Against the Gods (Web Novel)
Against the Gods (Web Novel) - Chapter 1930: Artifact of Fate

"What do you mean… that she never… existed?" Yun Che somehow found the strength to squeeze the words out of his throat.

The Ancestral Will explained, "On the day you were to marry Situ Xuan, someone poisoned the morning porridge she cooked for you. Although it was just a lowly mortal poison, it was absolutely fatal to someone with broken profound veins and a weak body like you."

"You were dead before the wedding ceremony had even begun."

"This was an irreparable blow to her especially since she believed that she was the one who had caused your death. Sadness, self-blame, pain, despair…"

"Her soul was burdened with so much sorrow that it began to fracture under its weight."

"As a result, the Ancestral Will—yes, it is I who am speaking to you right now—was awakened… or more accurately, forced out of my slumbering state."

Yun Che: "..."

The Ancestral Will's voice grew distant again, and a very familiar scene appeared in his soul sea.

Red curtains, burning red candles, a familiar layout… It was his room in the Xiao Clan back then. It was the day he and Xia Qingyue (Situ Xuan) got married, and one of the greatest turning points of his fate.

Turning point…

He had been reborn in the Azure Cloud Continent after he was poisoned to death on his wedding day. When he jumped down Cloud's End Cliff on the Azure Cloud Continent, he revived again in his dead body with the memories of both lifetimes…

It was the greatest mystery of his life. He had never found an answer to it.

Even after he stood at the peak of the universe, he still had no idea what had truly happened to him back then.

When he had returned to the Azure Cloud Continent, he had been shocked to find that it was the Azure Cloud Continent from many years ago. The amnesiac Su Ling'er had also turned back into a girl.

Even more confusing was the fact that the young Su Ling'er had regained her memories with him at a later time. It proved that his life in the Azure Cloud Continent wasn't a dream after all.

Could the real reason behind all these inexplicable mysteries be…

Be…

In the scene, he was lying lifelessly on his bed in his wedding clothes. His eyes were open, but glassy and utterly colorless.

Beside him, Xiao Lie was pressing his hands against his heart and doing everything in his power to drive out the poison inside his body. His grandfather's lips were blue, and his face a deathly pale complexion. He was trying his best to remain calm, but the pain gathered in his eyes was enough to make anyone avert theirs.

Xia Yuanba broke into a run toward the exit while roaring that Profound Palace mentor's name again and again. Xiao Lingxi was kneeling on the ground, clutching his cooling palms in a death grip and crying her heart out.

Light suddenly dimmed at this moment.

The scenes faded into black the voices faded into black, everything faded into blackness until all that was left was a girl's despairing figure and sobs.

"To think that sorrow really can shatter one's soul… is this the power of a human's emotions?"

The crying girl slowly looked up in a daze. "Who… are you?"

"I am another you, and you are another me… you sensed me the moment I appeared, didn't you?"

"... save Little Che." At first, her murmur was soft as the wind. Then, as the scattered lights in her eyes narrowed into a beam of hope, she pleaded louder and hastier like a drowning person who found a straw to cling onto. "Save Little Che! Save Little Che!!"

"The death of a mortal is as insignificant as the scattering of a speck of dust in the universe. It doesn't deserve a reaction from you, much less this level of sorrow."[1] The illusory voice resounded in the colorless world. "Your soul has crumbled, and I have awakened. This cycle has failed, and our stainless sacred body will not be complete."

"No matter. There is no gain, but there is no loss either. You may as well reawaken your will now, experience this mortal plane as your mortal self, and postpone the completion of your reincarnation to the next life."

"Now, let our wills merge together once more. When you have returned to your true self, this insignificant memory will be buried in a universe of other memories. You won't feel any sadness toward his death any longer."

"No… No!!"

The Ancestral Will approached, but what she got was firm rejection. [2]

Xiao Lingxi subconsciously pulled away from her own Will. The emotions she radiated were fear and determination.

She was the Ancestral Will before this life after all. Her current self couldn't comprehend it, but she could still vaguely sense the kind of existence she was. That was why she was afraid. She was afraid that she would treat her identity as Xiao Lingxi and even the person she cherished the most, Xiao Che as nothing if she accepted her.

"Save him… save him… save him…"

She pleaded in a whisper again and again. She pleaded with her other self to save Yun Che.

A long sigh resounded in the colorless world.

"How is my (your) will so powerful despite being a newborn…"

"Once upon a time, I (you) was an existence who overlooked everything and everyone in the world. The extraordinary emotions of mortals have always been interesting to see, but that was all. To think… that my (your) emotions would burn this bright when I (you) was reborn as a mortal…"

"Save him… please save him!" She kept repeating the same thing again and again. "You can save him… you definitely have a way to save him!"

"The cycle of life and death is difficult to defy. It is one of the basic laws I (you) have established during the creation of the world. That being said, there is some wriggle room to this law."

"I (You) have not completed our reincarnation, so I (you) cannot reverse his death directly. However, I (you) can reverse the wheel of time of this world to the point where he is still alive."

"This way, it will be as if he has never died in the first place, thus circumventing the laws I (you) have put in place."

"However, you (I) should be well aware of the price of doing so."

"It doesn't matter, nothing matters anymore…" The girl muttered while shaking her head strongly. Her soul was still in shambles, and it was incapable of fitting anything besides the desire and determination to save Yun Che. "I just want him to come back to life… I just want my Little Che to come back to life."

"Your will is my will, especially since the will sitting in your (my) mind is the strongest will you (I) have ever had since the beginning of your (my) existence. I won't be able to defy it."

"You (I) are free to act as you wish without care for the consequences, but you must be aware that he is just a mortal; an incredibly fragile mortal even by mortal standards. He is almost incapable of weathering any danger as long as he is stuck with a body that is unable to cultivate."

"Unless he is protected by sufficient power, anyone can drive him into a dead end just like today."

Xiao Lingxi: "..."

"You may be able to save him today, but are you really going to save him again, and again, and again? Every time you use this method to save him, your already incomplete Sacred Body of Nothingness will be damaged more and more, not to mention that the amount of damage done will only increase with each repetition."

"Moreover, he won't live to see his one hundredth birthday given the state of his body. What will you do then?"

The girl's eyes grew unfocused once more. However, a strange divine light gathered in her pupils almost instantly.

"In that case, give him part of your (my) Sacred Body of Nothingness. Give him the power… to protect himself from anything."

"Ai—" Yet another long sigh resounded throughout the colorless world before the voice continued. "The Sacred Body is born from the nothingness of Primal Chaos. It is also the Ancestral Body that only belongs to I (you). To grant even a sliver of it to a mere mortal? What a ridiculous notion this is."

"However, you (I) can only obey what you (I) desire."

"Well… it is possible to grant him a Sacred Body of the mortal level, but you should know that my (your) current condition won't even allow me (you) to manifest my (your) strength, much less gift him my (your) powers directly."

"Even if it can be done… he still doesn't have the profound veins to bear our power, or any power at all. Without power, anyone can take his life whether he has a Sacred Body or not. In that sense, the only good the Sacred Body will do for him is to extend his lifespan."

Xiao Lingxi whispered while staring at the black nothingness in front of her. "There exists countless lives and endless fates in this world… why must his fate be so unfair?"

"He was born a cripple, scorned and treated with indifference because of his disability, and now he was killed when he was but a young man…? Why must my Little Che suffer such a fate!?"

A long silence later, the voice asked, "You (I)... wish to rewrite his fate?"

"He will have a Sacred Body, and his fate will be rewritten!"

Her voice sounded unusually low and slow. She seemed to be awakening her memories, because Yun Che had never seen such eyes on Xiao Lingxi until now.

Not to mention that the declaration she made was something only the Ancestral God herself possessed the right to declare.

"The Sacred Body will grant him the ability to accept any form of power including the laws of nothingness that a mortal should never be able to contact. He will gain power beyond this maximum limit of this godless world in just a very short time."

"Altering his fate will ensure that he will always survive tribulations no matter how dire they are. He will be blessed with a luck so great that all of the world's greatest opportunities and fortunes will fall on him alone…"

"You (I) can do it… I know that you (I) can do it."

The voice responded, "Fate is the one thing no one should ever interfere with. It is one of the most basic, but most important laws I (you) have established since the creation of the universe."

"It is because the smallest interference with the lowliest mortal may result in an unimaginably huge change in the future."

"Luck is a component of fate, and so is balanced by the strictest of laws. It cannot be created out of nothing even by me (you)."

"If you (I) must alter his fate, the only thing that I (you) may attempt at my (your) current strength… is the Chain of Fate."

"The Chain… of Fate…" Xiao Lingxi whispered as she attempted to identify its concept with her blurry knowledge.

"All living things in the current universe already have their fates fixed. Therefore, the Chain of Fate can only be applied to a new life, which means that life must first be created before his fate may be changed. You may address this creation; this medium that will be created to change his fate as the 'Artifact of Fate'."

"However, this new life is still a life of its own. Its fate will be impossibly unfair and cruel due to the unbreakable laws of the balance of fate. Will you (I) continue on this course despite knowing this?"

The girl closed her eyes without any hesitation and said, "I told you already. I only want him to come back to life. I only want him to lead a peaceful life and never have to suffer such a pitiful fate anymore. Nothing else matters… nothing."

"Very well. The price is huge, but it will be done."

"One cycle of reincarnation is necessary to create the Sacred Body of Nothingness. The Mirror of Samsara hasn't yet regained its strength, so I (you) must awaken it by force to make this work."

"He will reincarnate on this same planet… that continent named 'Azure Cloud' seems like a good destination."

"While he reincarnates on the Azure Cloud Continent and goes through the necessary life to fully accept the Sacred Body, I will pause the wheel of time of the entire world [3]besides the Azure Cloud Continent. During this time, I will also create the 'Artifact of Fate', rationalize its existence, and alter all the karma involved."

"Thankfully, Floating Cloud City is just a small city with a small population and few connections to the outside world. Fixing its karma of cognition should be relatively simple even considering my (your) incomplete and weakened powers. It should be done within five years."

"When his life cycle is complete, and he returns to the body of 'Xiao Che', I will reverse the time of the Azure Cloud Continent back to what it was before, and restart the wheels of time once more."

Tears continued to slide down the girl's cheeks, but the shattering behind her eyes wasn't as bad as it once was. She murmured, "This way, my Little Che will return, and he won't be as humble or fragile anymore."

"So, what will be the 'Artifact of Fate' you wish to tie to his fate?"

Xiao Lingxi replied slowly and dazedly, "I'm his little aunt, so I can never be his wife. However, Situ Xuan doesn't deserve to be his wife, so… I want this person to replace Situ Xuan and be his wife instead. She would need to have a good deal of talent and willpower; a cool exterior on the outside but a soft heart on the inside. I want her to be able to protect him before he grows to full power and be capable of eliminating or blocking any and all danger toward him."

There was another long silence before the voice spoke, "There exists an extraordinarily refined wisp of energy of the primordial universe in this tiny Floating Cloud City. It may even be the purest primordial energy in the current universe."

"It is currently resting in that youngster named Xia Yuanba. Should the primordial energy be allowed to fuse completely with his body, he would gain the 'Divine Body of Great Rage', a body that is never-before-seen in this godless world."

"One-tenth of the energy has already fused with his body. The rest shall be taken away from him and bestowed upon the 'Artifact of Fate'."

"Xia Yuanba's talent originated from his mother, the woman named 'Dong Xue' by Xia Hongyi, but was really a God Realm woman named Yue Wugou. Her Divine Stainless Body is a miracle in the current universe, and she would've had a great future if not for the twist of fate that caused her to fall to this small city and made her the wife of the mortal, Xia Hongyi."

"My (your) current strength is insufficient to create life out of nothing. For the 'Artifact of Fate' to subsume Xia Yuanba's primordial energy perfectly, her blood must take after Xia Yuanba's mother, Yue Wugou. As for the father…"

A short pause later, the voice continued, "Xia Hongyi is ultimately just mortal. His bloodline is too weak and murky. If the Artifact of Fate were to be born from his blood, it will only diminish the energy of the primordial universe she has subsumed."

"If it wasn't for her sorrowful fate, Yue Wugou would never have been separated from her original lover, the Moon God Emperor Yue Wuya. He possesses one of the more revered bloodlines of the current universe, the Moon God bloodline. His blood will be an excellent choice to create the Artifact of Fate."

"In a sense, the creation of the Artifact of Fate will fulfill their lifelong wish, even if the method is most questionable."

"The 'Artifact of Fate' will be born in Floating Cloud City. To her knowledge, she is the daughter of Xia Hongyi and Yue Wugou. However, she will feel a bloodline resonance far stronger than is normal when she is close to the blood she is created from."

"If one day she encounters Yue Wuya, the resulting bloodline resonance may expose the truth. Hopefully, the distance between these two worlds is far enough that it won't happen too soon."

"The northern Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace is a sect left behind by a denizen of the God Realm. It will be the Artifact of Fate's sect so that it may grant them [4]the opportunity to make contact with the higher plane."

The shape of the "Artifact of Fate" was already formed while the voice was speaking.

She would be the daughter of Yue Wugou and Yue Wuya. She would believe that Xia Hongyi was her father and become a disciple of Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. She would steal Xia Yuanba's energy of the primordial universe as her own and marry Yun Che as his wife…

"She will believe that Xia Hongyi is her father, so her surname will be Xia as a matter of course."

"Xia Hongyi is a man of single-minded love, and his love for Yue Wugou has never faded even though she has been gone from his life for many years. In that case, the Artifact of Fate shall be named…"

"Xia Qingyue (Xia's Love For The Moon)."

"Xia Qingyue…" The girl whispered the name. "She will protect Little Che well… right?"

"There is no such thing as absolution even for an Artifact of Fate. I (you) may have created her, but I (you) have no control over what she ultimately becomes. He and her final futures are even more unpredictable."

"However…"

"He will be blessed by great luck as long as the Chain of Fate remains unbroken. He will keep obtaining fortune most people cannot even dream of having, and combine that with his Sacred Body of Nothingness, he will reach the point where he surpasses every living being in the universe in a very short amount of time."

"She, on the other hand…"

"Fate automatically seeks balance, and since they are tied together by the Chain of Fate, his great fortune will be her great misfortune. Everything she cares about shall suffer the cruelest of fates."

"As a sister, her sibling will face the threat of death again and again."

"As a disciple, her sect will face the threat of destruction."

"As a daughter, her parents will meet a terrible end."

"As a parent, her children will die an early death."

"And as a ruler, the land she governs will dissolve into dust."

"Her misfortune is Xiao Che's fortune. That is how the Chain of Fate is. That isn't all. She is a creation of nothingness, so it is only a matter of time before she sees through the veil and realizes the truth of her being."

"He may have grown to the point where he no longer needs the 'Artifact of Fate' to protect him, but she will never be able to forgive herself. She may choose to end her life so that misfortune won't befall those she cares for any longer."

"An unimaginable cost, and the cruelest Chain of Fate… will you still do this?"

This was her last time asking.

The light in Xiao Lingxi's eyes remained unchanged. She said slowly and firmly, "The memories of the Ancestral God seem so close yet so far. Therefore, I cannot ascertain what I would've done as her. But right now, I will save him… even if I have to bury the entire world to do it."

"This is the final Will, the never-changing Will." The voice grew distant, and cracks began appearing on the pitch-black world. "At the cost of six hundred cycles of samsara, your (my) Will shall be done."

1. (T/N: I can hear Yun Che thinking: WTF DID YOU JUST SAY, BITCH?) ?

2. (T/N: The Ancestral God is so old that she forgot that the very reason she created a universe of life in the first place was because she was lonely. Of course Xiao Lingxi was going to give her the middle finger.) ?

3. (T/N: don't ask me if world here refers to just BPS or literally all of the Primal Chaos, I'm just the translator) ?

4. (T/N: them is referring to both Xia Qingyue and Yun Che) ?