Chapter 706: The Universe Stopped

(MC POV)

"Master is mine! MINE!!! I won't allow anyone to take him away from ME!!!" Iris screamed, the space around her contorting and twisting from the pressure she was exuding.

I detected the fluctuations of Origin energy directed at my disciples and I knew she was trying to End their existence right now.

I immediately intercepted the Origin of her intent to End their existences and the existence ending energy disappeared without a trace.

With the Origin of her intent erased, this should stop her from trying aga--

"MINE! MINE! MINE!!!" Iris screamed, this time even wiping an entire portion of my house from existence.

Ok... Omniscience... Why didn't that work? Shouldn't that have removed her intention of trying to End them? Why is she still like this?

...

She Ended all possible interferences from forcing her to give up her intent? Ok... That's a little bit more troublesome... So how do I stop her now?

...

What do you mean there's no way?! How can there be no way?!!

...

She Ended all possible futures where omniscience goes against her wish to End my disciples' existences?! I was right not to overly rely on you!!

Great, with omniscience out of commission, I'll have to rely completely on myself then. Even though I could possibly recreate my disciples' Origins even after she Ended them, it's still something I'd like to avoid if possible.

Iris directed her gaze towards my disciples and I immediately stood in front of her.

The space between us bent and cracked and the roof of my house got blown clean off to reveal the night sky above us.

"Barrier!" I called out, only managing to squeeze out that single word before devoting my entire concentration in the duel I was having with Iris.

Thankfully, my disciples understood and promptly poured in their Techniques to construct a pale blue, cylindrical barrier around Iris and I.

Without it, the entire mountain might start to collapse under the weight of our combined pressure.

Unfortunately, the barrier only managed to hold for a second before cracks started to appear on its surface. As strong as my disciples were, there was no way they could contain the power of two cosmic beings by themselves.

I considered calling the gods of this world for help but I couldn't afford to divert my attention away now.

Out of nowhere, various figures descended around my courtyard and also began wordlessly pouring their own energy into the barrier, strengthening it to be able to hold the clash of wills between Iris and myself.

I recognised the figures to be the members of Heaven Sect, including my little Cai Hong.

Despite their efforts, I knew this barrier could only hold for a few more seconds before breaking again so I have to make the best out of it lest we end up wiping the universe.

Iris wishes to end my disciples' existence, I do not want her to end their existence. Such is the clash of will that's happening right now.

Since there can only be one outcome within this universe and neither of these can exist at the same time, the one who can exert their dominance over the other's will would be the end result.

Frankly speaking, Iris still has an edge over me on this part because of her experience so there was no way I could win this clash normally.

Thus I needed something else to give me an edge.

While the two of us were still trying to wrestle the authority over the control of existence from each other, I came up with a really crazy plan.

With my control slipping by the second, I didn't have much choice but to just do it.

Gathering the air behind me, I used it to propel myself forward in a blast of speed towards Iris.

She reached out her hand to stop me but I simply used her outstretched arm as leverage to pull myself closer to her, using my other hand to reach out for her shoulder.

Iris tried to End my movement towards her but I've already solidified the Origin where I managed to reach her and so I did.

Getting past her guard, I pushed myself closer until my lips met hers in a kiss.

The universe stopped, literally.

The entire universe was brought to a standstill as both Origin and End embraced each other.

Remember when I said Iris was created to be perfect? Her lips were also the most perfect lips in existence as well. So what do you think would happen if you embrace the most perfect pair of lips in existence?

Just from the touch of her lips was enough to make my mind go white and judging by her reaction, she was in a similar state too.

My hands automatically went to wrap around her back while hers reached up to hug my neck, the two of us pulling the other closer.

There was no tongue involved, it was just a chaste kiss with only our lips touching. Yet, it was already the most perfect kiss in existence.

I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into the taste and feeling of the kiss when I suddenly came back to myself and pulled away hurriedly.

Iris tried to chase me for the kiss but I placed my hand on her lips, stopping her.

That was too dangerous. Really, really dangerous.

A second more and I may have lost all my reasoning and stayed there kissing Iris for the rest of eternity with the universe frozen around us.

"Master... More..." She begged.

It took everything I had to resist the allure of her perfect voice that threatened to draw me back in.

"No," I said, the rejection hurting me more than it should. "Not now, at least."

Iris looked at me with pleading eyes, "Why, Master? We could forget about everything, we don't need anything else, we just need each other. Let us embrace until the End of time and forget everything else."

Her honeyed words pulled at me like a moth to flame.

I sucked in a breath, "No. I quite like this universe and the beings inside it. That includes you as well, Iris. If you were to ask me to pick one over the other, I'm afraid I cannot do that."

Her grip tightened on me, "I know... I know, Master... I know you the best. You love everything equally, there's no way you can accept my proposal of being the only one... But... But... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being so selfish... Please... Please don't hate me..."

I pulled her in and planted a kiss on her forehead before pulling away, somehow even that act felt perfect to me.

I smiled at her, "I don't blame you, Iris. It's normal to want something for yourself after all. I created you, so how can I hate you? That's why I accept all of you, even the selfish parts. In fact I'm also quite selfish myself, I can't give up anyone I love, including you. So I suppose I'll need to work even harder to fulfill both yours and my selfishness eh?"

Iris looked into my eyes before diving her face into my chest, hugging me tightly.

"I... I love you, Master..."

I patted her head softly, "I love you too, Iris."