Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1011 – Moon Splitting Cascade

When the Ice Phoenix’s bloodline entered his body, Yun Che felt that an ice crystal so pure that it was practically holy had blossomed inside his body with the pure, cold radiance of ice.

Compared to the extremely combustive blood of the Phoenix and Golden Crow, the Ice Phoenix’s blood was a lot gentler. It practically submitted to the flow of Yun Che’s profound energy and swam slowly across all of Yun Che’s body. It slowly melted into his bloodline bit by bit, like ice.

Yun Che opened his eyes as an odd flash of blue flitted across them. Although it was merely a single drop of origin blood, he could sense the changes happening in his frost profound energy.

He lifted his hand as a tiny ice bead appeared in his palm. Although it was still made out of ice, this particular ice bead felt like it was actually alive. Its aura and its radiance had climbed to a whole new level and it was radiating with great divine way aura, just like his flames.

Now that he possessed the Ice Phoenix’s bloodline, Yun Che had no doubt that his Frozen End Divine Arts and Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon would become several times stronger than before.

“Seven and a half minutes.”

Mu Xuanyin’s icy voice rang beside Yun Che’s ears.

Yun Che got up and said respectfully, “Thank you, Master.”

“…Follow me.”

Mu Xuanyi looked at him once, before turning around. Her snow-like figure appeared a few hundred meters away in an instant, as Yun Che hastily chased after her.

This silent world contained nothing but infinite ice and snow. Human life didn’t exist here; in fact, no life except theirs existed here at all. Yun Che suddenly had a strange feeling that he and his master… were the only ones left in this world.

Yun Che followed Mu Xuanyin into the Sacred Hall.

It wasn’t really beyond Yun Che’s expectations. The building before him might be called a “great hall” but it was so vast that he couldn’t see the end of it. He couldn’t even see the ceiling of the hall. The cold air in this place was so thick that it was almost as thick as the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake’s. This world was entirely pure white and infinitely silent.

It was obvious that this place was restricted by special spatial laws just like the Ice Phoenix Palace’s cultivation room, except that the laws here were a lot more complicated.

“Here and the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, will be your places of cultivation from here on out.”

Mu Xuanyin’s voice was cold and merciless. “You are my direct disciple, so you must be prepared to face cultivation training far crueler than you can possibly imagine! Do not dream of slacking off even a day. Even if you feel regrets now… it is too late to turn back!”

Yun Che nodded firmly and tightened his eyebrows. He didn’t look afraid in the slightest, because the reason he risked so much to enter under Mu Xuanyin’s tutelage was to obtain the most extreme of training.

“The Ice Phoenix’s divine blood has fused with you, so technically speaking I should be teaching you on recultivating the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon. But your main weapon is a heavy sword and you are extremely reliant on your movement skill. Adding that to the fact that you were able to cultivate the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon even before you obtained the Ice Phoenix’s bloodline, it is unlikely that you’ll need my guidance in this department at all.”

Mu Xuanyin extended her right hand with her jade white palm facing towards Yun Che, “Therefore, I shall teach you this first!”

“Focus and watch!”

The moment Mu Xuanyin said this, Yun Che subconsciously tried to look up. But suddenly, a soul cowing cold energy suddenly assaulted the back of his neck. He turned around like he was pricked by electricity and to his shock he saw another Mu Xuanyin behind him holding the same posture… her slightly crooked fingers were merely half an inch from his neck. His larynx would be shattered instantly if she spat out even a bit of energy from her palm.

Apprehension sizzled in Yun Che’s heart but cold energies even more terrible than the one before suddenly stabbed in his direction from his right and topside before he could react. When he finally did, an icy cold sensation was already prickling against his head and neck.

“…” Yun Che turned his head with a bit of difficulty and he saw two more “Mu Xuanyins” above his head and his right side.

Then, Mu Xuanyin’s “shadows” disappeared all at once. Mu Xuanyin was standing in front of him with the same posture again as if she had never moved an inch.

“… What is this…?” Yun Che exclaimed.

Mu Xuanyin put down her arm and said indifferently, “Just like the Star God Realm’s Star God’s Broken Shadow, the Moon Splitting Cascade is a profound instantaneous movement technique. The strength of Star God’s Broken Shadow lies not only in its ability to move a cultivator instantaneously but also split off several afterimages. Moreover, the aura discharged by these afterimages are almost exactly the same as the cultivator’s, right until the moment they dissipate, thus foiling the enemy’s attempts at tracking them down.”

Yun Che nodded. It was obvious that Mu Xuanyin knew the Star God’s Broken Shadow very well.

“The reason the Heavenly Slaughter Star God taught you the Star God’s Broken Shadow is probably in hopes that you wouldn’t die too early.”

Something moved behind Yun Che’s eyes before he nodded once more. He was unspeakably weak when he met Jasmine for the first time. If he died, Jasmine’s soul would die together with him. So it was true that she had taught him the Star God’s Broken Shadow to protect his life.

After he arrived at New Moon City and chose a heavy sword as his weapon, his reliance on Star God’s Broken Shadow grew by leaps and bounds.

“My Snow Song Realm may not compare to a King Realm like the Star God Realm but my technique is in no way weaker than the Star God’s Broken Shadow! It is true that the Moon Splitting Cascade cannot compare to the Star God’s Broken Shadow in terms of the range of the instantaneous movement but it also has a great advantage of its own, and that is presence concealment!”

“Presence… concealment?” Yun Che whispered softly, “So it conceals a cultivator’s presence?”

“Yes. This technique is propelled by the profound energy of ice and it will leave behind an afterimage and aura that will hang around temporarily the instant you move away. The technique is executed differently from the Star God’s Broken Shadow but it is in no way weaker in terms of disrupting the opponent’s senses.”

Yun Chen’s mouth fell open in shock. This technique could leave behind a cultivator’s figure and aura so that the enemy wouldn’t notice that they had moved away already. The enemy would be fooled into attacking or defending themselves against the afterimage… It was a technique that could create a huge opening in the opponent’s guard even if it lasted only for an instant.

If that was true, then it definitely wasn’t weaker than the confusion instilled by the “broken shadows” left behind by the Star God’s Broken Shadow.

“However, you will need to cultivate this technique until you’re completely proficient with it to leave behind an afterimage. In fact, if you can cultivate it to perfection…” Mu Xuanyin’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Then you would not only be able to conceal your presence but also yourself!”

The concealment of oneself!?

“Do you mean that the cultivator can turn invisible?” Yun Che asked with a little bit of disbelief. “The concealment of oneself” might sound like a fantasy story but it was absolutely attainable. In fact, he knew that there was an amazing thing called “Star Concealing Grass” that could achieve the same effect!

Not only did he know this, he himself had used the “Star Concealing Grass” before!

“That’s right,” Mu Xuanyin gave him an affirmative reply while Yun Che was still stunned by the news, “Although no one, your master myself included, has succeeded in cultivating this technique and no one has even seen this level of achievement before, it is a technique left behind by the Ice Phoenix Spirit herself, and not the creation of our founder. Therefore, it simply cannot be a lie.”

“But this isn’t something that you should think about right now,” Mu Xuanyin’s voice vaguely dropped a few degrees, “This is an ancient divine technique left behind by the Ice Phoenix Spirit and it doesn’t require the cultivator to possess the Ice Phoenix bloodline. However, it is also hundreds of times more difficult to cultivate than the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon! Thus far, I am the only one in the entire sect who has successfully cultivated this technique.”

“You are the only one who has successfully cultivated this technique?” Yun Che looked even more surprised.

“Hmph. If Bingyun had successfully cultivated this technique, then there’s no way she would be taken by surprise so easily by that old fool Huo Rulie, would she?”

“A high rank profound movement skill is far harder to cultivate than a high rank profound art. If you can cultivate the Star God’s Broken Shadow, then there is no reason you can’t cultivate this technique!”

Mu Xuanyin extended both hands, touching his glabella once with one left finger and his three main profound entrances around his chest with three right fingers, “I will teach you the art’s fundamental stage and the profound energy circulation method to you now. Concentrate your mind.”

“Yes,” Yun Che responded and closed his eyes.

Four blue dots appeared at the same time as the art’s fundamental stage was instantly imprinted in Yun Che’s soul and mind. At the same time, his own profound energy began circulating swiftly in a complicated pattern under the guidance of Mu Xuanyin’s profound energy.

Several breaths later, Mu Xuanyin moved her hands away from Yun Che. Yun Che also opened his eyes at the same time.

“How much did you manage to memorize?” Mu Xuanyin asked.

“I’ve memorized everything,” Yun Che answered.

“… Everything?” Mu Xuanyin frowned slightly. It was obvious that she didn’t believe his words.

Yun Che nodded, “Mm, I’ve memorized everything.”

“In that case,” Mu Xuanyin spoke while maintaining her frown, “Then circulate the technique once for me!”

“Alright.”

Yun Che closed his eyes and carefully began to circulate his frost profound energy. Blue dots appeared on his body and persisted for several breaths before he abruptly opened his eyes.

Swoosh!

A cold wind brushed by and Yun Che instantly moved thirty meters away while dragging a long, blue afterimage behind him. However, the light dots abruptly flickered as his body wobbled and he nearly stumbled.

Mu Xuanyin: “…!!”

Yun Che hastily stabilized himself and exhaled softly. Then, he said with a bit of shame, “It really is quite difficult. My movement is incomparable to your movement at all, master.”

“…” Mu Xuanyin couldn’t say anything for a very long time.

Even the most basic movement of Moon Splitting Cascade required the cultivator to use thirty seven profound entrances at once. Moreover, every profound entrance was required to follow differing profound energy circulation patterns and strengths. The requirements were so strict that even the slightest misstep in the strength or direction of the profound energy in a certain profound entrance would cause the cultivator’s profound energy to go out of control. If the error was serious, it might even hurt the cultivator’s profound veins.

And this was just the control of the profound entrances. The circulation of profound energy in the cultivator’s veins wasn’t even brought into question yet.

She had guided the circulation of Yun Che’s profound energy only once… once! And yet he actually managed to memorize everything correctly. It was true that he used several breaths’ time to prepare his instantaneous movement; his speed was slow, his landing needed much work, and he left behind a long trail of ice shadows after he executed the technique… but there was no denying that his form was the starting sign of mastery over the technique!

This was an ancient divine technique that no elder or palace master had ever managed to cultivate despite spending thousands or even tens of thousands of years trying! And yet he actually managed to complete a shoddy but extremely complete version of the technique in one go, just based on the art’s fundamental stage and profound energy circulation method she taught him!

In silence, Mu Xuanyin hid her astonishment in the deepest part of her eyes. Her assessment and recognition of Yun Che’s abilities had changed dramatically over the past moment. If the impression Yun Che left her before this was the “Sky Poison Pearl” and the “Evil God’s inheritance”, then her impression right now was absolute astonishment toward Yun Che’s unbelievable power of comprehension and control of profound energy.

History was inadvertently repeating. That year, when Jasmine was instructing Yun Che, she had been stunned by his astonishing, to the point of being unbelievable, comprehensive ability. And today, within the heart of Yun Che’s second master following Jasmine, a similar astonishment emerged.

Seeing Mu Xuanyin remain silent for a long time with a frosty and pressing countenance, Yun Che thought she was disappointed and said softly, “Master, just now… Uh, it was only a small mistake I made in haste. Give this disciple one days’ time. This disciple will definitely satisfy Master; otherwise, this disciple is willing to receive any punishment.”

“…” Mu Xuanyin turned, then replied coldly. “It’s good that you’re aware, you still have a long way to go! Today, you’ll follow what I demonstrated just now and cultivate with all your strength, not slacking off for even a moment. Eight hours later, if there are still ice shadow remnants… don’t rest for the next three days!”

“Yes.” Yun Che smiled bitterly.

Her stern order issued, Mu Xuanyin didn’t say anymore and left.

“Master!” Yun Che suddenly called her to a stop, then quickly took out Yan Wancang’s trio’s “congratulatory gift”.

“This is Sect Master Yan’s…”

“Didn’t I say I bestowed it to you!?” Mu Xuanyin said coldly, “Hmph, that’s a piece of Vermillion Bird Jade. It actually is quite priceless, keep it and play around with it!”

Vermillion Bird Jade? It was unclear if it was the same sort of object as the Jade of the Nine Suns but if it was…

“Yes, Master.” Yun Che didn’t say much more, only now could he receive it with relief, “Oh, right, I have one more matter. This disciple accidently met Senior Brother Hanyi at the Great Sect Assembly. Senior Brother Hanyi’s father’s thousandth birthday is in half a month and he entrusted disciple to invite Master to visit.”

“Hmph!” Mu Xuanyin didn’t even turn her head and snorted incomparably coldly, “Just a small nation’s ruler is fit for this king to appear? Furthermore… Che’er, remember, Mu Hanyi doesn’t have the qualifications to be considered your senior brother, be sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Finished speaking, Mu Xuanyin’s silhouette flashed, vanishing in front of Yun Che’s eyes like the melting of drifting snow.

“Phew!”

Without Mu Xuanyin near his side, the pressure on Yun Che’s body and mind abruptly eased. He took a deep breath and rapidly concentrated his mind, focusing wholeheartedly on cultivation.