Against the Gods

Luo Shangchen knew that this would happen the moment Luo Guxie had lost her mind and attacked Yun Che.

Luo Guxie had been reclusive since she was young, and she bore a deep hatred towards her biological father. Although she had left the Holy Eaves Realm a long time ago, her talent and profound perception were extraordinarily high. She had never relied on the Holy Eaves Realm during her passage to become the number one profound practitioner of the Eastern Divine Region.

Shockingly, no one knew who her master was to this day, not even Luo Shangchen.

“Fairy Guxie” was famous throughout the Eastern Divine Region. Her profound status alone gave her power over all lower, middle and higher realm kings of Eastern Divine Region. Of course, the fact that she had top tier cultivation meant that her cultivation of the heart was just as great. A strange and reclusive person she might be, but she would never—had never, lost control over herself… until now.

No one could believe that Luo Guxie would do such a thing, but Luo Shangchen knew full well that Luo Changsheng was his sister’s darling. She would’ve been sad for a long time if Changsheng suffered even the tiniest scratch on his skin, much less being trampled on in public like this.

Luo Shangchen inhaled deeply before answering in a calm voice, “Guxie has always thought it beneath her to admit her roots, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s my younger sister and my son’s master. Holy Eaves Realm is definitely at fault here.”

“Guxie’s blunder may be hard to forgive, but fortunately Yun Che is safe and sound, and Guxie herself is seriously wounded. One might say that she has received the punishment she deserves. Therefore, I’d like to request a favor from Eternal Heaven Realm. Please, allow me to take Guxie and Changsheng away for treatment. Once they are both healed, I will personally bring Guxie over to receive her punishment no matter what that may be.”

Luo Shangchen’s reply caught Honorable Qu Hui by surprise. Not only had he phrased his appeal in absolute humility, not trying to fight Eternal Heaven Realm’s judgment whatsoever, he could sense a deep sense of disappointment—even despair!—behind every word he spoke.

“My lord?” Honorable Qu Hui turned away and looked at the Eternal Heaven God Emperor for guidance.

But his emperor’s mind was clearly not on this matter, because he raised a hand and said simply, “Leave, Holy Eaves Realm King. You don’t need to bring Guxie back for punishment, but tell her that she may not put even half a foot past Holy Eaves Realm’s borders for the next one thousand years.”

It sounded like the god emperor had given Luo Shangchen permission to take Luo Guxie and Luo Changsheng away for treatment, but in reality he was exiling her from his realm.

Luo Shangchen didn’t say anything. Bringing Luo Changsheng and Luo Guxie with him, he floated into the air and flew away soundlessly. Everyone from the Holy Eaves Realm followed behind him.

They had come to the Eternal Heaven Realm as the strongest star realm of the Eastern Divine Region, but they had left like a dog with its tail between its legs.

The punishment the Eternal Heaven God Emperor gave wasn’t exactly severe, but no one raised any objections regarding the matter. The Holy Eaves Realm was still a king realm, and Luo Guxie was still the strongest profound practitioner of the Eastern Divine Region. Not even the Eternal Heaven Realm could claim that they were completely immune to the threat presented by such as Luo Guxie and Luo Shangchen themselves—especially Luo Guxie.

Also, Luo Guxie was without a doubt the victimizer of this matter, but Yun Che wasn’t really the victim—the Holy Eaves Realm was. After today, everyone from Luo Changan, to Luo Changsheng, to Luo Guxie had lost practically all of their honor and pride.

Since they had already suffered the consequences of their own actions, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor found no need to add salt to injury and earn even more spite than there already was.

A loser was ultimately just the loser. The people quickly shifted their attention onto the winner after the moment had passed.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor stood up and declared loudly, “With this, this term’s Profound God Convention officially draws to a close. The three preliminary battles found us one thousand Conferred God candidates, and the Conferred God Battle was exciting to say the least, and displayed the splendor of Eastern Divine Region’s juniors to the utmost. Yun Che and Luo Changsheng’s battle for first place especially was astounding even for us, and it deserves to be recorded in our history.”

“Luo Changsheng is the youngest Divine King in history, and Yun Che drew nine stages of tribulation lightning. They are both born in the Eastern Divine Region, so they are undoubtedly a blessing and a gift the heaven itself has granted us. The Eastern Divine Region will undoubtedly shine brighter than ever before…”

This Profound God Convention was held because of a coming calamity, and the strength of the Conferred God Children who participated in this term’s Conferred God Battle far exceeded all other participants in the past. This also added to the impression that they were born to fight the coming calamity.

The Profound God Convention officially drew to an end after the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had given his ending speech. Thirty one names—the ranking of the Conferred God Children—quickly appeared on the screen.

There were no qualifiers in a God Conferred Battle; only elimination rounds. Therefore, the participants’ rankings were completely determined by the god emperors based on their strength and overall performance.

First place: Yun Che.

Second place: Luo Changsheng. Third place: Shui Yingyue.

Fourth place: Jun Xilei.

The first four names on the ranking list represented the new God Children of the Eastern Divine Region. Having beaten all four former God Children, Yun Che proudly sat in first place and became the rightful representative of all of the Eastern Divine Region’s young generation.

Surprisingly, Shui Meiyin showed up at fifth place on the ranking board. She was by far the youngest cultivator to ever participate in the Conferred God Battle and the Profound God Convention.

Meanwhile, the denizens of the Snow Song Realm were sitting primly in their seats with red faces. Contrary to what others might expect, they hadn’t turned red due to excitement. Rather, they were sunk in a deep sense of disbelief. They had just ascended from a middling existence to the center of attention of the whole Eastern Divine Region, and it was an honor they hadn’t even dreamed of, much less possessed before.

That was why they were bathed in a strong sense of unreality even now.

Mu Huanzhi grabbed his long, white beard and pulled so hard that his face became distorted. Even then, he refused to let go as if it was the only way he could confirm that he wasn’t living a dream of the most illusory kind.

Mu Bingyun stared at Yun Che with blurry eyes for a very long time… He had finally become champion of the Conferred God Battle. He actually succeeded in accomplishing his wish.

He had created too many miracles to come this far.

Behind all those miracles were his obsession, conviction, struggles, blood… and even his own life.

This was the outcome he rightfully deserved!

Right now, the only thing she wanted for was for all his troubles to finally come to an end, now that his wish had finally been fulfilled.

But...

Deep worry suddenly entered Mu Bingyun’s icy eyes even though she was still soaked in deep relief.

It was because Yun Che’s light was too bright right now...

He had defeated a Divine Spirit as a Divine Tribulation.

And he had defeated a Divine King as a Divine Spirit.

Besides having three types of divine power similar to the three elements Luo Changsheng possessed, he also had an incredibly powerful dragon soul.

He had drawn a never-seen-before nine stage lightning tribulation to the God Realm...

He had commanded the power of the heavens themselves to wound Luo Guxie severely…

…………

Any one of these achievements could’ve astounded the entire profound cultivating world, but when they were all gathered onto just one person… the kind of commotion it would trigger, the kind of consequences and attention it would bring...

Mu Bingyun could neither imagine nor predict what was going to happen next because Yun Che’s light was so bright that it would dazzle even in a king realm.

“...The Four Conferred God Children of this session’s Profound God Convention, Yun Che, Luo Changsheng, Shui Yingyue, and Jun Xilei, will be granted a Celestial Time Jade as a reward.”

“Celestial Time Jade? What’s that?” Huo Poyun asked in a low tone.

“It’s one of the greatest profound jades in the entire God Realm,” Huo Rulie explained. “It's nickname is the “Stone of Eternity”, and it’s even better than the Jade of the Nine Suns.”

“Better than the Jade of the Nine Suns?” Huo Poyun was shocked.

“The Celestial Time Jade only exists in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, and every single one contains enough energy to rival a small star. That's also how its name came to be. It can be used to forge the absolute best profound artifacts and profound formations, and it can be used as an energy source for profound ships. A single Celestial Time Jade can power even that Divine Martial Heavenly Palace you saw at Divine Martial Realm for at least dozens of years!”

Huo Poyun’s mouth was wide open by the time he was done explaining.

“Yun Che,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor continued, “as the champion of the Conferred God Battle, you’ll be granted an unprecedented prize. You may choose to cultivate any one profound art or profound technique from any one of the four king realms, namely the Brahma Heaven Monarch Realm, Star God Realm, Moon God Realm, or the Eternal Heaven God Realm. As long as it doesn’t touch the taboo, we will teach you everything there is behind your choice.”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor smiled, “If you have a choice in your mind already, you may voice it right now. If not, you may consider this for several days.”

But before Yun Che could answer, the Brahma Heaven God Emperor suddenly spoke up. “Wait. There’s something I’d like to say first.”

“Oh?” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor looked sideways.

A smile spread across the Brahma Heaven God Emperor’s face, but his eyes were staring straight at Yun Che. “Yun Che, there is something that confounds me quite deeply. Of course, no one denies that you’re an extraordinarily talented profound practitioner, considering that you’ve attracted a nine stage lightning tribulation that would’ve been rare during the dawn of time, much less now. Even I am incredibly impressed by your feat. But here’s my question: the power of that nine stage lightning tribulation is terrifying even to me, because I would’ve crumbled into dust already had I been in your place. Yet you, you are clearly unharmed. Can you tell us why?”

Yun Che, “...”

Every eye was set on Yun Che, hoping to catch the slightest change in expression or gaze. What the Brahma Heaven God Emperor asked was the elephant in the room everyone wanted to know.

“That is a great question!” God Emperor Shitian said smilingly, “Tsk, tsk, to think that the Brahma Heaven God Emperor himself would lose his cool before me. Well, I can’t blame you for that, it isn’t everyday you find something that confounds even the great Brahma Heaven God Emperor himself, not at all.”

He then shifted his gaze to the Dragon Monarch and asked, “Yun Che is a human of the Eastern Divine Region, but he also a high level dragon soul… one that may very well be the soul of a Master Dragon. I’m sure you want to know why a being of the highest level in this plane would willingly grant its soul to a young human, don’t you, lord Dragon Monarch?”

But the Dragon Monarch didn’t change his expression in the slightest. He answered indifferently, “Yun Che’s dragon soul is a Master Dragon’s soul.”

The Dragon Monarch’s answer caused a commotion among the crowd… a Master Dragon was a title that was granted only to dragons who had reached Divine Master Realm. A dragon was the pinnacle of all living beings, and a Divine Master dragon was the strongest existence there was in the entire God Realm. All living beings must bow before a Master Dragon.

Yun Che, “...”

“But,” Dragon Monarch continued, “a dragon’s soul can only be gifted willingly, not robbed. Since the Master Dragon was willing to grant part of their dragon soul to Yun Che, it may be that Yun Che has done them a great favor, or that Yun Che possesses extraordinary talent. Whatever their reason may be, it is a fact that they have willingly granted Yun Che their soul.”

“In that case, it doesn’t matter how Yun Che came by his dragon soul, or who gave it to him in the first place, does it?”

Shitian God Emperor was immediately stumped for words. The Brahma Heaven God Emperor’s eyebrows moved a bit as well.

The Dragon Monarch was also clearly implying: how Yun Che survived his nine stage lightning tribulation has nothing to do with any of you.

“Ying’er very much agrees with you, Senior Dragon Monarch.”

A female voice suddenly brushed past everyone’s hearts like a celestial chord. It caused their souls to tremble a little.

It was Qianye Ying’er.

Qianye Ying’er had attended the grand final out of nowhere, but she had also remained perfectly silent throughout the fight, making next to no remarks at all. That was why she had instantly attracted everyone’s attention and gazes the moment she spoke up. Even the Brahma Heaven God Emperor himself had frowned a little in doubt… He knew full well that his daughter was no kind and understanding person.

Unless...

“If you don’t want to explain you survived a nine stage lightning tribulation safely, you can keep silent, Yun Che. No one has the right to force an answer out of you,” Qianye Ying’er said slowly. “A secret is a secret only if it isn’t known, after all.”

She was surrounded by a group of god emperors, but she spoke as if she was declaring a heavenly decree, as if she was above all of them.

The god emperors frowned at her declaration. The Brahma Heaven God Emperor looked puzzled, but didn’t attempt to pursue the matter further or refute Qianye Ying’er’s words.

But Yun Che’s heart abruptly jolted in fear.

Qianye Ying’er was clearly helping him out of an awkward situation, but for some reason her words only made him felt chilled from head to toe.

Her mysterious golden mask covered half her face and her eyes, so he couldn’t truly meet her gaze. But Yun Che had the distinct feeling that she had seen through him all the way down to his soul.

He had always had this feeling when he met experts far stronger than he was, but it had never been as profound as today.

Brahma Monarch Goddess… Qianye Ying’er...

He carved her name deeply into his heart.

She might have made herself known for only a few seconds, but he still labeled her as the most dangerous person he had ever met in his life… bar none!