Against the Gods

Eastern Divine Region, Star God Realm.

Under the Absolute Star Soul Barrier, the vast Star God Realm had become completely isolated from the rest of the world. No one could enter or exit.

The atmosphere within the Star God Realm was heavier than it had ever been before. They were all extremely convinced that there was something grand happening in Star God City, yet none of them knew exactly what it was.

Furthermore, there were more Absolute Star Soul Barriers than the two that outsiders could see...

There were actually four!

Besides the ones which surrounded the Star God Realm and Star God City, there were two smaller barriers. One surrounded the figures of scores of people who were sitting down cross-legged, and the smallest was within that small barrier, and it only contained the small and delicate figure of a single girl.

Jasmine!

Her red hair floated freely and the red dress she wore contrasted sharply with her milk-white face, her ice-cold flawlessness containing traces of a beguiling charm.

She quietly sat inside the barrier, her face cold and detached.

This day had finally arrived.

There were forty-six people in that other barrier, and every single one of these forty-six were people who could shake the entire Eastern Divine Region with a single harsh word.

They were nine of the Twelve Star Gods. Besides Moonflower, who had died a horrible death, Jasmine and Caizhi, all of the Star Gods were gathered here today and the rest of the forty-six was made up by all thirty-seven elders of the Star God Realm!

Among these forty-six people, every single one of them had reached a cultivation level of the Divine Master Realm. Every single one of them was a supreme existence within the Eastern Divine Region. They were the true cornerstones of the Star God Realm and if they were to die, it would be equivalent to the death of the Star God Realm itself.

Besides these people, three thousand Star Guards from Star God City had also been gathered as they mindfully stood watch beside that barrier.

They were all guards, but they were guards of the highest level in this world. The status of any single one of these three thousand Star Guards equaled that of a great realm king from a middle star realm! It was the same when it came to their strength, if one desired to become a Star Guard, one must first become a Divine Sovereign!

If one to were regard the Star Guards as normal guards, then that would undoubtedly be the biggest joke in the entire Eastern Divine Region.

All the Star Gods, thirty-seven elders, three thousand Star Guards… This was the strongest core force the Star God Realm possessed. It was the foundation that allowed them to stand proudly above most of the Eastern Divine Region for tens of thousands of years. Now, all of them had gathered here today and this was a sight that was extremely rare even in the entire history of the Star God Realm. It was clear that something huge was happening today.

It was a momentous event that concerned the future of the Star God Realm in their eyes.

Within the barrier, the Star God Emperor sat in the center, and the other eight Star Gods and thirty-seven elders were seated around him like stars revolving around a moon.

The occasion was incomparably enormous but the world had become incomparably solemn and quiet. This continued until a certain point in time where all the light between heaven and earth suddenly grew more brilliant. At this moment, the Star Gods, whose eyes had all been closed, opened their eyes simultaneously and without prompting.

“The rippling stars have appeared,” the Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi said. “My king, the time has come. The ‘God Conferment Ceremony’ should begin now.”

Those words caused all the Star Gods, elders and Star Guards to look to the side, as all the blood in their bodies started to surge and roil. Following the opening of the Absolute Star Soul Barrier, these three thousand Star Guard also found out what this ceremony was about and what it meant. They knew that the “God Conferment” being spoken about was definitely not the award that the rest of the world knew about, they were talking about a true stepping from the mortal into the divine.

The profound strength of the Star God Emperor had already reached the limits of humanity… the limit that no human had ever managed to break through before. If the combination of a Star God’s power with another Star God’s power could really cause a transformation that would allow one to break through those limits… then what lay beyond those limits was very likely to be the legendary Way of the True Gods.

Even if he could come into contact with just a fraction of it, the Star God Emperor would also become the supreme ruler of all under heaven, rising above all other living creatures, and the Star God Realm would also undoubtedly reached a height that they had never seen before.

The Star God Emperor opened both eyes and looked at Jasmine, who was inside the other barrier. He gave a light sigh before saying, “Jasmine, I know you hate me to the very core of your being, and the fact that you hate me is also deserved. After the ceremony, no matter what the result may be, the Star God Realm will forever remember your sacrifice and I will also be forever proud of you.”

Jasmine’s eyes opened by a fraction, leaking out an icy-cold bloody light, “The Star God Realm will forever remember my sacrifice? Heh… Old villain, sacrificing your very own daughter in order to fulfill your own ambitions. Do you really have the face to leave such a despicable and ugly act in the records of history?”

Those ice-cold words caused an awkward expression to appear on most of the Star Guards as well as quite a number of Star Gods and elders.

No ripples appeared in the Star God Emperor’s expression, “From the moment I inherited the position of Star God Emperor, I no longer belonged to myself. All of my thoughts and all of my actions must put the Star God Realm first. Since I became the Star God Emperor, I became unworthy of being a father.”

“Now the Moon God Realm has been looking at us like a tiger eyeing its prey. The Brahma Monarch God Realm has always been full of wild ambition, and a bizarre crack has appeared in the east of the Primal Chaos, an unknown danger that could erupt at any moment. If sacrificing one person will allow the Star God Realm to move up a level and make it so that no ones dares to bully or threaten us. Then, even if it is my very own daughter, I also will not hesitate in the slightest. And you, as the…”

“Shut your mouth!” Jasmine coldly rebuked him before he could even finish speaking. Her eyes slanted towards him and an extremely cold and contemptuous smile played across her face, “Now I think I finally understand what it means when they say even though you’ve lead the life of a whore, you still want a monument to your chastity. Old villain, keep those pretentious and highfalutin words to yourself, I’m afraid that if you continue talking, you’ll move yourself to the point where tears might leak out of your eyes!”

Within the barrier, Jasmine raised her hand and pointed it at the Star God Emperor. “I no longer wish to hear any more of your crap, because every single word that comes from your mouth makes me feel sick. You better remember well the things that you’ve promised me. From now on, you are not to allow Caizhi to come to the slightest bit of harm. Also, hide what happened today for as long as you can. If not, even if I become a ghost, I will also definitely not let you off!”

“Sigh…” After hearing his own daughter curse him with such venom, the Star God Emperor could not help but let out a long sigh, “Don’t worry, one can only carry out this kind of ceremony once in their lives. Even though I am not worthy of being a father… in order to make up for what I owe you, I will definitely treat Caizhi kindly for the rest of her life. Even if she comes to hate me just like you do once she discovers everything, I will also definitely not allow anyone to harm a single hair on her head.”

“Furthermore…” The Star God Emperor said with a faint smile and it seemed to be rather proud smile at that, “Caizhi’s compatibility with the Heavenly Wolf’s divine power far exceeds that of Xisu’s, so in the future, I’m afraid that nobody in this universe will be able to bully her anymore.”

“My king,” Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi urged, “every instant the Absolute Star Soul Barrier is maintained causes us to incur a great loss. Since the rippling stars have appeared, then we should begin sooner rather than later.”

In the Ancient Era, the power of the Star Gods came from the stars that dotted the universe themselves. Even though the level of the Star God power after it had been inherited by humans was completely incomparable to the level of power of the true Star Gods who had existed during the Era of Gods, in the end, it still retained its essence and nature.

Furthermore, the Day of Rippling Stars was the one day every hundred years where the brilliance and origin power of the stars were at their strongest. It was also on this day that the power of the Star Gods was at its strongest, so it was naturally the time when the “ceremony” had the best chance of succeeding.

The Star God Emperor gave a faint nod of his head. The gazes of both him and the Heavenly Origin Star God crossed and a strange light flashed in the depths of both their eyes.

Clang...

With the Star God Emperor at its center, a gigantic profound formation flared to life. Following a gesture made by the Star God Emperor, the light of the barrier that surrounded Jasmine suddenly changed. After a strange change occurred to the Absolute Star Soul Barrier… the profound energy of the nine Star Gods and thirty-seven elders linked and merged together, and an incomparably huge amount of pressure firmly pressed down on Jasmine and locked her in place.

Jasmine’s body dramatically sank to the ground. Even as strong as she was, she could not resist this kind of heavy pressure in any way. In fact, even moving her body was exceptionally difficult, much less using any profound energy. The barrier that she was sealed within was no longer the pure Absolute Star Soul Barrier and even though she was a Star God, she would no longer be able to escape it.

However, she did not panic in the slightest, she merely coldly closed her eyes.

It was just that her eyelashes were trembling incessantly.

Yun Che, without me, you still have Caizhi. Remember the vow you made to me, the vow you made to Caizhi… Never ever forget.

Caizhi, without me, you still have Yun Che, you need to be concerned for him, protect him and never ever allow your heart and soul to truly fall into the abyss...

“Big Sister… Big Sister!!”

As she softly mumbled those words in her heart, a panicked and flustered yell suddenly rang out… Jasmine’s eyes shot open because that was, shockingly enough, Caizhi’s voice.

All the Star Gods, elders and Star Guards instantly looked to the side, their faces filled with shock.

A delicate and colorful figure descended from the sky. Caizhi arrived, and with a glance, she saw the forces arrayed below her, a gathering that was so shocking that it was hard to believe, as well as Jasmine, who was inside her own independent barrier.

“Big Sister!!”

Caizhi fiercely hurtled downwards. Upon seeing this, the Star God Emperor gave a long sigh and said in a powerless voice, “Do not stop her.”

BANG!!

Caizhi’s body fiercely slammed against the barrier, but she was unable to pass through it. She lay on top of the barrier as she yelled in an extremely frenetic and anxious manner, “Big Sister, what’s going on? What exactly are you all doing? Tell me… Hurry up and tell me!!”

“Caizhi…” Jasmine was at a complete loss and she could not explain it either. Her expression was filled with pain and after that she fiercely whirled and looked towards Xing Juekong, “Old villain! You… actually…”

The Star God Emperor bent his head and sighed, “I had originally given her a good enough reason to stay away, so I did not think that she would come back so suddenly… Caizhi has a clever mind and her heart is also closely linked with yours, so perhaps she sensed something? Sigh.”

Yet another sigh issued from his lips and this sigh contained a deep helplessness.

Caizhi turned around and due to her huge shock and unease, her face had turned a ghastly white, “You all… What do all of you intend to do to Big Sister? Hurry up and release Big Sister, release Big Sister!!”

“Caizhi, it is hard to explain this matter with a few words,” the Star God Emperor said. “Fine, perhaps this is also the will of heaven. Spend some time to have a good talk with Jasmine.”

Upon saying that, his hand gestures changed slightly.

The light shining from the barrier disappeared and it turned back into the normal Absolute Star Soul Barrier yet again. Caizhi had originally used all her strength to collide with the barrier, so once the barrier changed, she fell straight in and directly on top of Jasmine’s body. She did not even wait to get up to cling to Jasmine as she said in a frightened voice, “Big Sister, what exactly is going on? Hurry up and tell me! Is it that they want to…”

CLANG——

An exceptionally grating clanging sound suddenly rang out and the barrier that had just regained its original form changed yet again. The dreadful oppressive might that came from the nine Star Gods, thirty-seven elders and a countless amount of divine jade descended upon Jasmine and Caizhi, firmly suppressing both of them.

Jasmine grew stunned, and after that her expression abruptly changed as a sense of extremely great unease and fear surged up in her heart, “Old villain! What are you doing!? Hurry up and let Caizhi out!!”

All the Star Gods, elders and Star Guards were also completely shocked by this, and none of them understood what was happening. Only the Star God Emperor and the Heavenly Origin Star God had a weird light gleaming in their eyes. The Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi let out a light breath before saying, “As such, the key requirements of the ‘ceremony’ have been met and the God Conferment Ceremony of our king is finally about to truly begin.”

The atmosphere in Star God City changed slightly and all the Star Guards were looking at one another. Within the barrier, upon hearing the Heavenly Origin Star God’s words, Jasmine’s eyes suddenly went dark, as the fear and unease in her heart erupted like millions of lightning bolts exploding in the sky, causing all of the blood in her body to crazily rush to her head in a single instant...

“Old… Villain… You… You!!!”

Those short four words contained an extremely deep pain and hatred… as if she had suddenly realized something.

Caizhi still remained on top of Jasmine and she had been so suppressed that she could not even move, her pale white face filled with fear and shock.

“My king, what exactly is going on?” The Heavenly Aster Star God Shenhu asked with furrowed brows.

The other Star Gods and elders also turned their eyes towards the Star God Emperor. The scene that was unfolding in front of them was completely different from what they expected.

“Heh heh,” the Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi gave a bland chuckle. “My king, allow this old one to explain this matter. The ceremony is being powered by all of you and the two royal highnesses are also going to sacrifice themselves for the future of the Star God Realm. So they have the right to know everything as well.”

“...” The Star God Emperor gave a faint nod of his head.

Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi did not look towards Jasmine because he knew that she would definitely be looking at him with a gaze filled with hate, a gaze that told him that she hated that she could not grind his bones to dust. Instead he started speaking in an extremely calm voice, “As all of you know, the power of the ancestral Star Gods came from the Star God bloodlines and the ‘Star God Divine Canon’ left behind from the Era of Gods. And in a part of that Star God Divine Canon, there was a page that had been sealed. It was the seal left behind by a True God. So naturally, no mortal man could hope to break it. As a result, we have never been able to figure out what was recorded on that page.”

“But no matter how strong a seal is, it will also gradually begin to erode with the passing of time. So in our king’s era, the seal was finally broken. Furthermore, the page that was sealed in the Divine Canon recorded a blood sacrifice technique that would allow the power of the Star Gods to combine.

The reason why this page had been sealed was clearly because this blood sacrifice technique was far too cruel and heartless. It went against the laws of heaven and society, so the person who sealed it had not desired their descendents to know about it, and desired even less for their descendents to use it… But this was something that the Heavenly Origin Star God naturally would not bring up.

“The blood sacrifice technique said that the power of a Star God could be combined with another Star God via this technique, causing a transformation to occur in that power. Furthermore, to achieve this combination, the sacrificed Star God and the Star God who is receiving the sacrifice must be blood relatives within one generation of each other. That is also to say one’s own birth parents, siblings and children. Furthermore…”

“If you sacrifice one Star God, a success would mean that one’s power would increase. But if one wanted to achieve a ‘transformation’ that would allow one to break through the limits, then the number of sacrifices…”

“Needs to be two Star Gods!!”

“What!?” All of the Star Gods and elders’ expressions changed slightly. As incredibly strong and mighty Divine Masters, now that it had come to this, how could they still not understand what was going on.

Crk… Crk… Crk…. Jasmine’s teeth ground together so hard that it was if she wanted them to break as her entire body shuddered. Caizhi had also fallen into a complete stupor as if she had been caught in some sort of nightmare.

“For three relatives within a generation of each other to become Star Gods was something unprecedented in the entire history of the Star God Realm. As a result, our king had never even given this method a thought at that time. Even after His Highness Xisu inherited the Heavenly Wolf Star God’s powers, our king still did not think of combining His Highness Xisu’s divine powers with his own. After all, it was merely a pure increase in strength, so it definitely wasn’t comparable to the might of two Star God powers.”

“But on that day twenty years ago, the Heavenly Slaughter divine power that had slumbered for a very long time suddenly reacted to Her Highness Jasmine, this meant that Her Highness Jasmine had the qualifications to inherit the Heavenly Slaughter divine powers and become the Heavenly Slaughter Star God. As such, our king would have two children who had become Star Gods.”

After that the Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi raised his head with a sigh and continued, “If he could combine the Star God divine power of the two Highnesses Xisu and Jasmine, then our king would possibly be able to touch the Way of the True Gods. And from then on, he would replace the Dragon Monarch as the supreme ruler of heaven and earth, and no one would dare to bully or threaten us anymore.”

“This was a destiny gifted to us by the heavens! It was a blessing upon our king and also a blessing upon our Star God Realm!”

“But, this matter could not be accomplished by the will of our king alone, if their Highnesses Xisu and Jasmine were unwilling, it would be hard to accomplish. If our king attempted to coerce them, the two Highnesses would definitely resist him and they might even forever leave the Star God Realm. And if one were to carry it out behind the scenes, then just the huge amount of preparation alone would be easily detected by his Highness Xisu.”

“As a result, this old one presented a suggestion to our king. We would temporarily conceal the fact that the Heavenly Slaughter divine power had reacted to her Highness Jasmine. After that we would act the opposite way and allow his Highness Xisu to personally discover the existence of this ‘blood sacrifice technique’.”