Against the Gods

The easternmost point of the Primal Chaos was extremely vast and the Wall of Primal Chaos was right in front of them. The piece of crimson crystal embedded in it was exceptionally eye-catching.

They had already been waiting for a long time. Given their exalted status in the God Realm, there was no one who was qualified to make them wait like this. But at this current moment, not a single person expressed any sort of impatience. 

“God Child Yun, I heard Royal Father mention that after this is all over, you will return to the lower realms and never step foot on to the God Realm ever again. If this is true, it would be such a great pity as Qingchen was hoping to become closer friends with God Child Yun,” Zhou Qingchen stood beside Yun Che and said with a sigh.

“After all, I was born in the lower realms. My roots and home are there, and I have many things there that I hold dear to, also…” Yun Che half jokingly said, “I have to personally ‘watch over’ and protect the Evil Infant.”

Zhou Qingchen however, did not take it to be a joke but rather, a deep sense of respect could be seen on his face as he said, “In the past, Qingchen has always felt that Royal Father’s recognition of God Child Yun was too excessive. But now, I realize that it would not be too exaggerated even if Royal Father’s praises were ten times greater than that. Perhaps it would be the greatest blessing in Qingchen’s life to be able to personally see that the God Child Yun Che is still in this world at the end of my life, even after tens of thousands of years have passed."

Yun Che’s scalp had turned a little numb and he could only reply, “Your Highness, you praise me too much, I’m not worthy of such praise.” 

“Hahahaha,” Zhou Qingchen gave a carefree laugh but did not take his words back, “It is hearing you call me ‘Your Highness’ that puts this Qingchen to shame. If God Child Yun doesn’t mind, please call me ‘Qingchen’ instead.”

“Alright, Brother Qingchen.” Yun Che chose not to be pretentious either and said with a laugh, “In that case, please don’t call me God Child either, Brother Qingchen. Being called by that title in front of a true god child like Brother Qingchen truly makes me blush with shame.” 

“Haha, alright.” Zhou Qingchen laughed, “Brother Yun, if you ever have the spare time to return to the God Realm, you must give Qingchen the chance to be your host and also ask for your guidance.”

“I definitely will.” Yun Che nodded his head.

The two of them chatted merrily and they ended up attracting the admiring gazes of quite a few young god children.

Yun Che and Zhou Qingchen had not interacted with each other in the past but when they had first gotten to know each other, they managed to hit it off rather well. There were no other reasons for that. It was just that in Yun Che’s eyes, Zhou Qingchen had many similar traits to the Eternal Heaven God Emperor. In addition to that, despite the fact that he was a god child, his demeanour was modest, his eyes and aura were pure, and he had a righteous air about him. All of these things left Yun Che with an exceedingly favorable impression of him.

In the eyes of Zhou Qingchen, Yun Che was someone that his royal father esteemed and revered in every possible way. He had the world's most dazzling halo, had saved the entire universe, and had accomplishments that would last for all ages. Even with all that, he was neither proud nor hot-tempered… Furthermore, he had a bright and boundless future.  

And the most important thing was that he had a “sacred heart”!

Quoting the words of his father, those who had a sacred heart would be able to relate to all creatures. They would have compassion for all living beings and would never be envious or have evil desires. They were the only ones in this universe that one could entrust their all to and would never have to be on guard against.

There were only two such people in this universe, the Dragon Queen of the Western Region and Yun Che of the Eastern Region!

“Brother Qingchen,” Yun Che said, “you seem to have someone who you fancy. If my guess is right, that person should be Qianye Ying’er, am I right?” 

“!” Zhou Qingchen’s expression turned rigid and he subconsciously wanted to deny it. He struggled to say those words, but in the end, he could only give a bitter smile and say, “Given the Goddess’ beauty, which man would be able to truly maintain a pure mind if they were fortunate enough to meet her in person?"

“Given your status, you should know what kind of person she is and why exactly I imprinted this slave imprint on her.” Yun Che spoke truthfully and directly. “It is not worth being distracted because of her.”

Zhou Qingchen shook his head. “Whether it’s worth it or not, it all depends on the individual.”

He laughed and said, “In all honesty, my royal father has told me more than once to banish all thoughts of ever being together with her. But… this sort of thing is the most irrational thing in the entire universe and it is also the hardest to consciously control using logic and reason. I am still far from being mature enough in this regard.”

Yun Che gave a faint nod of his head and said, “You’re right.”

Zhou Qingchen’s smile was no longer stiff. Instead, it contained quite a bit of gratitude as he said, “I thank Brother Yun Che for being so frank with me. This Qingchen’s heart has lightened considerably.”

Yun Che gave a small smile but he sighed inwardly:

During these thousand years, Qianye would have to obediently stay by his side and do whatever she was told. And after these thousand years had passed, Xia Qingyue would surely kill Qianye! I hope that he can let go of his feelings by then!

At this moment, the space around them suddenly froze. Everyone was left breathless as they felt as if a gigantic mountain was pressing down on their chests.

A black figure appeared silently in front of the Wall of Primal Chaos. A formless oppressive might enveloped the region they were in, as well as the entire Primal Chaos.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor!

Jie Yuan was far too powerful. She was so terrifyingly powerful that it had reached the point where the structure and laws of the Primal Chaos were unable to withstand her power. Thus, every time she appeared, she would always cause a terrifying phenomenon to occur.

Even the elements went dormant and the distant stars stopped in their tracks. Everyone felt as if they were being suppressed inside a cage of darkness. Their arrogance and their belligerence had been completely stripped away and they were only left with the lowly feeling that their souls could be torn to shreds and their lives could be ripped away from them at any time. 

“We respectfully welcome the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor.”

All the god emperors and Divine Masters greeted her respectfully… The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor was about to leave and she had appeared just as she said she would. They should all be relaxed and secretly delighted. However, that extreme oppressive might that could crush anyone’s will left them trembling in fear.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s back was facing everyone as she gazed at the crimson passage embedded in the Wall of Primal Chaos. Without looking at anyone, she spoke in a cold voice, “Yun Che, come here.”

“Yes.” Yun Che complied and walked forward.

All eyes were on Yun Che but no one dared to say anything.

As Yun Che drew near, Jie Yuan waved an arm. Immediately, a pitch black barrier was formed and isolated them from everything else around them.

Inside the pitch black barrier, Yun Che faced the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor directly… Jie Yuan’s expression was always so cold and calm and it was actually Yun Che who had a conflicted look in his eyes and expression on his face.

She was about to abandon her clansmen, destroy the passageway and return to the void outside of the Primal Chaos… As far as the Primal Chaos Realm was concerned, this was indeed the best possible outcome. It was also the only way to truly eliminate this impending disaster. If not, the return of the devil gods would inevitably plunge the universe into calamity and turmoil. Jie Yuan remaining in this universe would also cause the structure and laws of the universe to slowly break down, which would in turn cause the deaths of many living beings.

But...

To put it nicely, Jie Yuan would be returning to beyond the Primal Chaos. But in reality… she would be completely throwing herself and her remaining kin into an abyss of death and despair, with no hope whatsoever of ever turning the situation around.

He did not even dare imagine how Jie Yuan would face those devil gods, whose souls had become warped and twisted long ago, once they had “returned” to beyond the Primal Chaos.

“Senior.” Yun Che opened his mouth and spoke with some difficulty. “Perhaps, you could get rid of a portion of your profound strength. This way, you might not continue to cause the structures of the universe to collapse even if you do remain.”

He knew what a rotten idea that was. But other than that, he could not think of anything else.

Jie Yuan’s expression did not change and she did not get angry either. In fact, she did not even show a single hint of emotion, it was as if she had not even heard his suggestion. She raised an arm and with a gentle flick of her fingers, she sent a small ball of black light flying towards Yun Che. “I no longer have any use for this thing, so I’ll give it to you.”

Yun Che stretched out his hand subconsciously and received it.

It was a piece of black jade that was roughly the size of a thumb. It was smooth, round, and dull, and it did not exude any warmth, aura or energy.

Yun Che inserted a bit of his profound energy into it and he was immediately able to sense eight different auras radiating from it… There were six elemental auras, sunflower water, flame, astral wind, lightning, sandstone, and darkness, and there were two special soul auras.

“This is…” Yun Che immediately realized that this was most likely something that came from the Heretic God.

“This stone is called ‘Ni Yuan’,” the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor said. “It was created from the powers of both Ni Xuan and I, with his power taking precedence over mine. Wearing it will distort the perception of others toward you and they will not be able to perceive your profound energy and aura.”

“When I lived together with Ni Xuan back then, I would always wear this on my person.”

This name, Ni Yuan, had obviously been formed by taking a word from “Ni Xuan” and “Jie Yuan” each. 

Indeed, without this “Ni Yuan Stone”, the relationship between the Creation God of the Elements and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor would have been exposed much earlier and it would have been impossible for them to even have children in the first place.

After Yun Che put it away, he said in a serious tone, “I thank Senior for the gift, I will use it well.”

Yun Che was quite excellent at the art of disguise and he had often used this ability in the lower realms. But once he had reached the God Realm, it was very hard for him to display this ability. The only time he had used it was when he had disguised himself in the Darkya Realm as “Poison Saint Blackheart”.

But there was an extremely strict prerequisite for that particular situation. It was that Lei Qianfeng and the rest of the Black Soul Divine Sect had never interacted with him before. Otherwise, it would have been useless no matter how perfect his disguise was.

That was because of his aura!

After attaining the Divine Spirit Realm through cultivation, a profound practitioner’s spiritual senses would completely transcend the mortal world. One would be able to confirm another person’s identity based on the aura of their profound energy. Even someone who possessed many types of profound energy like Yun Che could be identified by the aura of their life force.

Yes, one could be recognized by the aura of their life force.

Therefore, when Yun Che needed to conceal himself in the God Realm, he had never tried to disguise himself. Instead, he always used Hidden Flowing Lightning and Moon Splitting Cascade, which could suppress and reign in his aura to the largest extent.

This Ni Yuan Stone was able to “distort the senses of others”. This meant that when others tried to sense the aura of the one who wore it, it would be entirely different from what it actually was! Regardless of the attributes of the wearer’s profound energy, the wearer’s profound strength, or even the aura of the wearer’s life force.

If the art of disguise was added to this...

The most important point was that Jie Yuan had used this herself back then! In other words, one would be able to conceal himself even from an existence such as a True God or True Devil!

Let alone the mortal beings of this era!

“Hmph. I would rather hope that you will never have to use it in your lifetime,” Jie Yuan said coldly.

Yun Che spoke with sincerity, “Even if I never have to use it, it contains Senior’s and the Heretic God’s auras. It is a priceless treasure to me and to the universe.”

Jie Yuan turned around and said in an incomparably dull tone, “It’s about time for me to go. You better take care of yourself.”

Yun Che’s head jerked up as his lips parted, but he simply did not know what to say. In the end, he could only speak in a low voice, “Is Senior… not going to bid Hong’er and You’er farewell?”

“There’s no need for that.”

She spoke those emotionless five words without any hesitation whatsoever. She lifted her palm and a black light started to form at her fingertips. Just as she was about to withdraw the dark barrier, she stopped moving and the black light at her fingertips froze in place.

As her arm slowly sank, she closed her eyes and slowly said, “Let me… see them one more time.”  

“...Alright.” Yun Che gently nodded his head as he summoned them with his thoughts.

A crimson and pitch-black light flashed simultaneously from the sword imprint on his left arm as Hong’er and You’er appeared at the same time. Dancing red hair and gently floating silver hair drew two gorgeous arcs of light in front of Yun Che.

Jie Yuan’s aura froze when she felt them close at hand before she slowly turned around and looked at them… After that, she suddenly turned around again and closed her eyes.

She said just one look… and she had truly only taken a single look.

“Alright, let them go back,” Jie Yuan said, her voice seemed to be completely void of any emotions as before.

Yun Che responded as he felt a stifling sensation in his heart that he simply could not describe.

He could understand what Jie Yuan felt, he truly could.

She was the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, but she was also a mother!

His thoughts shifted slightly as the vermillion and dark lights that shone from Hong’er’s and You’er’s bodies started to flicker.

It was at this very moment that You’er’s lips moved gently.

“Mother…”

As the light on the sword imprint flashed, both Hong’er and You’er disappeared… Those soft and drowsy words that sounded like someone was mumbling in their sleep had actually caused the most powerful devil in the world to tremble. As time passed by, the trembling unceasingly grew ever more violent. 

“...” Yun Che did not say a word. You’er’s gentle cry had entered the deepest part of his soul. He knew exactly what that hazy and obscured word, a word that sounded like it had been spoken by a young infant, meant to Jie Yuan. 

“Yun Che,” Jie Yuan finally spoke with a trembling voice. It was not that she did not want to control the trembling in her voice, but rather, she could not control it. “Listen to me… your strength was inherited from Ni Xuan and your current status and raidance comes from me!”

“The daughters of Ni Xuan and I are your companions and I have also allowed you to use them as your sword!”

“Their father used his remaining life to leave behind the seed which rescued the current Primal Chaos. Their mother… although she once brought about disaster upon this universe, it was something that the universe owed to her! Furthermore, she did not hesitate to betray and abandon her kin, destroy herself and bestow peace upon this universe!”

“As such, our Hong’er and You’er are worthy of all of the kindness of this universe! No one can… No one has the right to hurt them! If there ever comes a day where someone harms them, you must never let that person off, no matter who it is!”

“Even if it is the entire universe that harms them and mistreats them, you would still need to… massacre the entire universe!!”

After a short period of silence, Yun Che nodded his head gently and said, “Yes.”

Although, he did not believe that such a matter would occur, he knew that Jie Yuan had the right to say something like that.