Against the Gods

The three young Golden Crow disciples carefully walked over with bowed heads. They stood in a row and looked like three little kids who had committed a grave mistake and were awaiting their punishment.

Huo Poyun shook his head at their appearance and smiled. “Alright, alright. There’s no need to be discouraged. Even I had to concede defeat before Brother Yun, much less the lot of you. Are you all satisfied now?”

“We are, we are.” The boy on the left nodded repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, Big Brother Yun. Not only have we overestimated our capabilities, we even… offended you.” The boy on the right also bowed deeply when he said this.

“I can’t believe you’re so strong, Big Brother Yun… No wonder Senior Brother Poyun praised you so highly. We were unconvinced about your strength earlier but now… we were wrong.”

A cultivator’s profound art affected one’s temperament a lot; this was something Yun Che had known for a long time. Snow Song Realm’s cultivators cultivated extremely powerful ice profound arts, so they were so even tempered that they were almost detached. Just the same, Flame God Realm’s cultivators had completely different personalities because they cultivated extremely powerful fire profound arts. Most of them were pretty much unyielding and outspoken.

They wore their emotions on their sleeves and if they lost to someone they initially didn’t agree with, they would submit to them wholeheartedly. They never hid or pent up their emotions.

“Hahaha, there’s nothing to worry about. No discord, no concord, right?” Yun Che was never a person to put on airs, “Oh right, I haven’t asked for your names.”

“Hello, Big Brother Yun. My name is Huo Liaoyuan (fire that burns the plains),” said the boy on the right.

“Hello, Big Brother Yun. My name is Huo Liaotian (fire that burns the sky),” said the boy on the left.

“Hello, Big Brother Yun. My name is Huo Liao… ah, no! My name is Huo Wenrou (gentle fire),” said the girl in the middle.

“...” Yun Che cast a wordless glance at the young girl… just who is the blind fellow who says that a person’s personality is like their name!

Huo Poyun looked around and asked doubtfully, “Brother Yun, why is Master not with you?”

“He had to leave due to something urgent.” Yun Che hesitated for a moment but ultimately revealed the truth, “It seems like the condition of Sect Master Huo’s son has worsened.”

“Ah!?” The three young disciples exclaimed at the same time.

Huo Poyun also looked shocked to hear this. After that, he let out a soft sigh, “I see… Brother Yun, this place is desolate and barren, so there aren’t many places at all that I can show you. If I may ask, what will be your plan, Brother Yun?”

Yun Che looked towards the south, “I heard that the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison is just hundreds of miles away to the south. If you are free, can you lead me to the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison for a visit? To be honest, I’ve been looking forward to this since the day I heard about this place.”

“I…” Huo Poyun looked troubled, “If this was any other time, your request would be not be a problem at all. But right now, the horned dragon is…”

Huo Poyun suddenly changed his tune after wrinkling his eyebrows, “Never mind. If it is your wish, then why not? The horned dragon won’t be showing its face yet anyway.”

The duo immediately jumped up into the air and flew towards the south while enduring heat waves. Although they were still hundreds of miles away from their destination, Yun Che could see at first glance that the southern part of this land was completely scarlet and bright red. It looked like the burning lava of hell.

“I heard that the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison extends to five hundred thousand kilometers and eternally burning. What a miraculous place this is. It’s no wonder that it could nurture a terrifying creature like the ancient horned dragon.” Yun Che sighed.

Huo Poyun said, “The Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison is what created the Flame God Realm. If the fire of the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison were to vanish one day, then the Flame God Realm would also cease to exist. Speaking of which, I’ve heard of the ancient horned dragon of the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison since I was aware of this world. However, I’ve never actually seen it with my own eyes. It would be nice to be able to finally fulfill this wish.”

Yun Che said smilingly, “Unfortunately, it may appear that the disciples of later generations will never get to witness an ancient horned dragon in their lives.”

“Hahahaha,” Huo Poyun laughed loudly but it faded away quickly as a complicated look overtook his face. “The reason the masters are so anxious to hunt down the ancient horned dragon is all for my sake. In fact, after they succeed they will lose a great amount of profound strength… and even lifespan. Hah, what virtues or abilities do I have to deserve such treatment?”

Yun Che shook his head, “It is exactly because you are deserving that they are so willing and anxious to pay the price. They are not doing it just for you but also the future of the Flame God Realm. Therefore, you don’t need to be afraid of this kindness. Instead, you should accept it calmly and repay it to the best of your ability in the future.”

Huo Poyun fell silent for a moment before his expression cleared up. He smiled honestly, “You are right, Brother Yun! I will do everything I can to get into the Profound God Convention’s top thousand… I will not disappoint my master and the two sect masters.”

Yun Che nodded but on the inside he was incredibly envious of Huo Poyun… Sigh, all I want is the qualification to enter the Profound God Convention. Forget the top thousand spot, I’ll be satisfied if I can come in last in the entire Eastern Divine Region… unfortunately, it is a task that is as difficult as a mortal scaling the heavens.

Comparison really kills.

“Although you’ve never succeeded before in the past, I can see that my master and the three sect masters of the Flame God Realm are pretty confident in their chances this time. So I believe that someone who will shock the entire God Realm will soon appear in the Flame God Realm. Who knows, maybe the Flame God Realm will skyrocket to become an upper star realm after the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm has emerged,” Yun Che said sincerely.

“Alright!” Huo Poyun nodded strongly, “For those words, Brother Yun, I swear that I will become one of the top thousand cultivators in the Profound Divine Convention even if I have to risk my life!”

The duo flew very quickly and the distance between them and the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison kept shortening over time. Although they were still dozens of miles away from the place, a sea of flames that seemed to engulf both the land and the blue sky had filled every part of their vision.

“Speaking of which… I don’t think that that ancient horned dragon has ever left the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison, has it?” Yun Che asked suddenly after a thought hit his mind. Although the ancient horned dragon was so strong that even the three Flame God sect masters combined were no match for it at all, they didn’t seem afraid that the creature would turn around and attack the Flame God Realm.

“That is true.” Huo Poyun nodded, “According to my master, the ancient horned dragon is very likely a creature that was born from the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison’s flame veins. The Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison is its source of power and both its power and its aura are connected to the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison. If it stays away from the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison for too long, it will lose its power and life swiftly, like a fish away from water.”

“That is why the ancient horned dragon has never been recorded leaving the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison. If that was the case, the Flame God Realm would have been struck by disaster already.”

“I see.” Yun Che responded understandingly before asking again, “If its aura is connected to the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison, doesn’t that mean that it’s impossible to sense where it is unless it appears on its own?”

“Of course.” Huo Poyun nodded again, “When it sinks into the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison, its aura will become merged with the place itself. Therefore, probably not even your master could sense where it is. The ancient horned dragon sheds its scales only once every one thousand years and it must move away from the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison during that time. This is also the only time we can detect it, every one thousand years.”

“No wonder.”

Rmmmbb——

The sound of churning seas of flame came from afar and the heat waves that had been surging against their faces immediately grew several times stronger. From afar, the flames of the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison surged to the sky as if a thousand volcanoes had erupted in unison. Even better, this was just a common heat wave in the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison.

It was at this moment the air coming towards them abruptly slowed as a fiery red figure abruptly appeared before them. An invisible wall forced both Yun Che and Huo Poyun to stop.

The person before them was a naturally intimidating old man with a serious and overcast expression on his face. He looked slightly surprised to see Huo Poyun but relaxed immediately as he asked, “Why have you come here, Poyun? And the person beside you…”

“Elder Wantu.” Huo Poyun wasn’t surprised at all to see the elder. He saluted him quickly and said, “This is the Snow Song Realm King’s direct disciple, Yun Che. This is the first time he’s in the Flame God Realm and I am taking him for a visit around the inferno prison.”

“Oh? So he’s…” The elder’s gaze on Yun Che changed immediately when he heard this. A moment of hesitation later, he said seriously, “Alright, you may pass. However, the ancient horned dragon may appear at any moment. You will be in great danger if it happens to be roaming around here somewhere, so you absolutely mustn’t go beyond the edge of the inferno prison.”

“Don’t worry, Elder Wantu. Brother Yun and I are simply here to check out the inferno prison at close range. We will be returning very soon and we absolutely won’t enter the inferno prison,” Huo Poyun promised.

The elder nodded slowly, “That will be best.” Before he left, he added, “You absolutely must be careful.”

The elder cast another deep glance at Yun Che before he finally left.

“He is the Vermillion Bird Sect’s great elder, Yan Wantu,” Huo Poyun introduced.

“Great elder?” Yun Che looked surprised.

“Every time we try to hunt down the dragon, the strongest experts of all sects will come together at this place. While the main group is fighting against the ancient horned dragon, they will guard this area and protect us young disciples from getting hurt by the shockwave.” Huo Poyun explained, “The Vermillion Bird Sect is not the only sect on guard duty. The top thirty elders of all three sects are mostly gathered around this place.”

Yun Che’s eyebrows wriggled as he asked, “You said that the ancient horned dragon cannot be detected while it is in the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison. Naturally, it is impossible to know where it’ll show up on the map. The Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison is five hundred thousand kilometers wide and the margin of error is huge to say the least. However, you are setting guards around here as if you are very certain that it will appear nearby.”

“Of course we’re sure.” Huo Poyun smiled, “That’s because the ancient horned dragon always sheds its scales around the northern shore and it never goes beyond a few thousand meters away. The closest it ever got to the northern shore was recorded at one thousand five hundred kilometers and the furthest was less than five thousand kilometers. There has never been an exception.”

“It is very obvious that its lair is somewhere around the northern shore. Therefore, we can’t go wrong by stationing guards around this area.”

“Oh, I see.” Yun Che nodded in understanding again. However, another question quickly surfaced in his mind… if the dragon was at least several thousand kilometers away from the shore, then it was impossible to catch sight of it no matter how powerful one’s eyes were. However, Huo Poyun also said earlier that he could finally see this legendary ancient horned dragon with his own eyes, so what did he mean by that?

They quickly covered the remaining hundreds of kilometer distance and arrived at the edge of the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison.

Here, there was no longer any ground that was burned red by the flames. There was only a vast, boundless, boiling red sea of hell that would stun anyone who saw it.

This fiery sea had boiled for at least a million years.

Here, the sky had long since been scorched into the same red color. At a glance, it was impossible to find the boundary line between the blue sky and the red sky. It was almost as if the boundless sky itself had been devoured by this terrific fiery hell.

The air in this place was so hot that even a divine way profound practitioner could hardly endure it. It was incredibly likely that any refined steel that was brought into this place would melt just by touching the air around this place.

Inside the churning sea of flames, a huge amount of dancing fire spirits could be seen.

The Illusory Demon Realm’s one thousand five hundred kilometer Sea of Death was the scariest and most extreme place to exist in the entire realm. There were literally no demon emperors before the Little Demon Empress that dared approach it.

But compared to this five hundred thousand kilometer wide Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison, the Sea of Death was like a tiny stream be it in terms of size, intensity, or aura. The two were completely incomparable.

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Author's Note:

This chapter’s important keywords: “undetectable after entering the Ancient God Burying Inferno Prison” and “lair”.