Absolute God: An Immortal Soul Among Nobles

Chapter 169: Hunyuan’s Origin (End of Volume I)

"Trash?" A mocking laugh escaped the young man. The old man frowned in surprise.

"Who’s the trash here, old man? Tell me, because all I see is one in this room."

"Oh? Not just trash, but stupid too."

The young man pulled the woman behind him and looked at the elder once more, his eyes filled with determination. "I’m taking her today. You’ve already tried countless inhumane things with her just to get her eyes. It ends now."

"Who are you to tell me what to do? Besides, soon enough, even if she doesn’t want to, she’ll have no choice but to give me what I truly want."

Xuehua grabbed the young man’s sleeve, trying to make him back down after what he had just said, but he shook her hand off abruptly, forcing her to let go. His eyes—surprisingly confident, cold, and apathetic—locked onto the old man’s, waiting for something.

Moyan stepped back for a moment upon seeing them. He shouldn’t fear a mere cauldron, but for a split second, he felt genuine terror in his heart. Still, he knew this particular young man was quite favored and special among those old women. Even the Sect Leader herself had shown an interest he could never understand for such a lowly life, hiding her true status while mingling among those old farts just to be near him. Even so, he wouldn’t allow anyone to disrespect him like this.

Shortly after, as if to calm himself, the young man began fleeing at an inhuman speed, clearly revealing his high cultivation. But the old man only smiled, slightly surprised, viewing it as nothing more than futile resistance.

When he finally caught up—or rather, when the young man stopped—Moyan asked arrogantly:

"Running away? Coming all the way to the heavens to hide won’t save you from what’s coming."

But the young man simply smiled. "Running?" He shook his head. "No. I just didn’t want to do this near her..." He continued, "You know, I’m a little grateful to you, but part of me would have preferred to stay in that village with Xuehua. Keep stealing to survive, and maybe one day kill everyone who lived there. The village would be left just for the two of us. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?"

The young man paused before continuing. "But then we came here. On one hand, I think I’ve become addicted to sex ever since I tried it. It’s not as bad as I make it sound, even though those old women are too arrogant for their own bad luck. On the other hand, I’ve become strong. Though it’s still not enough for me to stop worrying about anything..." He stopped and fixed his gaze on the old man, who watched him with a furrowed brow. "But it should be enough to bury you, old man."

"Hah, those women’s actions have fried your brain. Though it seems your body was a bit more special than I thought. Reaching the peak of the Lightning Tribulation in just..." He furrowed his brows, trying to remember, before continuing, "...how long? Ten years? That’s not easy for someone who started from zero. I suppose that boosted your confidence enough to think you can face me."

The young man listened, but his face looked bored. "I never underestimated you, but I am worried about what happens afterward. I’m not stupid enough to think that someone like me killing someone like you won’t have consequences. But maybe it’s time to show those women that they don’t hold all the power, and to show the old monsters who’ve cultivated for thousands or even millions of years that their little efforts amount to nothing."

His hand clenched tightly as he finished speaking.

The sky began to darken; it seemed to oppose what he said, yet also accompany it, as if the young man was completely right.

A pure, ethereal energy—so dense it was impossible to ignore—emanated from his body. It did not go unnoticed by the old man, nor by those below in the sect, who immediately felt the change.

The materialization of this energy produced thunderous booms that seemed to shatter space itself, infused with laws that a young man who had barely reached adulthood a few years ago had somehow comprehended, despite being completely ignorant of them before.

Chaos and Origin—but it was the latter that gave rise to everything. Without origin, there is no beginning or end, and he seemed to contain it within his attack.

"Impossible..." The old man began to realize that if this touched him, he would die.

But he wasn’t going to surrender so easily. He wouldn’t allow a child who had barely reached the Lightning Tribulation to defeat him—a proud Immortal King.

Moyan gathered his energy using a well-practiced technique, one commonly taught in immortal sects to their disciples. If the young man’s energy was chaotic and dense, the elder’s was sharp and precise. Or at least that was how it appeared on the surface, because when the two forces collided, the lethality of the first did not seem like that of someone who didn’t know what he was doing.

A shockwave resounded through the sky, spreading for miles and miles. No one in that world could fail to hear it. Both figures were sent flying with tremendous force. The young man fell into a distant forest, while the old man crashed into one of the peaks of his own sect. His body was completely burned, skin peeling off, and he didn’t appear to be alive.

Elders from various peaks, leaders, and ordinary disciples rushed over to see. Some began treating him, while others frowned and stared fixedly toward the site of the collision.

"Go find whoever left him like this," one of them commanded in a serious, authoritative voice.

Xuehua, on the other hand, had left the place that had imprisoned her shortly after both men disappeared. The guards watching the area didn’t even pay her any attention—they were completely focused on the same thing that had drawn their eyes the moment it happened. Her worried expression was obvious, especially when she saw both figures blasted in opposite directions.

She wanted to scream his name loudly when she saw him fall, clearly injured, into who-knows-where.

However, someone quickly covered her mouth.

When she turned to see who it was, thinking she had been discovered, her eyes widened in surprise.

The woman signaled for her to stay silent. But in Xuehua’s mind, only one name kept echoing.

"There’s no time. We have to find him and get out of here. I prepared an escape route for you two a while ago. I was planning to tell him so you could use it, but it looks like I’ll have to show it to you myself," the woman whispered, taking the other’s hand.

She started to move away, but it was clear the second woman couldn’t keep up. In response, Siyin lifted her onto her shoulder and mobilized her cultivation, accelerating their pace.

Whispers spread throughout the sect: "Is he dead? Who could have killed an elder of the sect?"

"I don’t know, but I don’t think he’ll live much longer—if he’s not already dead, of course."

The rumors spread quickly, and they were already declaring the old Moyan dead, along with whoever had fought him.

"Is he dead?" Xuehua murmured in disbelief.

"Don’t pay attention to what they’re saying. You haven’t spent much time with him since he arrived here, but you should know he’s not the kind of person who dies easily."

The young woman being carried nodded, though still somewhat uncertain.

When they finally reached the place where he had fallen, she quickly got down from Siyin’s shoulder. She wanted to run to help him, but she collided with the same woman who was trying to do exactly the same thing. Both of them called out his name at the same time, completely worried:

"Hunyuan!"

This time it was heard clearly. Without distortion. Without prohibition. They knew who he was, and in that remote place, the taboo surrounding his true identity seemed to vanish for a moment. As if the architecture of the finite had finally stopped hiding.