Against the Gods

“You’re actually giving such an important thing to me?” Yun Che held the Star God Wheel tightly and even though it weighed nearly nothing, the entire destiny of a king realm was pressing down on his hand.

If he did not give it to the Star God Realm, many years later, after the fall of the final Star God, there would no longer be any Star Gods or Star God Realm in this universe.

Xing Juekong’s face twisted violently. How could he be willing to hand such a thing over to Yun Che, but he truly had no other choice in this matter. He said, “My divine power has already been crippled, so the Star God Wheel… has already become a masterless object. Pass it to Caizhi… her compatibility with the Heavenly Wolf divine power surpasses even that of Xi Su’s… Let her control the Star God Wheel… and become the next Star God Emperor…”

Among all of the Star Gods, Caizhi was the youngest and she also had the shallowest experience. So she was not a person who was suitable to take over the Star God Wheel or take over as Star God Emperor. However, even though the Star God Emperor’s mind was in a state of confusion and haziness, he could still understand that the only way he could get Yun Che to hand this item back to the Star God Realm was via Caizhi.

“He, hehe…” Yun Che let out a cold laugh, “Now that it has come to this, you actually still want to hold me hostage over my relationship with Caizhi? And you still want Caizhi to bear the future of the Star God Realm on her shoulders? Are you worthy?”

“You’re not worthy! You’re not even worthy enough to mention her name!”

Xing Juekong’s gaze drooped downwards and his lips trembled. The cold that pervaded his soul far exceeded the cold assailing his body. He said in a dejected tone, “I know… I know I’m not worthy of being a father…”

“You’re wrong.” Yun Che coldly cut him off as he said, “It’s not that you’re not worthy of being a father, you’re not worthy of being a human being!”

“Xisu… Jasmine… Caizhi… Your own children by blood, each one more excellent than the next. They were rare treasures bestowed upon you by the heavens, rare treasures bestowed to the Star God Realm! But you! What did you do with them!?”

As Yun Che spoke, his hands unconsciously balled into fists, and he nearly could not stop himself from stomping Xing Juekong’s head into paste.

After he had found Yun Wuxin and became a father who had a daughter by his side, he was even more perplexed at how Xing Juekong, who was also a father, could actually do such things to his own children!

After living for such a long period of time and reaching the ultimate pinnacle… would a human truly become like this?

“Yes… I am not worthy. Not worthy to be a father, not worthy to be a human being,” Xing Juekong said in a miserable voice. “But… at the very least… I can’t let the Star God Realm be destroyed by my own hands… I can’t let down my ancestors and forefathers…”

“Heh, heheheh…” It was as if Yun Che had heard a huge joke as he said, “To hear those words coming out of your mouth really is quite laughable.”

“Just how exalted an existence was the previous Star God Realm? Yet it was destroyed and ruined in a single night. And who exactly was the main culprit behind all of this? You have already let down the ancestors and the forefathers of the Star God Realm long ago, and after you die, even if they have to barge into hell, they will still fight over who gets to rip you to shreds and make it so that you can never reincarnate!”

“...” Xing Juekong’s body went limp as it trembled, his eyes as gloomy and defeated as the eyes of a dead man.

Yun Che raised his palm, his five fingers forming a claw. The Star God Wheel vanished in his hands and he turned around, not giving Xing Juekong another look. He coldly said, “Since this Star God Wheel is already in my hands, then whether I throw it away, destroy it, or give it to Caizhi, I will make the final decision as to how it will be used in the future.”

“As for you… Even though I dearly want to break your bones and scatter your ashes, don’t you worry, I won’t be killing you. After all, when it comes to ties of family and blood, you are still Jasmine’s and Caizhi’s birth father in the end. I don’t want to become their father’s murderer.”

“However, I will also never tell them that you are here! Because you are not worthy of even the slightest bit of worry or affection that they might have for you!”

When his voice fell, Yun Che made a grabbing motion as he swept his hand backwards. Cold ice instantly congealed around Xing Juekong, sealing him inside once more.

With another wave of his hand, the newly-formed profound ice once again flew into the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, its position about the same as it had been before.”

“The Star God Emperor actually… Your master, she…”

He Ling did not quite know how to express the rampant shock in her heart.

Without even taking into account Xing Juekong’s originally formidable and peerless strength, even if the Star God Realm had been destroyed by Jasmine, there would still have been quite a number of Star Gods and Star God elders remaining, and they still remained an extremely terrifying power that no one would dare to provoke.

But Xing Juekong… had actually been crippled by someone! And he had even been thrown into this place, sealed in ice! He had not even been allowed to die!

If this matter were to get out, they could not imagine just how huge the commotion would be.

“He should have been here since three years ago,” Yun Che said in a low voice, “Master was afraid that I would see him, so she only recently sealed him up and threw him into the Heavenly Lake.”

“Three years ago, even someone as strong as Yue Wuya had died at Jasmine’s hands, so one could well imagine that Xing Juekong had definitely sustained some very serious injuries and that his profound strength had been greatly damaged and depleted at that. This coupled with the despondency that struck the members of the Star God Realm due its destruction… It was only at this time that Master could have possibly relied on Moon Splitting Cascade to deal a critical blow to Xing Juekong and bring him here.”

“But even then, she still had to take a huge risk.”

“It looks like her hatred toward Xing Juekong had grown to its very limits back then,” Yun Che said as he raised his head, the light in his eyes shaking for a long time.

The only thing that could have enraged Mu Xuanyin so was his death...

Today, she had very nearly killed Luo Guxie in front of the Eternal Heaven God Emperor just because Luo Guxie had nearly wounded him.

Back then, she had actually brought the distinguished Star God Emperor to this place because of his death, leaving him in a state where he could not die despite wishing for death...

If someone else had done these things, Yun Che would definitely have called her a lunatic and he would have called her an extremely terrifying and complete lunatic at that.

However, all of her thoroughly insane actions had been because of...

Yun Che slowly shook his head, his heart surging like the ocean… He did not know what he had done to be treated by her in such a way.

“That Star God Wheel. Is Master going to hand it over to the Heavenly Wolf Star God once you’ve found her?” He Ling asked in a small voice.

“Of course not!” Yun Che said without the slightest bit of hesitation, “Caizhi is still young and the state of her heart wasn’t good in the first place. If I give this thing to her, it will only give her pressure and add to her burdens. I’ll keep it with me first and I’ll pass it to Caizhi once she’s grown up.”

Mn?

Yun Che suddenly recalled what Xing Juekong just said. After he had been crippled, this Star God Wheel suddenly became a masterless object...

Then, if he figured out how to use it, did that mean that he could create four Star Gods!?

Of course, Yun Che was only thinking about it at the moment. How could it be so simple to get one’s hands on the power of the Star Gods, on a king realm’s legacy?

Yun Che left the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake and returned to the Sacred Hall but he did not see Mu Xuanyin.

Luo Guxie’s arrival had created a huge catastrophe for the region around the Ice Phoenix Realm. If Xia Qingyue and the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had not sealed the fight away with their power, most of the Ice Phoenix Realm would be buried by now so this was something that she did have to handle personally.

He did not take any independent action. He merely sat down on the ground and quietly waited for his master to return.

In the midst of that quietude, the truth that had been told to him by the Ice Phoenix divine being, the duty that he shouldered now, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor who was just around the corner, the destiny of the entire universe that was in flux right now, the unknowable future, Hong’er’s and You’er’s shocking history...

All of these things chaotically intermingled in his mind. He wanted to calm himself down and properly think about what he should do next, but the more he tried to calm himself, the more anxious and troubled his heart and soul became.

Even the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, whose experience and maturity were a thousand times greater than his own, would be left in this state after hearing the truth, let alone Yun Che.

…………

Jasmine had said before that there were many things that happened to me that proved that I was practically a ‘heaven chosen person”. At that time, I had thought she was making fun of me, but right now, it looks like… it might just actually be true.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The more one obtained, the more one had to pay. I have everything that I have right now because of the Evil God’s legacy, so I should have to take up the corresponding responsibilities and duties that come with it.

But… why me?

On the night of his big wedding with Xia Qingyue, he had gone for a stroll in the mountains to enjoy the night breeze because of his troubled emotions. Instead, he had ended up picking up the Jasmine who had been afflicted by the “Absolute God Slaying Poison” and he had obtained the Evil God's Profound Veins because of Jasmine.

After that, he had obtained one of the Evil God’s powers after the other:

The Evil God Fire Seed, the Evil God Water Seed, the Evil God Lightning Seed… and the Evil God Darkness Seed.

He had also met the “two” of the Evil God's daughters—Hong’er and You’er.

Moreover, all of these things, whether it was the Evil God Seeds or Hong’er and You’er, they were not something he had found after expending a great amount of effort. They had all voluntarily appeared in his life, one coincidence after another.

Was there truly such a thing as the “guidance of fate”?

But the problem here was that all of his thoughts and actions had been completely borne out of his own will, he had never felt that he was being interfered with or controlled in any manner whatsoever...

Yun Che silently pondered all of these things as his thoughts turned from confusion to haziness. Before he knew it, it turned into complete stillness… and he actually dozed off like this.

And he had a really strange dream after that…

…………

“Yuanba, you’ve saved me once again… Wah! I feel like you’ve become a lot more powerful. They had so many people, but you beat nearly all of them in a few moves.”

The him in his dream looked to be only about eleven or twelve years old. His outer garments were messed up and dirty, and there was dirt smeared all over his face. It was clear that he had just been bullied.

This was when he was still young, so it was something that happened all too often. As a result, he very rarely left the house by himself, and after that, he very rarely left Xiao Lingxi’s side.

“Heh heh heh,” Xia Yuanba, who was a year younger than him, gave a very pleased laugh. He waved his arms, stirring up a current of profound energy as he said, “But of course! Just the previous day, I broke through yet again! Right now, I’m already at the seventh level of the Elementary Profound Realm and I gave my father a big shock. Right now, even if adults want to bully you, I can also defeat them!”

Little Yun Che’s eyes widened dramatically as his mouth went slack. Even though his profound veins were crippled, he was also aware of how shocking it was to have reached the seventh level of the Elementary Profound Realm at just ten years of age. At the very least, there was absolutely no one in the Xiao Clan that he was from that could accomplish such a thing. He said, “Yuanba, you’re really way too awesome. Grandfather said that you’re the number one genius in Floating Cloud City, a genius that our Floating Cloud City might not produce again even after a thousand years. He also said that you might very well shake up the entire Blue Wind Nation in the future… I really really envy you.”

“Heh heh!” Little Xia Yuanba gave a rather embarrassed chuckle as he sat down in front of Yun Che and said, “Actually, I’m the one who envies you! You already have a little aunt and you can do everything together. But as for me, Mother passed away early and I’m the only person in the house, I don’t even have any brothers or sisters. If I had a big brother or sister… or even a little brother or sister, then I wouldn’t feel so lonely and bored anymore.

“Then ask Uncle Xia to marry a few new concubines so that you can have lots of brothers and sisters,” Little Yun Che said.

“My father just doesn’t want to,” Little Xia Yuanba said in a gloomy voice. “Every year, there are many people who are trying to get my father to take new concubines, but my father won’t relent no matter what.”

“My grandfather is also the same,” Little Yun Che said with a nod of his head. Even though he was still really little, he seemed to somewhat understand this. He continued, “However, even if Uncle Xia doesn’t take any new concubines, it’s fine as well. I can be your big brother. I mean, I’m already older than you. It’s just that everyone says that I’m a cripple, so I need to rely on you to protect me instead.”

“Ahhaha, leave it to me.” Little Yuanba said as he thumped his chest, “My father said that he would send me to New Moon Profound Palace after a few years. Given my natural aptitude, as long as work a little harder, I will very quickly earn the right to enter the Blue Wind Profound Palace. At that time, I’ll see who still dares to bully you!”

“Heh heh, right now I feel like those bad people aren’t scary at all,” Yun Che gave a happy laugh as he wiped the dirt off his face. He looked Xia Yuanba up and down before he said in a worried voice, “Yuanba, you look like you’ve gotten a lot thinner again. Is it because you’re cultivating too hard?”

“Eh…” Little Yuanba looked down at his own body, a body that was indeed far too skinny. He stretched out a hand to scratch his head as he said, “I don’t even cultivate for two hours every day, so it’s not hard at all. Furthermore, I eat a huge amount of food, so I don’t know why I’m still so skinny. My father has even brought me to see a doctor quite a few times, but they all said that there was nothing wrong with my body.”

“It has to be because you’re still eating too little. You need to eat even more in the future!” Little Yun Che urged him earnestly.

“I got it, I’ll try eating a little bit more than I already am,” Little Yuanba said as he nodded his head. It was very clear that he was also quite dissatisfied with his weak and skinny body… Even though his appetite was actually several times greater than his father’s already.