Against the Gods

Inside the Ice Phoenix Palace, Yun Che sat in front of the Eternal Heaven God Emperor with both his palms facing outward. A white layer of holy profound light was gathering at the center of the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s chest.

He had already been maintaining this posture for twelve hours straight.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor looked to be at peace. His complexion had never looked better since the day he was plagued by the devilish energy.

Light profound energy was darkness profound energy’s greatest bane. Although Yun Che’s power was completely incomparable to the Evil Infant’s, the Radiant Divine Art he cultivated was absolutely a “Divine Miracle of Life” of the highest level. That was why the devilish energy stuck inside the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s powers was slowly but surely being purified by his light profound energy.

His Evil God's Profound Veins didn’t have a Light Seed, and the time he spent to cultivate his light profound energy was very short. However, his mastery of the light profound energy was already shockingly advanced. Back then, Shen Xi speculated that his extraordinary speed of mastery probably had something to do with his Evil God's Profound Veins. They were Creation God level profound veins after all.

When twelve hours had passed, Yun Che was at the brink of exhaustion. The Eternal Heaven God Emperor opened his eyes and said gently, “Yun Che, let us stop here.”

Yun Che also opened his eyes and withdrew the light profound energy as advised. He lowered his arms and exhaled deeply, saying, “My cultivation is still too weak. Please stay in the Snow Song Realm a little longer, senior. This junior promises to purify all the devilish energy inside your body in five days’ time.”

“Hehe,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor chuckled before saying, “I know better than you how scary the Evil Infant’s power truly is, so it already comes as a surprise to me that you’re able to purify this much in just twelve hours’ time. However, the crimson calamity is approaching swiftly, and the Eternal Heaven General Assembly will be held in nineteen days. I simply cannot afford the time any longer.”

“But with your aid and my own efforts, I can now guarantee that the devilish energy will not attack for at least a month’s time. This alone is of tremendous aid and a favor to me, to the Eternal Heaven General Assembly, and to the Eastern Divine Region,” said the Eternal Heaven God Emperor from the bottom of his heart. However, his eyes quickly turned dim as a long sigh escaped his lips.

Yun Che didn’t insist on prolonging the treatment. “It is this junior’s honor… Senior, forgive this junior for saying this, but am I right to assume that your thoughts regarding this crimson calamity are extremely pessimistic?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor was surprised, but he didn’t deny Yun Che’s claim. He smiled bitterly at the young man and said, “That is correct… although pessimistic is hardly adequate a word to describe what I’m feeling right now. Sigh.”

Yun Che frowned deeply before asking, “Does this mean that you’ve already figured out the danger… or should I say, the secret behind the crimson crack?”

“Mn.” Again, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had acknowledged Yun Che’s question. The change of topic had even chased away his relaxation from being cured of part of the devilish energy and pressed a deep weight onto the god emperor’s shoulders.

“What on earth is the…” Yun Che caught himself just in time before apologizing, “This junior has overstepped his bounds and asked something that shouldn’t be asked. Please forgive me, senior.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s gentle smile never faded. He didn’t look like he blamed Yun Che for anything at all. “When the Profound God Convention was held, I only had vague guesses and assumptions as to the identity behind the crimson crack. But after the young generation had been sent into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm… the truth of the crimson crack’s appearance was then revealed to me. The one who revealed to me the truth was none other than the Eternal Heaven Pearl itself.”

“...I see.” Yun Che nodded slowly. Considering that the Eternal Heaven Pearl was an incredibly high level artifact, and its artifact spirit still remembered everything from the Era of Gods, it was only natural that its experience and knowledge surpassed all existing living beings.

Although Yun Che wanted very much to know the truth, he understood that it was something that he couldn’t ask about until it was revealed. The fact that this truth hadn’t been made known to the God Realm yet was proof of that.

“It is an incredibly frightening ‘truth’, so frightening that I dare not reveal it to anyone until the time is right. It is because the truth will cause great panic among the people, and things might devolve into something that’s even worse than the ‘crimson calamity’ itself.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor sighed.

Yun Che nodded understandingly, knowing exactly what the Eternal Heaven God Emperor was talking about. He said, “This junior heard from his master that only Divine Masters are allowed to participate in this ‘Eternal Heaven General Assembly’. Moreover, all from the Eastern Divine Region are required to participate without exception. Does this mean that you’re ready to announce this ‘truth’ soon?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor shot Yun Che a deep look before saying, “You have a good nose on your head. That’s right, things have become so urgent that I have no choice but to publicize the truth within a small circle, no matter how terrible it is. The reason I’m doing this is because the Eternal Heaven Pearl has informed me that the crimson calamity… is on the brink of eruption.”

Yun Che’s heart abruptly sank.

Although many large-scale profound beast riots had been happening throughout the Eastern Divine Region as of late, they weren’t nearly at a level where they could be considered a “calamity”. At the very least, the chessboard that was the Eastern Divine Region hadn’t been majorly affected.

However, no one except the Eternal Heaven God Emperor knew that a great disaster was right around the corner… As the only person who knew the truth, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, without a doubt, bore the heaviest fear and burden of them all.

Even worse, the heavy responsibility of organizing this resistance had also fallen on his shoulders.

Back at the Profound God Convention, Yun Che’s “cheating” had made the Eternal Heaven God Emperor so angry that he had nearly exiled him from the Eternal Heaven Realm on the spot. Angry, Yun Che had rebuked him at the time… But now, all Yun Che felt towards the Eternal Heaven God Emperor was respect.

The Eternal Heaven God Realm wasn’t the strongest king realm of all king realms, but it was probably the one that deserved its title as a “king realm” the most. Its existence was a blessing upon all of the Eastern Divine Region, and it was no wonder that they were accepted by the Eternal Heaven Pearl, and provided guidance to this day, even after the Great Eternal Heaven Ancestor, its original master was long gone.

Yun Che thought to himself for a moment before asking suddenly, “This junior has also heard that you gathered all of Eastern Divine Region’s power to build a dimensional formation that spans nearly half of the Primal Chaos. This great dimensional formation allows immediate teleportation to the eastmost region of Primal Chaos from the Eternal Heaven God Realm. Could it be that we will be traveling to the eastmost region of the Primal Chaos to witness the crimson crack with our own eyes?”

“Hehehehe,” chuckled the Eternal Heaven God Emperor. “You truly are a smart person. That’s right, with this great dimensional formation, we will be able to travel to the eastmost region of Primal Chaos and respond to the crimson calamity immediately when it happens.”

But he then shook his head. “This is really all we can do, fight for our biggest chance to succeed… but even this chance is infinitesimally small before the truth we will be facing.”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor looked at Yun Che’s face and realized that he might’ve said a little too much already. He said apologetically, “You are still very young. You are nowhere near the age where you should be bearing these responsibilities. It is my fault for having said what shouldn’t be said, so please don’t let it affect your mind. Perhaps the situation isn’t as bad as I think it is. Surely all the minds of the Divine Masters combined are sufficient to come up with a good response to this disaster. Feel free to forget what I said before.”

Yun Che frowned deeply until he came to a decision. He said, “Senior, seeing that I have purified part of the devilish energy in you, can I make a wanton request?”

“Oh?”

Yun Che said with determination in his eyes, “I would like to participate in the Eternal Heaven General Assembly and witness the crimson crack with my own eyes as well.”

“I see…” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s brows furrowed slightly, but they immediately relaxed as he nodded, “Alright.”

“Er…” Yun Che was caught off guard by the quick response. He thought that his request would be met with resistance, but the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had barely even hesitated before he agreed. “Is it really… fine?”

“Of course it is,” said the Eternal Heaven God with a chuckle. “The reason I limited the participation of this Eternal Heaven General Assembly to Divine Masters only is because anything below that can hardly affect the situation, and because I don’t wish to make the truth widespread. Otherwise, I have no other special reason. I currently owe you a big favor, and I see no reason to bar you from participation if that is your wish.”

Yun Che immediately said, “Thank you for accepting my request, Senior. My master and I will be venturing to the Eternal Heaven God Realm as soon as we are able so I may purify the devilish energy in you at least one more time.”

“Hehe, alright.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor accepted the offer with a smile.

After Yun Che had sent off the Eternal Heaven God Emperor personally, he discovered that Xia Qingyue and the Shui father and daughter pair were both missing.

“Where’s Qingyue and Senior Shui?” Yun Che looked left and right.

“They’re gone,” replied Mu Xuanyin.

“They’re gone?” Yun Che was stunned by this. “When did they leave?”

“Twelve hours ago.”

“……”

Mu Xuanyin shot him a sideways glance before saying in a chilly tone, “What’s wrong? Do you think that they should hang around, wait for you longingly, and ‘spare’ you their time when you’re finally done?”

Her rather heavy rebuke made Yun Che jump a little. He replied hastily, “Not at all. This disciple just… missed them a little.”

“...” Mu Xuanyin didn’t say anything to that.

“Did… Qingyue leave a message for me before she left?” Yun Che asked a little worriedly. He didn’t quite understand why Mu Xuanyin had “attacked” him all of a sudden.

Mu Xuanyin sent Xia Qingyue’s Sound Transmission Purple Jade flying into Yun Che’s palm. “Message her yourself if you were to run into any trouble or danger in the future. In the Eastern Divine Region, there is nothing she cannot solve unless you go and provoke the Brahma Monarch God Realm itself.”

Yun Che’s disappointment finally lessened a little when he saw the purple jade. He looked up and asked, “Master, is Qingyue… truly the Moon God Emperor now?”

Even now, he found the fact to be hard to believe. Originally, he was going to ask Xia Qingyue this face-to-face, but now Mu Xuanyin was his only choice left.

Moon God Emperor… It was an incredibly profound title that he just couldn’t relate to Xia Qingyue no matter how he tried.

“I will talk to you about this and the Evil Infant later,” said Mu Xuanyin in an indifferent tone. “Is there anything you wish to ask regarding the Glazed Light Little Princess?”

“...” Yun Che thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No.”

Mu Xuanyin turned around and looked at him. “Is that a sigh of relief that I hear? Does that mean that you feel nothing intimate for her?”

Yun Che raised his eyebrows, but he still nodded. “Of course not. She and I barely interacted with each other or knew each other at all. Of course there are no such feelings between us.”

“Your engagement with the Glazed Light Little Princess is practically known to all,” said Mu Xuanyin. “What is your opinion on this?”

Yun Che exhaled slightly before answering, “I… Both Palace Master Bingyun and the Great Elder knows that this engagement was originally a plan of convenience to avoid the wrath of the Glazed Light Realm King. The Glazed Light Realm King himself was aware of this. At first I thought that she was just playing around, and that she would forget about this engagement completely after three thousand years, but… ugh…”

He discovered that he was understanding women less and less recently.

All of the women around him were the products of incredibly long association or great sacrifices… But Shui Meiyin had become attached to him without any warning after the God Conferred Battle. Moreover, her obsession had lasted for three thousand years… and showed no signs of fading whatsoever.

He couldn’t understand her at all!

Even better, the reason behind it all was that soul battle.

Logically speaking, she should be absolutely disgusted and ashamed at him because he had beaten her using the most lowly, despicable, shameless and obscene method. He had even been prepared to be destroyed by her older sister, Shui Yingyue back then...

However, the outcome was something he couldn’t have imagined even in his dreams.

Maybe the girl was secretly a weird masochist or something?

Mu Bingyun narrowed her eyes and stared at him for so long that he was even starting to feel anxious. Finally, she said, “I heard that she stole the Divine Water of Life to save your life during your first battle against Luo Changsheng. Is that true?”

“Mn.” Yun Che nodded.

“Did you know that she had arrived at almost the same time as Luo Guxie? This meant that she flew out of thr Glazed Light Realm immediately after she had received news of your survival. She even dragged her father, the Glazed Light Realm King with her. Do you understand what this means?” Mu Xuanyin asked again.

“...I understand.”

“How do you plan to respond to this?”

“...” Yun Che fell silent for a while before answering, “I will do my best to repay her… and the Glazed Light Realm.”

“Repay?” Mu Xuanyin frowned slightly. “You are much better at dealing with woman than you are in cultivating the profound way. Are you seriously telling me that she wants you to… repay her?”

Yun Che, “...”

“I don’t care what your thoughts are on this matter, or what is holding you back from taking the right action. But…” Mu Xuanyin looked away from Yun Che and turned her back on him, her voice imposing. “Not only do you have an engagement with the Glazed Light Little Princess, this engagement is known to the entire world… If you’re dead, then it doesn’t matter. But you’re alive now, and so you’re forbidden from breaking your promises!”

“You. Must. Marry. Her!”