Against the Gods

“Do you still remember the words you told me when we first met… You said that you were the ‘Blood-soaked Jasmine’, that you had killed a countless number of people and had been dyed in a countless amount of blood. Moreover, you said that you had countless more people that you needed to kill. Moreover, at that time, whenever you inadvertently released your killing intent, it always filled me with shock and fear.”

“After I came to the God Realm, I also heard that after you became the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, you massacred a subordinate star realm of the Moon God Realm in order to vent your hatred and you killed hundreds of thousands of people in the span of a single night.” 

Jasmine, “...”

“However, the Heavenly Slaughter Star God who returned to the God Realm later, who was clearly even stronger than before, no longer released her killing intent and hatred against the innocent. After that, you were cheated and hurt by your own father, you were abandoned to be a sacrifice by the Star God Realm and because of my death, you awakened the Evil Infant inside your body… You, someone who had suffered so much hurt and betrayal, was more than entitled to hate the world and vent all of your hatred and resentment.”

“However, you did not do so. You clearly had the power to overwhelm everything, but during these three years, you didn’t make a single appearance, and it seems like you also haven’t killed a single person.”

“At the beginning, you had battled four king realms without fear, killing the Moon God Emperor and severely injuring the other three god emperors. So why did you suddenly escape after that and choose to go into hiding? Furthermore, you did not use the Evil Infant’s power to cause any disaster because of your hatred and resentment. It was because… at that time, you thought that I was dead, but after that, you recalled that I possessed the Flame of Nirvana that was given to me by the Phoenix Spirit and you knew that I would be resurrected. That was the only reason.”

Jasmine’s eyes shook, but she did not turn her head back and she did not speak.

“My Jasmine has changed.” A faint smile appeared on Yun Che face as he softly said, “She is no longer that Heavenly Slaughter Star God that was filled with killing intent and hatred, that Heavenly Slaughter Star God who viewed all living beings as nothing more than grass. Instead, you’ve become kind and hesitant, and even a little lost and weak. However, all of these are not changes in your temperament. Rather, they were changes that you forced, impulses that you curbed with extreme effort… All because of me.”

“You put me above all of your resentment, hatred and killing intent. Subconsciously, you were afraid that the blood on your hands would affect me, because you knew that no matter what you did, I would definitely shoulder it with you.”

When they had met all those years ago, Jasmine had been filled with resentment, hatred, and killing intent… Hatred because of her mother, hatred because of her brother, and hatred from nearly being poisoned to death.

When she had just become the Heavenly Slaughter Star God, she had not been able to kill Yue Wuya or Qianye Ying’er, but she had fearlessly and mercilessly vented her hatred on the subordinate star realms of the Moon God Realm and the Brahma Monarch God Realm. She had been soaked with a countless amount of blood, and had caused endless terror, casting countless dark shadows… But, after she had spent those eight years with Yun Che, the Jasmine who had returned to the Star God Realm no longer attacked those subordinate realms.

She had sworn to kill Yue Wuya and Qianye Ying’er, but she would no longer vent her hatred on the innocent people related to them.

As the Star God crowned with the two words “Heavenly Slaughter”, she was originally the most apathetic and bloodthirsty of the twelve, yet she had become kind...

Because, at that time, slaughter and revenge were no longer the most important things in her life.

After that, the Evil Infant inside of her had awakened and she possessed a power so strong that it terrified even her. It was then that she also had the ability and qualifications to take revenge… because she now had power that was stronger than anything she had ever dreamed of.

She could kill Qianye… Kill Southern Sea… Annihilate all the Star Gods.

But, during these three years, despite having such power, she, who also had to deal with her negative emotions which had been completely agitated, had not made a single appearance.

That was because she was afraid that she would be unable to control her own power and emotions, and would end up creating a huge disaster in the God Realm… and what she was afraid of was not the disaster itself or the consequences she would suffer because of it. It was because she knew that no matter what she did, Yun Che would definitely shoulder it with her...

Just as Yun Che had said, before she knew it, Yun Che’s existence in Jasmine’s subconscious had already surpassed… one could even say that it had far surpassed her hatred, and it had even surpassed her own desires and thoughts, whether she acknowledged it or not.

This was especially because of the scene that had played out in front of her back then, the scene of Yun Che rushing all the way to the Star God Realm by himself and dying in front of her. This made it so that she could no longer accept or tolerate seeing Yun Che suffer any harm… especially the harm that she herself had brought to him.

As the Star God with the title of Heavenly Slaughter, Jasmine, who bore the power of the most evil Evil Infant, had chosen to lay low instead.

Jasmine’s changes had all happened in an imperceptible fashion.

Back then, all of the great king realms from the Eastern, Western, and Southern Divine Regions had mobilized in full force. The Dragon Monarch himself had assumed leadership of this taskforce and they had not even hesitated to order the upper, middle, and lower star realms to find Jasmine at all costs, and within the shortest amount of time possible. This was because they were afraid that the moment Jasmine’s power had recovered and her injuries had healed, the God Realm would definitely be met with a great calamity.

However, for an entire three years, they had not managed to find Jasmine and the outcome that they had most feared had not happened.

Even when Xia Qingyue was telling him that the Evil Infant had not appeared in three years, she was clearly rather puzzled and suspicious about the whole affair.

During these three days, Jasmine had not appeared at all. Yun Che had also sat there quietly for three days. As he recalled everything that he and Jasmine had been through, he inadvertently realized many things that he had been ignorant of… including the reason for why she had not been willing to appear.

“...” Jasmine bit down on her lower lip even harder, but she stubbornly refused to turn around or turn her head towards him.

“Right now, everyone calls you the ‘Evil Infant’ and all of them fear you… That’s fine,” Yun Che said as he shook his head with force, his five fingers tightly entwining around her own. “Your strength, your appearance, your name, your temperament… it’s fine even if all of these things have changed. In my world, you will forever be the Jasmine that is most important to me, the Jasmine that I can least afford to lose… No matter what happens, this is something that will never change.”

Jasmine turned her face to the side as she gritted her teeth lightly. After that, she finally spoke in a soft and trembling voice, “You don’t understand… You don’t understand what the Evil Infant… means exactly… You don’t understand… that if you are close to me, you will also become a heretic that the world will not tolerate…”

“No, I do understand. But, no matter how the world looks at you, why does it even matter to us?” Yun Che softly said as he stretched out another hand. “If possessing darkness profound energy means that you are a devil, then I am a devil as well. Furthermore, you were the first person in the world to know I was a ‘devil’, but you never loathed me for it.”

“It’s not the same,” Jasmine said as she shook her head. “The power of the Evil Infant is the pinnacle of all negative powers, it is the ultimate darkness profound power and it has truly brought an end to an era before. It is also the biggest reason why the current world fears and rejects darkness profound energy. Currently, the Evil Infant has reemerged in the world and as long as I exist, they will definitely never be able to rest easy.”

“I… am not avoiding you. Rather, without even bringing up the fact that I now hold the Evil Infant’s power, even if I had completely lost my mind and had become an utter demon, you would still definitely come and find me. But, given your current state of affairs, as I am right now, it’s not suitable for me to be by your side. Otherwise, your title as the ‘God Child Messiah’ would be dragged through the mud because of this.”

It was clear that even though Jasmine had been inside the God Realm of Absolute Beginning all this while, she had secretly gathered a lot of information.

After the power of Evil Infant had awakened, the Evil Infant Spirit slowly began to recover its memories. So she knew many of these ancient truths even before Yun Che had, and she knew even many more of these ancient truths than he did.

“I’m not afraid and I don’t care either!” Yun Che said without any hesitation. “My Jasmine is so clever that she will definitely understand one thing. I would rather make an enemy of the entire world than for you to hide from me forever. Do you truly have the heart to make me go through such cruel torture?”

“You need to care!” Jasmine said as she strove to harden her voice. “The current prestige and status you have in the God Realm is not something that is easily obtained. Furthermore, all of this must also have been due to the hard work of many other people. Moreover, your current status and future definitely does not concern you alone. Don’t forget your women and your family. Don’t tell me that you want to twist up all of these things just for my sake alone…”

Yun Che, “...”

“When we first met all those years ago, you were only sixteen. At that time, you were still a child so you could be willful. But now, no matter what it concerns, you need to make the most rational decisions at all times. Especially since... you have already acted wilfully once for me three years ago, and that’s already enough… it’s enough for ten lifetimes… You definitely aren’t allowed to ever be willful for my sake again… If not, I’d rather die in this place and make it so that you can never see me again!”

Jasmine’s shoulders were lightly trembling and they did not stop trembling for a very long time.

She was not running away from Yun Che. She was running away from the harm that she had done to Yun Che’s life.

She, someone who had previously been cold-blooded and merciless, who had previously feared nothing, had instead become “cowardly” after she had received an even greater power.

“Jasmine,” Yun Che said softly, “I understand everything you just said. However, I also know that things are actually not as absolute and pessimistic as you have made them out to be. Because right now, the true rulers of the Primal Chaos are no longer the various great king realms. The true ruler is the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor! A devil!”

“When they faced the returned Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, all of them bent their heads and bowed. They did not even dare to show the slightest bit of disrespect, much less any loathing or resistance.”

“That is because they were well aware that it was not possible to resist the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor at all, so the only choice they had was to serve,” Jasmine said as she closed her eyes. “How can I be compared with the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor?”

“Then, what if the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor allows your existence?” When he said those words, Yun Che wore a smile on his face. He said with extreme confidence, “Then they will also naturally have no choice but to accept it obediently, no one will have any objections.”

“The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was originally an artifact that belonged to the devil race in the past, so there shouldn’t be any reason for the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor to not tolerate you. Furthermore…”

Before Yun Che could even finish speaking, a high-pitched voice suddenly rang in his ears, “Hmph, Master was absolutely right, you really are a big dummy!”

Yun Che’s voice came to an abrupt halt as his eyes swiftly swept across the surrounding area, “Who? Who is talking!?”

A cluster of dense black light suddenly started congealing beside Jasmine at this moment. An incomparably tiny and delicate silhouette lay within that black light, it was roughly only two feet long, but it was simply too blurry and it could not be clearly seen. The only thing Yun Che could clearly see was a pair of long and narrow eyes that looked as deep as an abyss. “Right now, the person Master is most worried about is the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor you big dummy!”

“Eh…?” Yun Che stared blankly at the blurry silhouette inside the black light as he remained stunned for a good long while. The voice in his ears sounded as tender and high-pitched as an infant’s and it also seemed to possess the innocence only a baby would have.

“Who said you could come out!?” Jasmine finally turned around, her brows sinking slightly.

“Wuuuu… Master is being fierce to me again,” that tender voice said in a rather aggrieved manner.

“He…” Yun Che finally managed to come to his senses as he said with a look of disbelief on his face, “Could it be that…”

“It is the Evil Infant!” Jasmine said.

“...” Jasmine’s reply caused the look of disbelief on Yun Che’s face to deepen even further.

The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, the ultimate negative force in this universe, the apocalyptic devil wheel that ended an entire era. Anyone would have imagined that its artifact spirit would be incomparably fiendish, terrifying, and cruel.

But Jasmine had just said that this figure that had suddenly appeared was the “Evil Infant” and even though its aura was strange, it did not give off a fiendish feeling at all. Moreover, its voice, no matter whether it was its words or tone, did not cause him to feel any sense of oppression or terror. Rather… it actually sounded kinda cute?