Against the Gods

Western Divine Region, Dragon God Realm, Forbidden Land of Samsara.

“Mother, have the Spirit Hibiscus Flowers bloomed already?”

It was a very young and tender voice but even though it sounded so young, this voice was unfathomably ethereal. And when one heard it, it was as if a stream of the purest spring water flowed into one’s heart, spring water so pure that it was enough to quietly cleanse all of the filth and wickedness inside of it.

“They’ve already bloomed.”

Shen Xi gently turned around in the center of a sea of purple flowers. The sea of flowers was dazzlingly beautiful but it was not a even fraction of her celestial and sacred beauty.

“That’s simply too awesome! I want to see, I want to see!”

The tender voice shouted excitedly.

“Alright,” Shen Xi gave a light wave of her snowy hand and a cluster of white light gently swept over her lower abdomen.

“WAH! It’s so beautiful,” the tender voice crowed with delight, “but I want to see it with my own eyes.”

Shen Xi gave a faint smile as she shook her head, “Not yet.”

“When exactly will I be born?”

“Nine years,” she gently replied. “These nine years will be very short and they will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“But I feel that it’s really long, I really want to be born sooner. I want to see the Spirit Hibiscus Flowers with my own two eyes, I want to see what Mother looks like with my own two eyes.”

Shen Xi stroked her stomach, her warm and gentle voice laced with remorse, "Mother promises you. After these nine years, I will bring you to every corner of this universe, and we will go see whatever that you want to see, okay?"

“Mnnnn, hee hee…” the young and tender voice grew happy again, “Mother, don’t worry, I’ll be obedient.”

“That’s right Mother,” the young and tender voice’s tone changed, “among the ‘knowledge’ that you have imparted to me, there is a part of it that mentions that every living being will not only have a mother but a father too. Furthermore, the father and mother will be together forever. However, why is Mother all alone by herself? Could it be that I don’t have a father?”

Shen Xi shook her head, “Of course not, your life was given to you by your father.”

“Then why isn’t Father at Mother’s side? Could it be… that thing known as ‘abandonment’?”

“...Your father did not abandon your mother, and it is even more impossible that he will abandon you,” Shen Xi said in the gentlest of tones. “It’s just that he had to go to a rather distant place in order to accomplish an important job. Once you are born, Mother will bring you to see him.”

“Then… what does Father look like? Will he be just as gentle and just as good looking?”

Shen Xi gave a small laugh, “That’s something you will need to see with your own eyes and your own heart and soul.”

“Wuuuu…” the young and tender voice grew small and quiet, “even though I should be obediently listening to what Mother has said, I… still really want to be born soon.”

“...A guest has arrived, Mother will speak to you later.”

Shen Xi got up and with a wave of her snowy hand, a layer of fantastical white light covered her body, hiding her figure, her looks, and all of her aura.

Before too long, the Dragon Monarch descended from the sky. Upon seeing Shen Xi, his dragon eyes revealed a soft gentleness that would not be present at any other time, but his expression was still solemn and serious.

“It looks like that matter with the Evil Infant is not going well,” Shen Xi said frankly.

“We’ve already managed to find some traces of where she went,” the Dragon Monarch gave a short sigh as he spoke, “she escaped into the the God Realm of Absolute Beginning.”

“The world within the God Realm of Absolute Beginning is incomparably vast, it is even more vast than the entire God Realm. Furthermore, there are countless fierce primordial beasts living in there and its aura is heavy and impure,” Shen Xi said calmly, “so the most dangerous place would actually be the place most suited to her needs.”

“That is indeed true,” the Dragon Monarch said with knitted brows, “During this period of time, we were the most worried about her escaping into the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. Because of that, we had set up traps and ambushes around and in the starting area of the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. But who would have thought… Sigh.”

“The Heavenly Slaughter Star God’s ability to conceal herself can be said to be unrivaled under heaven. This isn’t strange at all,” Shen Xi said, but her crescent brows twitched at the same time.

To be able to even perfectly conceal the dark aura emitted by the Evil Infant Wheel of Myriad Tribulations… Had she truly mastered it?

From the last few accounts the Dragon Monarch had given her, the possibility that the Evil Infant Wheel of Myriad Tribulation had actually recognized Jasmine as its master and had not hijacked her body was growing larger and larger in her mind.

“The longer it takes, the more she will recover and the larger the threat will be. However… for her to escape into the God Realm of Absolute Beginning isn’t a completely bad thing. Even though encircling and eliminating her will be extremely difficult, the God Realm of Absolute Beginning is teeming with danger. How many Divine Masters have fallen in that place? There is no way that she will be able to attain any measure of safety and security in that place. In fact, it might just end up with her falling beneath the claws of those fierce primordial beasts without us needing to lift a single finger.”

Shen Xi, “...”

“There is also another situation that is rather suspicious.” The Dragon Monarch continued speaking, “After Xing Juekong disappeared, we lost all contact with him and according to the Star Gods that were by his side at the time, when he disappeared, he had suffered severe injuries. His profound strength was severely wounded and he was not even at half of his usual strength. Given his state, finding him should have been incredibly easy, but all the Star Gods have been searching for him for two months, yet they have found neither hide nor hair.”

“However, the Heavenly Wolf Star God who had also disappeared was said to have appeared in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning as well. Furthermore, it was said that she had appeared in its depths.”

“How about the Moon God Realm?” Shen Xi asked.

“The current Moon God Realm could be said to be in a huge mess,” the Dragon Monarch said. “I did not head over there, but I heard that before Yue Wuya died, he transferred his throne to that foster daughter of his, Xia Qingyue, and that decision was met with the objection of the entire Moon God Realm.”

“Xia Qingyue is from another line and clan. Furthermore, she is only a little girl who hasn’t even reached thirty years of age.” The Dragon Monarch shook his head as he said, “Yue Wuya’s actions are truly hard to understand.”

“Yue Wuya poured ten thousand years of painstaking effort into his realm, so in his eyes, the future of Moon God Realm is definitely more important than anything else. His choice will not be a wrong one," Shen Xi said gently as a strange light flashed in her beautiful eyes … The whole realm had objected to this decision and had been thrown into great chaos, so was this not the the best time for Xia Qingyue to establish her authority? It was now up to Xia Qingyue to make the right decisions.

If she truly had the determination to be the Moon God Emperor, then she would let go of all of her hesitation, compassion, and pity.

The dragon eyes of the Dragon Monarch turned towards her and he gave a faint nod of his head, “Since you have said such a thing, then it definitely can’t be wrong.”

“The current Eastern Divine Region is going through some troubled times right now. I hope it will all be settled sooner rather than later,” Shen Xi said softly before she turned around, “Since you’ve finished what you had to say, you may go.”

The Dragon Monarch stretched out a hand and opened his mouth… He wanted to ask Shen Xi to withdraw her shroud of light profound energy because even though he came here often, it had been a very long time since he had last seen her true appearance.

But as he faced a back so sacred and holy that it could dim everything else, this supreme ruler of the Primal Chaos did not dare to open his mouth in the end. He simply gave a faint nod of his head before swiftly flying away.

Even though he came very often, he only stayed for a very short period of time. Because he knew that Shen Xi liked her peace and quiet and he did not dare disturb her too much because of this. Just being able to see her every now and then... even though the only thing he saw was a figure shrouded by hazy white light, his heart was already satisfied.

After the Dragon Monarch left, a tender voice once again rang in Shen Xi’s heart, “Mother, Mother, who is that person?”

Shen Xi said in a soft and gentle voice, “He is Mother’s junior, a clansman that we have to protect and take care of.”

“Clansman?”

“Once you’ve grown up, you will naturally understand.”

She looked into the distance and the world around her was a sea of fantastically beautiful flowers, but the only thing reflected in her eyes was a expanse of hazy whiteness.

No one knew, nor could anyone understand, what she was thinking about.

————

Blue Pole Star, Profound Sky Continent, Blue Wind Imperial City.

Even though they were accompanied by two Thrones, in order to take care of Yun Che’s frail body, their traveling speed was extremely slow. Their speed was made even slower due to the endless questions Yun Wuxin would pepper them with at every stop. But after ten days, they finally managed to make it to the Blue Wind Imperial City.

Cang Yue was the one who had brought him to the imperial city all those years ago and as image after image from the past flashed through his mind, his heart surged with myriad emotions.

Meanwhile, Yun Wuxin’s extremely long cry of astonishment rang in his ears.

As an imperial city, Blue Wind Imperial City could be said to be extremely small, it was not even a tenth the size of the Divine Phoenix City. In Yun Wuxin’s world, however, these buildings were majestically beautiful and grand. The fact that she could not see to the end of the city in a single glance greatly shook her heart and soul.

Yun Che did not choose to enter from the main gate. He was the greatest pride and savior of Blue Wind Nation, an existence that was tantamount to a god in this nation. If he suddenly made a public appearance after having left for so long, it would definitely cause a huge sensation.

They flew through the air and directly entered the central palace. Even though there were many guards protecting the imperial palace and the security was very tight, with Feng Xian’er and Yun Wuxin, it was all too easy to avoid and get past them.

When they had arrived in the air right above the center of the imperial city, the Blue Wind Imperial Palace and the bedchambers that belonged to him and Cang Yue appeared in his eyes and his heart started to throb even more restlessly.

“Qingyue was the first person to be married to you, but Empress Cang Yue is your proper wife, correct?” Chu Yuechan said in a wispy and ethereal voice as she looked at him.

Yun Che involuntarily nodded her head before his head whipped towards her with lightning speed, “Er… that is…”

“Go and see her.” Chu Yuechan’s words were soft and gentle, “Back in Heavenly Sword Villa, I could already tell that her feelings for you were very deep. Do not let her down.”

“Since she is my proper wife, then you definitely need to go with me to see her,” Yun Che held her hand and he held it very tightly at that.

“Daddy, what is a proper wife?” Yun Wuxin asked curiously.

“Eh, that is…” Yun Che scratched his head before he spoke with much awkwardness, “This question is simply far too profound and complex. Explaining it clearly to you will require a large amount of time. How about I sit you down another day just to tell you about this? How does that sound?”

“...Fine,” Yun Wuxin obediently nodded her head before she pointed below her, “There’s an old grandpa who is coming over.”

“Who is it!? How dare you actually trespass into the Blue Wind Imperial Palace!?”

The man who approached them was dressed all in green, his white beard fluttering in the wind. He had the air and disposition of an immortal. Yun Che glanced towards him: As expected, it was the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s Palace Chief Dongfang Xiu!

Palace Chief Dongfang’s loud roar could be said to be so majestic and imposing that it shook the heavens and the earth, but once his gaze swept over Yun Che, his entire body trembled and he very nearly fell backwards right there and then.

“Yun… Yun… Y-Y-Y-Yun…” Palace Chief Dongfang stood rooted in the air, his old eyes opened wide. For a good long while, he stumbled over that one single word, but after that, he saw Chu Yuechan and he was so shocked that his jaw nearly dropped to the ground, “The Fairy… F-Fairy… The Fairy of Frozen Beauty!?”

“Ahem,” Yun Che said with a deadpan expression on his face, “Palace Chief Dongfang, it’s been a long time, this junior’s surname is Yun, name is Che.”

“~！@#￥%...” Dongfang Xiu finally managed to come back to his senses, his moustache and beard wildly shook with emotion, “You… You came back, and the Fairy of Frozen Beauty has also… This is great… This is simply too great, simply too great!”

“Where is Yue’er?” Yun Che asked.

Dongfang Xiu immediately replied, “Her Majesty is resting in her bedchambers right now, this old one was just going to report to her.”

Dongfang Xiu suddenly realized that Yun Che was actually being supported by a girl in midair and that it was clear that Yun Che was in a powerless state. His brows furrowed as he asked, “Are you wounded?”

Yun Che shook his head before answering frankly, “My body is fine, it’s just that my profound strength has been completely crippled.”

“WH… WHAT!?” Yun Che’s words exploded in the ears of Palace Chief Dongfang like a thunderclap that exploded in a clear sky. He suddenly thought of something amidst his astonishment as his gaze swiftly shifted downwards.

Due to the loud roar that had come from his mouth a few moments ago, a large amount of palace guards and profound palace disciples had already gathered in this place. So the words that he and Yun Che had just exchanged just now had naturally been heard by all of them.

Dongfang Xiu’s heart abruptly sank and he gave another great roar, “All of you better forget every single word that you just heard! If even a hint of this leaks out…”

“There’s no need for that,” Yun Che waved his hand as he chuckled, “I’m already crippled, that fact won’t change. So why can’t other people find out about it?”

Dongfang Xiu was faintly stunned by those words but after that, he let out a great guffaw of laughter, “Right, that was well said indeed. I really have grown old and muddle-headed. Even if you, Yun Che, have truly been crippled, your accomplishments of having saving Blue Wind and saving the entire Profound Sky Continent will absolutely not be the slightest bit diminished. If anyone dared to even try to mock you because of this, the wrath of countless profound practitioners alone would be enough to make that person lose their place in this world.”