worth the risk? Come, let us negotiate. What will you have me do to let him go?”

Seemingly sensing his sincerity, Yun Che’s aggression withdrew just a tiny bit as he replied, “Who would want to die if they could live? What I want is very simple. I want to walk away from this place alive. However, there are no terms you can promise that I can trust. No, we must do this on my terms and my terms only.”

“Tell me,” Meng Jingzhe said while keeping his aura suppressed as best he could.

“It’s simple.”

Yun Che slowly dragged Meng Jianzhou about a hundred steps away from Meng Jingzhe. Then, he removed his hand from Meng Jianzhou’s neck and revealed a red orb. Meng Jingzhe could vaguely sense a strange spatial energy from it.

“This spatial profound stone will create a teleportation formation that will last for five breaths,” Yun Che began slowly. “It is connected to another teleportation formation. I’m going to enter the teleportation formation with him, and you are not allowed to follow us. Five breaths later, when the teleportation formation is close to disappearing, I will toss him back to your side. This is the only way my safety is guaranteed.”

Meng Jingzhe frowned deeply. “But if you didn’t return him after five breaths…”

Yun Che’s mouth split into a mad grin. “Since there is no trust between us, then I might as well kill him right now!”

“Wait!” Meng Jingzhe cried out in a hurry. Yun Che would die if he killed Meng Jianzhou, but how could his life possibly measure up to the prince’s? “I’ll do as you say.”

He was going to throw in a few threats to ensure that Yun Che wouldn’t break his word, but the young man’s terrifying eyes ultimately convinced him not to.

He had no idea that such a person could exist outside the Kingdom of God; a man who cared nothing for the authority of a Kingdom of God and definitely not a Half-God.

“Very good.” Yun Che narrowed his eyes and warned him one last time, “I will be holding onto him until the last possible moment. If you dare to follow us, then don’t doubt my hesitation to take his life and yours!”

He activated the World Divine Stone before Meng Jingzhe could answer, and a small teleportation only three meters wide slowly appeared in front of Yun che.

The teleportation formations the Half-God knew were pure white in color, but this one was crimson for some reason. Meng Jingzhe didn’t have time to think though. Yun Che had already stepped into the divine light and vanished from sight.

Meng Jingzhe appeared in front of the spatial profound formation in an instant. It was only now that he dared to let out a deep, frustrated sigh. His foot was set a millimeter away from the spatial profound formation, but he didn’t dare to get any closer than that.

One breath… two breaths… three breaths…

On the other side, Yun Che didn’t pause for even an instant. He sped into the distance as quickly as he could.

“You…” Meng Jianzhou was just about to say something when an unbelievable amount of abyssal dust stifled his words. To say that the abyssal dust in this place was like a tidal wave would be an understatement. This was still the Endless Fog, but it was practically a different world compared to the periphery. It was an abyss that should only exist in one’s nightmares.

Four breaths…

Meng Jingzhe tensed up with his hands already outstretched and ready to catch Meng Jianzhou.

Five breaths…

But the prince didn’t reappear. The strange teleportation formation didn’t disappear either.

Six breaths!

Meng Jingzhe abruptly clenched his fists and stopped hesitating. He stepped into the profound formation.

The world changed, and the already dark world grew many times darker. Abyssal dust poured in from every direction, and for a moment Meng Jingzhou was utterly baffled.

He was still in the Endless Fog, but the concentration of the abyssal dust… it was far thicker than anything he had ever experienced!

There was no time to hesitate, however. He forced his powerful spiritual sense through the abyssal dust, and when he was about to reach the absolute limits of his perception, he finally sensed Yun Che and Meng Jiangzhou’s presence.

“How… dare… he…!” Meng Jingzhe uttered through gritted teeth. He wouldn’t have been angry if Yun Che had dumped him here and escaped into the distance. He wouldn’t even give chase because Meng Jiangzhou’s life superseded all priorities. He would have chosen to take Meng Jianzhou back to the other side as soon as possible.

He let out an angry growl and released the profound energy and anger that were just waiting for an excuse to explode. He shot toward Yun Che like a lightning bolt.

Yun Che actually slowed down after he sensed Meng Jingzhe’s aura. Then, he slowly turned around with a strange glint in his eyes.

With the abyssal dust to act as his cover, he could’ve pulled free from the Half-God’s spiritual senses in two breaths at most, much less six.

But a clean escape had never been his objective.

No, it was to wipe out his enemies once and for all!

That, and…

Meng Jingzhe had just leaped into the air when suddenly, a pair of dark, grayish orbs lit up in his vision. They looked like the lamps of hell.

All profound practitioners of the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God were experts in employing soul energy, which was why they were also more perceptive of danger than most. As the second the pair of dark lights shone into his pupils, he felt a chill that froze him all the way to the core.

What… is… that?

The chill and fear were such that they paralyzed him for a short moment. By the time he came to, a shadow was already descending on him.

The pressure the shadow released crushed his profound energy in an instant and bent his bones until they were deformed and popping like a series of thunderclaps.

Divine… Limit… Realm!?

The three words terrified him so much his soul nearly tore itself apart there and then.

The thought of resisting never crossed his mind. He immediately launched a palm strike to push himself away from the shadow.

A massive gulf existed between the middle-stage Divine Extinction Realm and the Divine Limit Realm, not to mention that this was the Endless Fog. His profound energy was suppressed by the abyssal dust and the abyssal beast so much that he couldn’t even unleash ten percent of his normal strength, and his body felt so heavy it was like every cell was being crushed by a gigantic boulder. He could only watch as the shadow grew closer and closer. Finally, the pair of dark lights dyed his eyes completely with despair, and—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Yun Che had spent six breaths speeding away from the site as fast as possible, but the abyssal Qilin God’s power still sent him flying uncontrollably for a few kilometers before he finally caught himself.

“Seriously…” Yun Che muttered. If this was how powerful the Divine Limit Realm was, he couldn’t imagine the power of a True God.

Although he had made contact with Jie Yuan, a Devil Emperor before, the fabric of the Primal Chaos was so fragile that Jie Yuan didn’t even dare to breathe loudly. She also suppressed her natural aura to the max at all times. Naturally, he had never truly felt the true power of a True God or a Devil Emperor.

The earth within five hundred thousand kilometers of the point of impact abruptly caved in, and Meng Jingzhe was knocked deep, deep into the ground. However, an abyssal beast wouldn’t stop until his life force was completely crushed, so it immediately let loose a second natural disaster.

Yun Che hurriedly summoned a barrier. It kept him from being pushed farther away than he should.

He sighed. His control over the abyssal Qilin God was still too shallow, so he was unable to control its power minutely. Otherwise, the Half-God would’ve been dead at the first strike, much less the second. That said, it meant he could enjoy this show a little longer.

Meng Jingzhe rushed back to the surface as the ground undulated like a stormy sea. His face was bloodless while half his body was covered in it. His left arm was lying limp beside his torso, and his right hand was wielding a silver sword which reflected the abyssal Qilin God’s eyes.

There was no escaping this. He could only fight for his life.

Dang!!

He stabbed his sword into the abyssal Qilin God’s eye, but to his shock, it was like he was a mortal trying to stab into a block of metal. His sword was anything but ordinary, but the Qilin God was the guardian beast known best for its defense. Even its eyes were beyond the ability of a Half-God to puncture, especially considering the environment. The rebound was so powerful that the silver sword was sent flying, and a small mark not even an inch deep was left in the Qilin God’s eye. He had failed to even draw blood.

The next moment, the abyssal Qilin God swatted Meng Jingzhe with a claw like he was a fly.

Rumble!

The sound of his bones popping was so clear that Yun Che recognized that it was the sound of his spine being cruelly snapped in half. Not even a Half-God could continue fighting with such an injury.

The abyssal Qilin God roared and continued bashing the Half-God with its claws. It was a beast of destruction, so the idea of holding back didn’t exist in its mind. Every time it unleashed an attack, it was using one hundred percent of its power. As the ground bubbled, and space shook like a drum, Meng Jingzhe’s aura weakened at a shocking rate…

When Meng Jingzhe’s aura was almost undetectable, the destructive shockwaves abruptly came to a stop. The abyssal Qilin God’s claw was frozen in the air for some reason.

A chilly wind blew, and Yun Che flew over to the abyssal Qilin God and landed next to it, Meng Jianzhou still in his hand. He then side-eyed Meng Jingzhe.

Meng Jingzhe was currently lying inside a deep pit and looking so horrible that no adjective in existence could aptly describe his condition. He wasn’t a man, but a pool of meat and blood that was barely clinging to its shape. Its eyeballs were still moving however, and there were traces of aura that made it clear that he was still alive.

He was a Half-God after all; someone who had one foot in the domain of gods. Still… no one would disagree that he was better off dead in this state.

“I told you not to follow me. Why can’t you listen to reason?”

Yun Che shook his head with mock sorrow and dropped Meng Jianzhou on the ground.

Although Meng Jianzhou’s heart was damaged, it didn’t even count as a serious injury. Yun Che hadn’t sealed his profound energy either. Despite this, Meng Jianzhou was curled up like a prawn and shaking like a leaf. Forget escaping, he couldn’t even stand on his feet or make a single sound. His face somehow looked as pale as a sheet.

“Grrb… bbrrr…”

While making inhuman noises from his throat, Meng Jingzhe’s eyes regained some clarity as if he was experiencing terminal lucidity. It was then that he saw a nightmare ten fold scarier than even his previous worst one. The abyssal Qilin God was staying as still as a statue, while Yun Che was floating right next to him, unharmed and untouched.

It was easily the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen in his life. It was literally beyond even the realms of imagination.

His incredulity was quickly replaced by abject terror. It was because Yun Che had plunged a soul light into his soul sea.

Meng Jingzhe subconsciously tried to resist, but an ancient draconic roar shattered whatever soul energy he managed to scrounge up. That was the end of his last resistance.

“Hmm…” Yun Che withdrew his soul energy and said indifferently, “You don’t have a soul imprint… but then again, who in their right mind would waste their soul imprint on trash like you?”

Meng Jianzhou had unwittingly given him a warning, so he decided to be just a little more careful.

“Well then. You may rest in peace now.”

Yun Che flicked a faint wisp of profound energy at Meng Jingzhe, and it was so weak that it couldn’t have harmed a Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner. However, it was enough to extinguish the Half-God’s last vestiges of life.

“Grand… Grandpa Zhe…” It was only now Meng Jianzhou finally managed to find his voice. His pupils kept contracting and dilating wildly with terror.

Meng Jingzhe could no longer give him an answer, however. The last color in his eyes slowly faded into nothing.

“It’s your turn now.” Yun Che crossed his arms and watched Meng Jianzhou with amusement. “So tell me, how do you wish to die?”

Meng Jianzhou stiffened for an instant before crawling away from Yun Che in a hurry. “Don’t kill me… don’t kill me…”

His profound energy wasn’t sealed at all, and yet he couldn’t muster even a wisp of power. His legs were shaking so hard it was a miracle they hadn’t broken themselves.

He was afraid of Yun Che and the abyssal beast who had utterly crushed Meng Jingzhe. He was even more afraid of the fact that they were existing in the same scene.

There was nothing more terrifying than something that was completely beyond understanding.

Yun Che raised his hands and waved his hand once. The abyssal Qillin God immediately started retreating until he was about three kilometers away from the duo. Then, it lay down on the floor like an obedient pet.

To say that Meng Jianzhou didn’t even look human after this would be an understatement.