Against the Gods

Chapter 185 – Between Life and Death (2)

The Stone Dragon General lifted its heavy sword and walked forward step by step; each step was like the approaching footsteps of a Death God.

Chu Yuechan motionlessly stared blankly. In this certain death situation, the Yun Che who was completely covered in blood, made her, who had been wholeheartedly seeking death, suddenly possess an intense will to live. Because her current life was desperately protected by Yun Che’s own life and conviction. If she died, all of Yun Che’s efforts and injuries would have all been for naught. Whether it was for herself, or for everything he had done for her, she did not want to die anymore… and even more so, did not want Yun Che to die.

If it was the her before today, eliminating this Stone Dragon General would only take a split second. But at this moment, this enemy that she would’ve never taken a glance at previously, had become a Death God that she was incapable of opposing. Every step the Stone Dragon General took to draw near, her expression became all the more ice-cold and unwilling… At this moment, her eyes suddenly flashed and she remembered something that she had long forgotten for many years.

She struggled to open her right hand and took out an extremely small glass bead from her spatial ring. Then, she used every inch of her strength to pinch it into pieces. Immediately, the shattered bead released an expanse of an ice-blue brilliant aurora. After that, the blue radiance flashed and formed a flowing ice-aurora barrier around Chu Yuechan and Yun Che.

The Stone Dragon General currently within five steps away. Its body rammed against the barrier and was bounced back by the tough barrier. The Stone Dragon General took a step back, raised the gigantic sword in its hands, and heavy smashed at the barrier.

Boom!!

The Stone Dragon General exploded with power yet the ice-blue barrier only rippled faintly and did not show any signs of being damaged. However, the Stone Dragon General’s body was repelled by the tremor and was knocked two steps back. Unresigned, it continued onwards and repeatedly attacked the barrier with its heavy sword but it was never able to make any sort of crack on the barrier.

The bead that Chu Yuechan had shattered was called the “Frozen Soul Bead”. After breaking it into pieces, a “Frozen Soul Barrier” would be released. The longest duration a Frozen Soul Barrier could last was ten hours. Not only that, any profound practitioner lower than the Sky Profound Realm was incapable of damaging it.

This Frozen Soul Bead was given to her by her master when she was around the age of twenty to use during a life-threatening situation. But only a few years after that, she had already broken through into the Sky Profound Realm, so there weren’t any situations in which she had to use it. Ten or so years had passed so she simply had already forgotten about the Frozen Soul Bead’s existence. However, just a moment ago, when her passion to live ignited once more, she suddenly remembered it.

Although the Stone Dragon General wielded a Sky Profound heavy sword, its own profound strength was merely at the Spirit Profound Realm; it was fundamentally impossible for it to split open this Frozen Soul Barrier. The surrounding Stone Dragon Warriors that were summoned by the Stone Dragon General all charged forward and all sorts of weaponry bombarded the barrier. But even if these Stone Dragon Warriors came again a hundred times, or a thousand times, there was no way of making even a sliver of an dent on the barrier.

Inside the Frozen Soul Barrier, they were safe for the time being. Although Yun Che was motionless, bleed from all seven apertures on his head, and was riddled with scars, Chu Yuechan still faintly sensed his extremely weak life force. Under the temporary protection of the Frozen Soul Barrier, she silently watched Yun Che and waited for a miracle to happen… Which was Yun Che standing up again. Since he was able to stand up so many times before, he was definitely able to stand up once more.

Yun Che indeed had not died yet, and he was actually completely conscious the entire time. He just could not feel his body, couldn’t see anything, and could not hear anything. His completely awake consciousness was also especially fuzzy. If it weren’t for the support of his unwavering willpower, this wisp of consciousness would have long since dissipated.

The three drops of Phoenix blood actively circulated near his heart and protected the last of his life force within its flames.

I can’t… die yet…

How can… I die… here…

Little aunt’s waiting for me… Senior sister’s also waiting for me… Jasmine gave me a new lease in life, and I haven’t even fulfilled a single one of my promises to her…

I absolutely… cannot… die!!

His barely remaining consciousness had completely transformed into a will to live. He knew clearly, that in order to live, he had to forcibly suppress the rupturing of his body brought about by Burning Heart right away. It was just that the current him was incapable of mobilizing his internal energy. The opening of Burning Heart, had also completely paralyzed his profound veins. The only thing he could arouse was the Great Way of the Buddha that was within his consciousness.

He was incapable of sensing anything from the outside world, so he was naturally unable to be disturbed. Under this sort of state, his mind reached a sort of concentrated peak. Inside his mind, the profound formula for the Great Way of the Buddha clearly surfaced…

I, am the master of everything in this world. Buddha exists in my heart, so I am worthy of the Great Way…

The Great Way of the Buddha slowly began to activate. Using his consciousness as the starting point, it slowly spread toward his broken body and gradually began to absorb in nature’s essence.

The Great Way of the Buddha’s fundamentals just happened to use the essence of nature to temper one’s own body. It would bestow the body with an enormous strength that was extremely resilient and could also rapidly quicken an injury’s recovery. At the lowest of levels, the Great Way of the Buddha could absorb the essence of nature. At the intermediate level, it could then take in the origin of nature’s essence. And at the later stages, legend has it that it could absorb the original essence of Primordial Gods.

Yun Che’s current injuries were too severe and was a fine line away from death. The activated Great Way of the Buddha was no more than a cup of water on a flaming cart of firewood; the speed at which it recovered his injuries was completely incapable of catching up to the speed of his injuries worsening. His body’s vitality left him at a quicker rate than it absorbing the essence of nature. However, Yun Che was completely unaware of everything that was happening; he merely clung onto his will to live. While tenaciously refusing to allow the last of his consciousness to fade, he desperately channeled the Great Way of the Buddha.

The Great Way of the Buddha’s profound formula slowly drifted in Yun Che’s consciousness. Yun Che’s entire consciousness concentrated upon it… Suddenly, these profound words became indistinct and then rapidly scattered about. Then, a slowly rotating silver colored pagoda appeared in its place… Afterwards, the slowly rotating pagoda enlarged, and then enlarged again, until it filled his entire consciousness…

Ping…

This silver colored pagoda in his consciousness shattered into pieces after slightly trembling, and became brilliant silver rays of light that filled the sky… At the same time, a faint layer of silvery radiance also surfaced upon Yun Che’s body that was riddled with scars.

The Great Way of the Buddha’s circulation suddenly became quicker; as if pulled in by an immense force, the essence of nature in the surroundings was quickly absorbed by Yun Che’s body. At the moment, his body that was currently riddled with ghastly cracks suddenly became the most optimal state in which he could take in the world’s elements.

The operation of the Great Way of the Buddha became faster and faster, and the absorption of nature’s essence also hastened with it. Gradually, it reached the extreme limit of the Great Way of the Buddha’s first stage, yet it still did not stop and operated at an even faster rate than Yun Che at peak condition.

The different aura was sensed by Chu Yuechan. She tilted her head and stared blankly at Yun Che… Currently, his entire body was covered in a thick layer of silver light, and this layer of silver light still continued to faintly expand as every crack that could be distinguished by the naked eye, slowly healed. Those minute cracks from before had now completely disappeared without a trace.

Chu Yuechan’s gaze shook as she silently watched this inconceivable scene. Even with her knowledge of the world at her level and several tens of years of extensive observation, she still did not understand what was happening to Yun Che’s body.

The silver colored radiance grew even more brighter than before. A current of air chaotically swirled round and round in his surroundings, as if something was wildly entering his body.

Yun Che’s consciousness became clearer and clearer. He gradually started to sense the existence of his body, head, chest, and limbs… What came to him was not acute pain, but was rather a sort of wild joyfulness; it was because this signified that after the opening of Burning Heart, these places in his body had not been destroyed.

Immediately, he silently concentrated and calmly continued to operate the Great Way of the Buddha, letting it circulate within his body over and over again… Once, twice… ten cycles… a hundred cycles… three hundred cycles…

After thirty complete cycles of the Great Way of the Buddha, he was finally able to feel all of his body parts. Pain and their existence were felt clearly, and a continuously sort of striking sound was heard beside his ears. After a hundred cycles, his profound veins awakened from their paralysis. He felt an external force from the outside world quickly enter his fifty four profound entrances via his profound veins, and rapidly restore his profound strength at an extremely shocking rate. The feeling of having a powerless and stiff body, slowly faded away.

After two hundred cycles, the pain in his entire body completely disappeared.

After three hundred cycles, Yun Che slowly opened his eyes that radiated a penetrating brilliance similar to the cold edge of a blade.

The second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha was miraculously attained during a near-death experience in which he was clinging to life!

The Great Way of the Buddha was a profound art that belonged to the Rage God; every stage’s breakthrough required an extremely long period of mental and physical comprehension, as well as lucky opportunities that could only be discovered by chance. It took Yun Che not even a month’s time to perfectly master the first stage of the Great Way of the Buddha. In Jasmine’s eyes, this feat was already a miracle. To her, even if Yun Che’s comprehension was shocking, in order to reach the second stage, he would at least need a year’s worth of time. Never would she have thought, and never would Yun Che have thought that being on the brink of death, while in extreme concentration, while not hesitating to do anything to live… Under these dangerous key circumstances of when Yun Che could not even sense a single thing, the Great Way of the Buddha had actually broken through to the second stage.

And every time a stage had been stepped across, it was also accompanied by the shedding of one’s body and bones.

Yun Che’s every injury, whether they be internal or external, were all completely healed that not even a single sliver of a scar remained. His hair grew longer by half a foot, his eyes became even brighter, and his hearing became even more acute. His organs, bones, skin and flesh, all brimmed with an incomparable toughness. Even his blood became a bit more thicker as the throbbing of his heart’s pulse became even more robust. The previously weakened body that could not even lift a single finger was now brimming with incredibly powerful strength… This powerful sensation was actually felt under a state in which he had not used the slightest amount of profound strength!

Jasmine had told him before that the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha would give the body strength that totaled four thousand kilograms!

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Author Note: Isn’t there an illusory feeling of instantly refilling both HP and MP after leveling up?