Against the Gods

Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi’s beard and hair had already turned white, but that pair of clearly ancient eyes shone with a dreadful intelligence.

“The rumors that stated that the Star God Realm was preparing for a ‘True God Ceremony’ had been spread on the instructions of this old one. Upon hearing it, one would immediately know that it was a bunch of nonsense, but his Highness Xisu had grown up alongside this old one, so I knew that he had always been a cautious and prudent person who did not leave anything to chance. This coupled with the fact that the Star God Realm had suddenly started to gather a large amount of profound crystals and divine jade caused His Highness to behave as this old one expected, and he went to our king to ask him about this matter.”

“Our king naturally denied it, but at the same time, he also left behind a telling opening with his eyes for just one instant. Other people would not notice this opening that only lasted a mere instant, but given his Highness Xisu’s keen and sharp senses, he would definitely catch it.”

Tumi was a Star God, but he was also an imperial tutor. Moreover, he had not only been the tutor of the Star God Emperor himself, he had also guided Xisu, before he became a Star God, and Jasmine, when she was still a child. So one could say that he had a deep understanding of the temperament and personality of Xisu and Jasmine.

He had also lived the longest out of all the current Star Gods, so his understanding and knowledge of the Star God Realm and all the Star Gods far exceeded even that of the Star God Emperor. Having lived through more than tens of thousands of years, and possessing the experience and shrewdness that came with that, allowed him to become a sage whom everyone in the Star God Realm respected, an existence who was second only to the Star God Emperor. Furthermore, his loyalty and dedication to the Star God Realm had never ever changed.

Even though they were sacrificing two great Star Gods, and these Star Gods were the two of the Star God Emperor’s very own daughters, if it was good for the future of the Star God Realm, even if it was rather heartless… even if it was inhuman and barbarous, he would not hesitate in the slightest. Even if the Star God Emperor were unwilling, he would still advise and attempt to affect these things.

“After that, due to the suspicions that still burdened his heart, his Highness Xisu infiltrated the God Emperor Palace when our king went abroad and discovered a bundle of jade strips. The ‘blood sacrifice technique’ was carved on these jade strips. Furthermore, these jade strips had not come from the Star God Divine Canon, they had actually been crafted by our king and this old one from a piece of primordial precious jade which possessed an extremely heavy aura of ancientness. The blood sacrifice technique carved on it was basically the same as the one recorded in the Divine Canon, and the only difference was that the number of sacrifices in the one found in the jade strips only called for one ‘sacrifice’. Furthermore, it also emphasized that this blood sacrifice technique could only be used by a Star God once in his life.”

“Tu… Mi… You... Old… Villain!!

Jasmine’s hand clenched tightly as blood flowed through the gaps of her fingers. When she had been young, she had treated Tumi with the utmost respect and reverence, and she had even thought that he was the gentlest and wisest senior in the entire universe. But afterwards, when Xisu told her the “truth” before he died, her impression of Tumi had immediately and completely been flipped on its head… Because the one who had taken the opportunity to guide her towards becoming the Heavenly Slaughter Star God when Xisu was away had been Tumi.

When she returned to the Star God Realm, she discovered that the one who had guided Caizhi into becoming the Heavenly Wolf Star God had also been him.

But at this moment, her hatred towards Tumi explosively multiplied a thousandfold. It was only today, at this very moment, that she discovered that she had always been living within the web that Tumi and the Star God Emperor had woven for them… Furthermore, Xisu had not known anything even in death, and the “truth” that was known to him had basically been a despicable scheme.

If she had not been firmly suppressed within that barrier, her killing intent would have definitely filled the sky and she would have done everything she could to take his life.

Not a single ripple appeared on Tumi’s face as he continued speaking, “When his Highness Xisu took that bundle of jade strips and went to speak to our king, our king admitted to him and directly told His Highness that he was to become a sacrifice.”

“Even though sacrificing yourself for the Star God Emperor should be a glorious move for the son of the god emperor, just as we had expected, his Highness Xisu was extremely opposed... Several months later, when his Highness Xisu had left the realm, this old one guided Her Highness Jasmine to complete the inheritance ceremony for the Heavenly Slaughter divine power.”

“His Highness Xisu and Her Highness Jasmine shared a close bond. Upon finding out that Her Highness Jasmine had become a Star God, his Highness Xisu gave up all thoughts of resisting and became willing to sacrifice himself for the future of the Star God Realm, combining his own divine power with our king’s.”

The surroundings had fallen completely silent. Shock filled the hearts of all who were present… and they even felt like it was hard to breathe.

Now that it had come to this, how could they not understand everything.

If Jasmine had not become the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, then given Xisu’s personality, he would definitely not be willing or content to become a sacrifice. But if he knew that the ceremony called for two Star Gods to be used as sacrifice, then after Jasmine had become the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, he would definitely not have hesitated to flee the Star God Realm with Jasmine.

But the truth that he had ferreted out was that the ceremony only required “one” Star God who was connected by blood to be the sacrifice. Moreover, this ceremony was also something that could only be used once in a person’s life.

If Xisu had been a selfish and heartless person, then he could have pushed Jasmine to be the sacrifice to protect himself. Even if the Star God Realm did not agree, he could also leave the Star God Realm and make it so that Jasmine had no choice but to become the sacrifice.

Even if that was not the case, he could still flee the Star God Realm with Jasmine.

It was just that besides the Star God Emperor and Tumi, everyone who understood Xisu knew that he absolutely would not do this.

Xisu had regarded the relationships with his family with utmost importance. This was especially true in the wake of his mother’s death, the him who was wracked by grief and self-recrimination had loved and protected Jasmine and Caizhi to the extreme, he definitely would not escape and allow Jasmine to become a sacrifice.

Even if he fled together with Jasmine, it would cause Jasmine to become a traitor Star God in the eyes of the Star God Realm, and she would live her entire life being chased by the Star God Realm. Furthermore, Caizhi would be left all alone with no one to care for her, and it would the same as abandoning her all over again.

Thus, he chose not to struggle anymore and decided not to flee and protect Jasmine and Caizhi the best that he could… No one was at all surprised by this.

Moreover, Xisu had sensed, discovered, and understood everything he knew about the blood sacrifice ceremony by himself. There was no instance where someone had come to tell him something about it, so no matter what happened, it was not possible for him to come to the conclusion that this was a trap that had been set up by the Star God Emperor and Tumi… Furthermore, it was a trap that had targeted the most pure and kind aspect of his personality.

It had not only been limited to Xisu, the “blood sacrifice ceremony” discovered by the other Star Gods had been entirely identical to the one Xisu had found out about. The only two people who had truly known everything from start to finish had been Tumi and the Star God Emperor.

One could say that in order to keep both Xisu and Jasmine as sacrifices, the Star God Emperor and Tumi had “thought things through very carefully”. They had not only tricked Xisu and Jasmine with this scheme, they had also tricked everyone in the Star God Realm.

“But after this, his Highness Xisu met with unexpected misfortune and he lost his life after returning from the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. Not long after that, Her Highness Jasmine quietly left the Star God Realm and then news came to us that she had been struck by an incurable devilish poison in the Southern Divine Region and we received no further news after that…”

“Sigh,” Tumi said with a long sigh, “we had originally thought that the ceremony we had prepared for the longest time was destined to never truly begin. But the heavens took pity on us and the Heavenly Wolf divine power that had only slumbered for a few years suddenly reacted once more, and in the end, it was discovered that Caizhi had such a perfect compatibility with it that it was inconceivable. Following that, the news of Her Highness Jasmine still being in the world of the living also reached our ears. After Her Highness Caizhi had successfully inherited the Heavenly Wolf divine power, Her Highness Jasmine had also returned with Moonflower… It looked like in the end, the heavens still cared for our king, still cared for the Star God Realm. Our king actually had three children who had inherited the Star God divine power, and the ceremony that would definitely change the destiny of our Star God Realm has today finally come to fruition.”

Xisu had been willing to become a sacrifice for the sake of Jasmine and Caizhi.

Jasmine had been willing to return to the Star God Realm and become a sacrifice for the sake of Caizhi.

But the Star God Emperor had not only not hesitated to use them as sacrifices for a chance to touch the Way of the True Gods, he had even used the importance and regard they had placed on their familial bonds to manipulate them… It was clear that the bonds of blood between all these people were extremely close, yet there was such a huge difference between him and his children.

There were quite a few people among the Star Gods, elders, and Star Guards whose expressions had clearly changed upon hearing this.

Caizhi had been struck completely dumb. She was the only one amongst the Star Gods who had completely been in the dark about the “blood sacrifice technique” from start to finish. The Star God Emperor would not let her know and it was even less likely for Jasmine to want to tell her. Today, she finally found out, and she discovered the most terrible and cruel truth… She finally understood why Jasmine had acted so weirdly over the past few years, she had finally understood why Jasmine had told her that inheriting the Heavenly Wolf divine power had been the biggest mistake in her life after she had returned to the Star God Realm….

She finally understood why Jasmine hated the Star God Emperor so vigorously.

It was just that the moment she had found out about everything, she and Jasmine had already fallen into a cage that had been prepared for them, and they were completely powerless to resist.

“Big Sister… Big Sister…” Her eyes had lost their color as she muttered in a painful voice, “It was me… It was me who harmed you… If I had never inherited the Heavenly Wolf divine power… It was me… I was the one who harmed Big Sister…”

Jasmine shook her head and tightly gripped Caizhi’s ice-cold hands as she glared furiously at the Star God Emperor. When she spoke, each word contained enough hatred to blot out the sky, “Old villain Xing! Even though you are completely void of humanity, at the very least, I… still believed that you would treat Caizhi kindly… You… You… are destined to die a dog’s death!”

She did not plead with him or threaten him to release Caizhi. The Star God Emperor had methodically schemed and plotted to reach this point for such a long time, so there was no way that he would give up now.

To be so hated and resented by one’s own daughter should have caused him great sorrow as a father, but the Star God Emperor’s expression did not change in the slightest, and his heart was not the least bit shaken or stirred up by those words. Instead, he gave a sigh as he said, “If you want to hate me, then hate me. Since I am the king of the Star God Realm, there is nothing I will not sacrifice for the sake of the Star God Realm. Even if I am resented and hated by my own children, even if the people of the world curse and spit on my name, I will still not have any regrets!”

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the entire venue, “Now that the essential factors are all in place, the ceremony can finally begin. But the moment this ceremony starts, the power of all the people here will be completely linked to this formation, so you will not be able to take it out and you will also not be able to forcibly interrupt it midway. Have you all already made the appropriate preparations?”

“My king…” Heavenly Jade Star God Aster said involuntarily… As she and Heavenly Demon Star God Rose were twins who were extremely close to one another, the truth that had shockingly been revealed today had undoubtedly caused intense ripples, and an unbearable feeling, to spread in her heart.

The Star God Emperor looked to the side, “What is it?”

“...” The moment those words left her mouth, Heavenly Jade Star God Aster had immediately regretted them. Instead, she closed her eyes and shook her head in the end, “It’s nothing, I ask that my king begin.”

“Wait a moment.” This time the person who spoke had been Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi, “My king, the moment the ceremony starts, we will have no way to divide our attention or our power. In order to prepare against the possibility of any accident happening, we should leave behind an elder to cover all our bases.”

“There’s no need,” the Star God Emperor said. “Outside, there is the Absolute Star Soul Barrier barring all entry. Inside, there are three thousand Star Guards stationed in this place, so there definitely won’t be any accidents. But if we lose one degree of power in this ceremony, it will also decrease the possibility of this ceremony succeeding by one degree.”

The Heavenly Origin Star God persisted, “Even though outsiders are not able to enter, we need to defend against the possibility of any rebellion occuring within the ranks of those three thousand Star Guards. There is no such thing as a truly foolproof and surefire plan in this universe. No matter how assured the situation is, it is always best to leave behind a card that can be played so that we can cover all of our bases.”

The Heavenly Origin Star God had said similar words to the Star God Emperor many times when he had taught him as a boy.

This time, the Star God Emperor did not reject the notion. After a brief period of consideration, he gave faint nod and said, “You’re right.”

“Mingzi, leave the formation and keep guard. Eliminate every possible accident.”

“Yes.”

Following that deep and calm reply, a tall and skinny figure pulled his strength from the blood sacrifice profound formation and stood up.

Xing Mingzi was the thirty-seventh elder of the Star God Realm. He had reached the Divine Master Realm three hundred years ago and had become the newest elder of the Star God Realm.

Xing Mingzi left the formation. Following that, the Star God Emperor’s eyes changed and the huge profound formation below them suddenly shone with brilliant starlight. Nine great Star Gods and thirty-six elders of the Star God Realm, the divine aura and power of forty-five Divine Masters were completely linked and combined in this instant as it formed two powerful currents of energy. One of these currents engulfed the Star God Emperor’s body while the other current engulfed the barrier where Jasmine and Caizhi had been trapped.

It was at this moment that the blood sacrifice ceremony had truly begun, it was also at this moment that Jasmine and Caizhi’s fate had been fixed and it was no longer possible to change it.