Against the Gods

“Master, could it be… the Evil Infant?” The brawny man asked in a low tone. His voice clearly trembled more in fear than excitement when he had said the word “Evil Infant”.

“No,” The middle-aged man shook his head while his eyes sparkled strangely, “The Evil Infant is a terrible existence that could kill even a god emperor. There is no way we would’ve been able to detect her level of presence even if we had discovered her tracks.”

“Then the devilish energy you speak of is…”

The middle-aged man replied, “The devilish energy is weak, but its level is shockingly high. Although these low level profound beasts have poor intelligence, their spiritual sense is far stronger than another human at the same level. Therefore, the rampaging profound beasts on this continent must have been affected by this devilish energy.”

“There’s almost no chance that this devilish energy would belong to the Evil Infant, but the king realms did say that they would reward anyone who found any trace that might lead to her, and what else would fit their description better than a high level devilish energy? Again, the likelihood of the Evil Infant being here is very low, but a devil person or devil beast from the Unholy Northern Region must still be hiding here somewhere, and a very powerful one too… This is a meritorious find all the same!”

To the people of Eastern Divine Region, neither the Evil Infant nor a devil person should be allowed to exist.

These four people had come from lower star realms, and since the king realms had promised to reward anyone who found a trace that might lead to the Evil Infant handsomely through the Voice of Eternal Heaven itself… The mere thought of what their finding might bring them excited them so much that they felt like they were in a dream.

After the Evil Infant had emerged from the Star God Realm, the entire God Realm had been shaken to the core. When the news that the Evil Infant had left one god emperor dead and three wounded, and many more Star Gods, Moon Gods, Guardians and Brahma Gods dead in its wake had spread, an unprecedented level of panic and despair quickly swept through the entire Eastern Divine Region, then to the Western and Southern God Regions as well.

No king realms in all three divine regions had dared not to get involved in the matter after hearing of the Evil Infant’s emergence and its terrifying might. Even the Primal Chaos supreme himself, the Dragon Monarch was personally directing the God Realm’s efforts to destroy the Evil Infant… After that, every king realm in all three divine regions sent out the order for every star realm to search for the Evil Infant.

This was the first time the God Realm had seen such a movement at this scale in its million-year history.

But a year had passed by, and they hadn’t found even a trace of the Evil Infant!

Finally, the Voice of Eternal Heaven had resounded throughout the Eastern Divine Region half a year ago. The Voice had announced that the Evil Infant would bring forth the destruction of the world, and no one was to leave themselves out of the effort. It then ordered all upper star realms and middle star realms to search through the entire Eastern Divine Region with everything they have, and the lower star realms to search through the lower realms just in case she was hiding there.

The key point in this announcement was this: Those who found even a trace would be rewarded handsomely!

To the lower and middle star realms, a useless rock in a king realm could be the most precious treasure in the entire world. A handsome reward from the king realms? It was something they did not even dare to imagine in the past.

On that day, countless star realms and profound practitioners had boiled up in anticipation and excitement due to the announcement by the Voice of Eternal Heaven. An innumerable amount of profound practitioners started devoting their efforts to searching for the Evil Infant instead of cultivating as usual, and the lower realms soon became swarmed with countless profound arks from the lower star realms.

In the world of the profound way, there was something called the “despise chain” that had existed since ancient times. In the God Realm, the lower star realms sat at the bottom of this despise chain, but in a plane even lower than theirs, they sat at the top of the despise chain.

These four profound practitioners had come from a lower star realm called the Stellar Sun Realm, and their main profound art was based on fire. The man in the lead was named Lin Jun. He was the elder of a realm king sect who had just risen to his position last year after he had successfully broken through to the Divine Spirit Realm. In the Stellar Sun Realm, he was a powerhouse who could do anything he wanted without opposition, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was having the time of his life.

The three youngsters behind him were his direct disciples. The feminine-looking man was called Lin Qingyu, the brawny man was called Lin Qingshan. They had become a hundred years old just recently, but their cultivation was at Divine Soul Realm already. They were both upper level profound practitioners in their sect.

The girl’s name was Lin Qingrou, and she was a new disciple Lin Jun had taken in five years ago. She was already at the fifth level of the Divine Origin Realm even though she was just in her fifties. She was probably the most… satisfactory female disciple he had ever taken in in his life.

Their star realm was situated at the far east of Eastern Divine Region, and Lin Jun had taken his three disciples even further to the east before descending down to the lower realms. Of course, his main purpose was to accumulate experience for his disciples. Frankly speaking, he knew full well that the chance that they might become the ones to find the Evil Infant’s trace was extremely low… but they couldn’t help but delude themselves in their imaginations about it all the same.

Blue Pole Star was a tiny, almost auraless planet with a body that was made up of ninety percent water. At first the interest of setting foot on such a planet hadn’t even crossed their minds, until they got closer and Lin Jun suddenly sensed the faint presence of devilish energy.

That was how they had come to this planet.

“Should we send a sound transmission back to the sect immediately, Master?” Lin Qingshan could hardly control his excitement.

“This place is quite far away from Stellar Sun Realm. How are we supposed to do that?” Lin Jun replied in a stiff tone while staring forward.

“In that case…” Lin Qingshan thought for a moment before continuing, “What if I get on another profound ark and rush back to the sect? It is vital that we inform the sect immediately regarding something this critical.”

Lin Jun narrowed his eyes once.

“Hehe,” It was at this moment Lin Qingyu stepped forward and smiled faintly, “Calm down, Junior Brother Qingshan. Master is the one who discovered this devilish energy, so he should be the one to decide our next course of action. Don’t you think?”

Lin Qingrou also let out a chuckle before eyeing him sweetly, “Well said, Senior Brother Qingyu. Master should be the one to make the call.”

“Er,” Lin Qingshan finally realized what was going on, and he hurriedly said, “You’re right, you’re right, this disciple was too reckless. Everything should go as the Master wishes.”

Lin Jun turned around and shot them a complimentary glance before smiling, “We, Master and disciple, are the ones who have discovered this place. Now, who do you think the merit of this discovery will go to if we were to inform our sect Master about this?”

All three disciples shut up at once.

“We shall inform Eternal Heaven’s enforcers ourselves once we’re done evaluating this place. Eternal Heaven God Realm has never been one to give any empty promises, and there is surely a devil person or two in this place even if the Evil Infant herself issn’t here, judging by the shocking amount of devil energy we’ve seen. There is no reason the king realms would withhold our rewards, and they will surely take us to greater heights.”

“But if the sect Master were to learn about this…” Lin Qingshan treaded carefully.

“Hehehe,” Lin Jun turned back to face the source of the devilish energy while smiling, “This is Eternal Heaven’s enforcers we’re talking about. They will never reveal the source of their information to another party. Also, who cares if our sect Master were to find out about our transgression? A gift from the king realms… Who cares about Stellar Sun Realm if we can have that?”

“Master is truly wise,” Lin Qingyu said loudly.

“The devilish energy is originating from that place.” He raised his arm and pointed towards Cloud’s End Cliff, a place bordering the Country of Supwake on Azure Cloud Continent!

Although they were quite far away from source, their eyesight was good enough to spot an unnaturally black abyss at the horizon.

“Should we go visit Eternal Heaven’s enforcers now, Master?” Lin Qingrou asked.

“No,” Lin Jun said, “we should scout out the place first.”

“W… what?” Lin Jun’s words caused his disciples’ expressions to change in an instant. Even the feminine-looking, smiling Lin Qingyu had allowed a trace of panic to peek through his features.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared?” Lin Jun shot them an indifferent glance.

“Master,” Lin Qingrou started with watery eyes and a pitiful-looking face, “what if it really is the Evil Infant?... Even if it wasn’t, we would still be in great danger if that devil person were to notice us.”

Lin Jun did say that it was almost impossible for the Evil Infant to be the source of the devilish energy, but what if they were “lucky” enough to hit the jackpot? After all, the Evil Infant was a terrifying existence that could kill someone as powerful as the Moon God Emperor. Killing them would probably take as much effort as stepping on a few ants.

“How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair?” Lin Jun looked into the distance arrogantly, “Also, have you all forgotten that I’m a Divine Spirit Realm profound practitioner? What do I have to fear from a mere devil person?”

“...You are right, Master. Your cultivation rivals the heaven itself, and you’re only a level away from becoming a Great Realm King. Naturally, there is nothing to be afraid of,” Ling Qingyu replied. It was obvious that the smile on his face was a bit forced, however.

Lin Jun shot them a glance before saying, “Relax, I’m only saying this because I sense no danger for now. If the danger does become apparent, I will take you all away to safety as soon as possible.”

Qingyu, Qingshan, both of you will be coming with me,” Lin Jun’s body became surrounded by profound energy. “Qingrou, there seems to be another continent about half a million kilometers to the west. Scout that continent and send a sound transmission immediately if you sense anything.”

Lin Qingrou let out a long sigh of relief like she had just been pardoned from a great crime. She immediately bowed and said sweetly, “Yes, Qingrou obeys the Master’s command.”

Lin Jun started moving slowly towards Cloud End Cliff with Lin Qingshan and Lin Qingyu, while Lin Qingrou leaped into the air and flew straight towards the west.

That was where the Profound Sky Continent lay.

————

Profound Sky Continent, Frozen Cloud Asgard.

Yun Che sat in the snow as he took in the beautiful scenery around him quietly. Since Feng Xian’er was by his side at all times, the cold didn’t worry him in the slightest. He often visited Frozen Cloud Asgard because this was a place of great significance to him.

Every once in a while, he would sit at the center of the Snow Region of Extreme Ice and watch the endless snow in front of him in silence. Every session lasted about two to four hours, and he wouldn’t move or speak a word throughout the whole thing. No one knew what he was thinking about during this time, and he had never told anyone his thoughts.

Speaking of Feng Xian’er, the girl hadn’t once broken her promise to the Phoenix Spirit during her stay. She had never left Yun Che’s side be it day or night.

A long time later, Yun Che finally moved and looked up at the pale white sky… these days, his time in the God Realm was growing more and more distant like a dream.

However, the names of the geniuses and God Children who had participated in the God Conferred Battle had remained etched in his mind.

Looking at the time, it was more than two and a half years since they had entered the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. They should be returning to the world soon in just a few months.

Once upon a time, they were all on the same level and the same stage. Today, he had become a cripple, and they… were three thousand years ahead of him in his best form.

Huo Poyun… Considering your talent and your pure pursuit of the profound way, I’m certain that you will become a Divine Master in three thousand years and bring eternal glory to the Flame God Realm.

Luo Changsheng… setting his temperament aside, his talents were shockingly scary. As the youngest divine king in the history of Eastern Divine Region, his anger, hatred, and competitive spirit would surely drive him to surpass all other profound practitioners after he had left the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm… Unfortunately for Luo Changsheng, he wouldn’t be able to take revenge after he had returned from Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. After all, Yun Che was “dead” to the God Realm.

Jun Xilei… She was the Sword Sovereign’s disciple, and she was a prideful person right down to the bone. She would surely seek him out and recount old debts first thing after she had left Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, wouldn’t she? But unfortunately for her… He wondered if she would feel relieved or disturbed when she heard of his “death”. Or maybe the slight no longer mattered to her in the least after spending three thousand years cultivating her mind.

Shui Meiyin… the words had she said as a fifteen year old girl would probably sound like a joke to her now after three thousand years in Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. Or maybe the “joke” would even fade away from her mind completely.

…………

“Daddy!”

A girl’s cry filled with joy and excitement suddenly cut through the air. Yun Che swiftly turned around, stretched out and caught a falling Yun Wuxin squarely in his arms.

“What’re you so happy about today, Xin’er?” Yun Che smiled while staring at his daughter’s reddened cheeks.

“Heeheehee…” Yun Wuxin’s eyes curled like crescents before she declared happily, “I’ve achieved a breakthrough!”

“A breakthrough?” Yun Che looked pleasantly surprised, “Really!?”

“Of course it’s real!” Yun Wuxin stretched her arms outward and took in the world, noting that everything felt different after she had achieved a breakthrough, “I’m an Overlord now. Master wouldn’t stop praising me just now.”

“Hiss…” Yun Che was so excited that he drew in a sharp breath. Then, he gave Yun Wuxin a loud kiss on the cheek before screaming even more exaggeratedly than Wuxin did earlier, “This is wonderful… As expected of my daughter, hahahaha!”

A twelve year old Overlord! She had to be Profound Sky Continent’s—no, Blue Pole Star’s youngest Overlord in history.

When he thought back to the time he was twelve years old… Well, best not to think about it.