Against the Gods

“Yuechan, what on earth did Wuxin prepare for me?”

It had only been a short while since Yun Wuxin left, but Yun Che already couldn’t help himself.

Chu Yuechan shot him a glance and said, “You’ll like it.”

    “Emmm…” Yun Che had no choice but to stop asking. That didn’t mean his curiosity was sated though.

“How is that thing that you’re busy with?” Chu Yuechan asked. “You’ve never told us about the details, so we know that you didn’t want us to worry… it’s something very serious, isn’t it?”

“Mn… It is serious, and it’s definitely bigger than whatever it is you all are imagining.” Yun Che nodded at her before a smile appeared on his face. “But don’t worry, it won’t affect me or our planet even in the worst case scenario.”

“Oh?” A bit of doubt entered Chu Yuechan’s eyes.

“I’m sure you didn’t know how special our little planet is in the wider world. At any rate, there’s absolutely nothing you need to worry about. In fact, if a relatively good outcome is achieved, then…” Yun Che said in a hopeful tone, “I should be able to take Wuxin and everyone to the God Realm when the time is right. I’m sure Wuxin would enjoy the Snow Song Realm considering how much she likes Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace.”

“Barring any surprises, the outcome should be clear in a month’s time.”

“If it’s so urgent, why have you chosen this time to return?”

“It’s because something important is coming soon, of course.” Yun Che looked into the distance and said, “It’ll be my grandfather’s seventieth birthday in thirteen days.”

“I was trapped in the Primordial Profound Ark during my grandpa’s sixtieth birthday. Not only was I unable to attend, I even caused him a great deal of grief and pain. That’s why I will be organizing his birthday personally this time.”

“I see…” Chu Yuechan nodded.

Xiao Lie wasn’t Yun Che’s real grandfather, but everyone close to Yun Che knew just how important he was in Yun Che’s life… It was no mere gratitude for having raised him to adulthood alone.

“That woman named Qianye just now, she…” Chu Yuechan raised her eyebrows slightly. Qianye Ying’er’s aura was so scary that the feeling of suffocation and fear still hadn’t faded away from her.

“She is the one I told you before… Qianye Ying’er,” said Yun Che.

“What!?” Chu Yuechan exclaimed in shock. Back then, Yun Che had described Qianye Ying’er as the scariest woman alive in God Realm. It was she who had almost driven him into a dead end of no return.

“Don’t worry, I managed to implant a slave imprint in her due to certain reasons. Now, she’s only my obedient slave,” Yun Che consoled her with a smile. His answer had clearly frightened Chu Yuechan because Qianye Ying’er was accompanying Yun Wuxin right now.

“Slave… imprint?” Chu Yuechan sounded even more surprised after that, but her face quickly turned accepting and cold. She had never been an old-fashioned or soft-hearted person. “I suppose there’s no one better to use a heretical soul imprint on than her.”

Suddenly, Chu Yuechan remembered something and stared at Yun Che silently. “You… didn’t touch her, did you?”

“No, no!” Yun Che immediately shook his head and uttered in a completely confident tone. “Absolutely not!”

“Really?” Chu Yuechan was actually surprised to see how confident and truthful Yun Che was looking. “This doesn’t seem to fit your nature.”

“Ahaha.” Yun Che stepped towards and hugged Chu Yuechan with both arms. “Why would I deign to touch an evil monster when I have my Little Fairy right here?”

    “……”

    …………

As promised, Yun Che began preparing for Xiao Lie’s seventieth birthday feast. He knew that Xiao Lie disliked excessive attention and noise, so the preparations were done with little fanfare, and only a handful of people received invitation cards from him. Although the preparations were simple, Yun Che attended to all the work personally and did his utmost.

This was the first time he had organized a birthday feast for Xiao Lie. He hoped that it would repay at least a fraction of what Xiao Lie had given him throughout the years.

In the morning, he worked hard with Xiao Yun to prepare everything. But in the night, he never failed to succumb to his licentious nature and enjoyed his many wives to his heart’s content. He was aware since a long time ago that his Dragon God bloodline was probably the reason behind his unusually high sex drive.

Probably...

Moreover, the main reason he always kept Qianye Ying’er at an arm’s length was to prevent her from spying or seeing through his “true nature”... At the very least, his life was bland and boring whenever Qianye Ying’er was around him!

Though he had no idea that a ton of weird conversations happened between Yun Wuxin and Qianye Ying’er everyday. 

Yun Wuxin, “Auntie Qianye, why do you always call daddy ‘master’? It sounds so weird.”

Qianye Ying’er, “It’s because master has planted a slave imprint in me. For the next one thousand years, I must be absolutely loyal to him.”

Yun Wuxin, “Slave imprint? What’s that? It doesn’t sound like a good thing. Auntie Qianye, you… you didn’t actually want to call daddy master, did you?”

Qianye Ying’er, “Master’s strength is the reason I was planted with a slave imprint. Consent has no role in this.”

Because of Yun Che’s order, Qianye Ying’er always answered Yun Wuxin’s questions seriously.

“Does this mean that daddy is an amazing person in that place called the God Realm?” Yun Wuxin’s eyes lit up.

“Mn. Master is a very impressive and special person… one might even say that he’s the most special person in the whole world,” answered Qianye Ying’er.

“Heeheeheehee…” Joy welled up in Yun Wuxin as her image of her father suddenly grew bigger and more mysterious than before. She clasped her hands together and asked longingly, “Say, do you think daddy will like the gift I prepared?”

“He will,” Qianye Ying’er answered without hesitation. “Master is a person who cares too much for love and bonds. He would love any gift you give him because you’d poured your heart’s blood and love into them.”

“Mn! Mommy and Master said the same thing too!” answered Yun Wuxin before staring at Qianye Ying’er’s golden mask. “Auntie Qianye, I’d like to see your face. Is that okay?”

“Master has ordered me not to take off my mask without his explicit permission,” said Qianye Ying’er.

“Just this one time, please? I’m really curious.”

“I cannot go against Master’s orders.”

“...You’re stingy.” Yun Wuxin pursed her lips together in disappointment before asking another question, “Say… daddy said that you’re very strong. Are you stronger than daddy?”

“...Yes,” answered Qianye Ying’er.

“Wah!” Yun Wuxin let out an exclamation of surprise. “Can you show me exactly how strong you are?”

“I cannot do that,” answered Qianye Ying’er.

“Ah? Why’s that?”

“It’s because this planet is far too fragile. This planet would definitely be destroyed if I unleashed my full power,” Qianye Ying’er answered frankly.

Yun Wuxin, “???”

    …………

“Now, it’s complete.”

Yun Wuxin said while cupping something between her hands carefully. Colorful light could be seen peeking from between her fingers and illuminating her starry eyes.

One might say that she had invested all of her heart’s blood into preparing the item in her hands. This was the first time she had spent so much effort to prepare a gift.

“Tomorrow is grandpa’s birthday, and daddy cares about that a lot. Should I give him the gift now or after the birthday?”

Qianye Ying’er answered from beside her, “There is a chance something might happen if you wait. The sooner the better.”

Qianye Ying’er was an extremely cautious and collected person, and she definitely wasn’t the type who would try to make a child happy. In fact, she barely had any emotional words in her vocabulary at all. However, Yun Wuxin had already gotten used to her way of talking during the past few days, so after a moment’s thought she replied, “Mn! You’re right! Daddy has gone away without warning several times already. If he goes away again… let’s go find daddy right now.”

Qianye Ying’er nodded and raised a finger. The scenery before her and Yun Wuxin changed immediately.

The space of the Blue Pole Star was as fragile as paper to someone like her. She and Yun Wuxin instantly appeared near Yun Che.

Sensing their presence, Yun Che turned around and tried to speak, but Yun Wuxin interrupted him urgently while lifting her hands, saying, “Daddy! This is my gift to you!”

“Oh?” Yun Che immediately swallowed whatever he was about to say. His facial features had been tense with anticipation for weeks, but Yun Wuxin’s words had soothed them unconsciously. “It’s finished? I’ve been anticipating this for a very long time… Hmm?” 

The first thing that entered Yun Che’s eyes after Yun Wuxin had opened her palm were three colorful but pure rays of light. Three jadestones about the size of a dragon eye fruit lay quietly in Yun Wuxin’s hands. They didn’t share the same shape or color, and they looked slightly translucent. They also glowed weakly like glazed jadestones.

Yun Che immediately recognized them to be three Glazed Sound Stones.

A Glazed Sound Stone was a kind of jadestone that could record sounds and replay them. They exist in every plane, and they’re cheaper than even the most average Profound Imagery Stone… After all, the Profound Imagery Stone could record both image and sound, but the Glazed Sound Stone could only record sounds.

In fact, most of the time they were simply byproducts created during the process of making Sound Transmission Stones or Sound Transmission Jades.

On the Blue Pole Star, most Glazed Sound Stones were grayish black in color and completely lightless. However, the ones Yun Wuxin were holding had a golden, Azure, and crimson glow in them. Their color was incredibly pure as well.

Colored Glazed Sound Stones could be seen everywhere in the God Realm. Frankly, it was something that almost no profound practitioners would pay attention to even if they were left on the ground. However, Yun Che knew that colored Glazed Sound Stones were extremely rare on Blue Pole Star due to the planet’s poor elemental activity. What this meant was that on Blue Pole Star, colored Glazed Sound Stones would only appear in extreme environments where the elements were unusually active.

For example, such places include volcanic areas, deep seas, desolate deserts, and so on...

But not only were these three colored Glaze Light Stone similar in size, their color looked extremely pure. Yun Wuxin must have traveled to these extreme locations herself and searched for a very, very long time...

“They look beautiful,” said Yun Che with a smile before he accepted the gift gently and held it in his own palms.

The three Glazed Sound Stones were strung together by a single strand of bluish black thread. The moment he brushed his finger against the “string”, Yun Che immediately realized something and lifted it up slightly. “Is this… your hair, Wuxin?”

“Yeah!” Yun Wuxin beamed at him. “The length is just right! I poured a lot of Phoenix divine power into it, so it definitely won’t break unless you do it on purpose.”

“Haha, of course I wouldn’t break it.” Yun Che laughed.

“This isn’t that important.” Yun Wuxin took a small step forward and stared at him expectantly with starry eyes. “Replay the sound I left for you, daddy! These are very important!”

“Alright.” Yun Che nodded with a smile before touching the center of the Glazed Sound Stone with a finger.

The one he chose was the golden Glazed Sound Stone that almost looked like a perfect heart shape. There were traces of profound energy around it, so clearly it was something Yun Wuxin had carefully shaped with her own hands. Yun Wuxin’s voice came from the Glazed Sound Stone as he touched it with profound energy: 

“Daddy, Wuxin is thinking about you.”

The girl’s voice was soft, sweet, and infused with her purest desire. Forget Yun Che, even Qianye Ying’er felt like her heart was melting in that one instant.

“This is a reminder to daddy that you have a daughter waiting at home. So don’t always go outside and come back often, okay?” Yun Wuxin’s tone was completely serious even though her eyebrows were curled into crescents.

“Alright…” Yun Che’s lips parted slightly for a moment before he promised gently, “I promise you I’ll stay by your side every day once I’m done with this matter.”

“Heehee, don’t forget what you promised, daddy!” said Yun Wuxin before twirling her eyes. “There are two more left! They are also very important!”

Yun Che touched the blue Glazed Sound Stone to his left. It was shaped like a triangle, and it was imbued with a kind of deliberate sharpness:

“Daddy, you absolutely cannot involve yourself in dangerous things!”

This time, the voice that came out of the Glazed Sound Stone sounded unusually serious!

Yun Che smiled and said, “You’re reminding me to keep myself safe, right?”

“Hmph. As long as you know my meaning.” Yun Wuxin’s nose and lips moved up slightly. “Mommy and Master always say that daddy likes to show off and do very dangerous things. There were too many times you almost threw your life away!”

Yun Che, “...”

“I don’t care about what happened in the past! But you’re a man with a daughter right now! There is no daddy worse than the one who makes their daughter lose a daddy! So!! You absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTELY cannot do anything dangerous again in the future, okay! Not even a bit!!”

“You cannot even if someone calls you a coward!”

“Alright… alright.” Yun Che put a hand to his chest and said very seriously, “I promise you that I will protect myself no matter where I am, and stop doing anything that is dangerous in the future.”

His gaze landed on the third Glazed Sound Stone.

This Glazed Sound Stone was crimson in color, and it contained a high amount of fire aura. It was very likely discovered in places like molten lava. What surprised Yun Che however, was its unusual shape. It looked incredibly uneven, and if he looked at it from a certain angle, it kind of looked like a… tiny clenched fist?

“Is this… a fist?” asked Yun Che.

“Yep!” Yun Wuxin nodded. “It’s a fist! This one was quite difficult to do, I had to spend a long time to shape it like this, and I almost broke it in the process! The voice inside is just as important!”

Hmm… a fist?...

Slightly curious about his daughter’s thoughts when she made this thing, he touched the Glazed Sound Stone and heard:

“Daddy! You must control your lower self!”

Yun Che: (￣w￣;)

“Heeheeheehee!” Yun Wuxin giggled through half-narrowed eye slits. “I’m not the only one who’s saying this. Mommy and Master agree with me too!”

“I can’t believe she taught you words like this. Your mommy deserves a spanking later!” said Yun Che while pretending to grit his teeth.

“Mommy also told me to tell you to watch out not to touch this Glazed Sound Stone by accident when you’re doing weird things with other aunties in the future.”

  “~！@#￥%…” Yun Che facepalmed and thought to himself: Heavens! Even my Little Fairy has turned strange...

“Eh?” Yun Wuxin blinked her eyes at him and asked, “Daddy, your face looks very strange! Is this gift not to your liking?”

Yun Che shook his head immediately and smiled. “Of course not! This is the most precious gift I’ve ever received in my life.”

The moment he finished saying this, he lifted the string of Glazed Sound Stones and put it around his neck gently.

Glazed Sound Stones were completely ordinary to someone of Yun Che’s experience and power, but these ones in particular carried the priceless thoughts and wishes of his precious daughter.

“I will wear them forever. This way, I’ll always be able to listen to your voice no matter where I am.”

He opened his arms and hugged his daughter gently. His grip unconsciously grew stronger and stronger.

“Ah…” Yun Wuxin let out a groan. “Daddy, your heartbeat sounds really fast.”

“Mn.” Yun Che closed his eyes as the purest, warmest smile he had ever gathered appeared on his face. “Wuxin, my daughter, thank you.”

“Aya aya.” Yun Wuxin actually felt embarrassed after hearing his thanks. “It’s just a little gift, daddy. You don’t need to say such strange things.”

“I’m not just thanking you for your gift. I’m also thanking you for turning me into the luckiest man in the world.”

“Huh?” His words caught Yun Wuxin off guard.

“Wuxin, please remember this.” Yun Che whispered next to his daughter’s ears, “No matter what happened in the past or will happen in the future, I will always be the luckiest man alive as long as you’re safe and happy.”

“...Mn!” Yun Wuxin replied softly before hugging her own father, and leaning her head against his shoulder.

Qianye Ying’er turned around to look at the couple, and for a long time she actually found herself incapable of looking away… When she finally shifted her gaze away from them, a flash of loss and sorrow that was strange even to her passed through her golden pupils.