Against the Gods

“Wu’er, obey!” Yan Tianxiao warned seriously.

Yan Wu took off, but her footsteps were unusually stiff and slow… Yan Jie had hurt her pretty badly, but it obviously wasn’t so bad that it would slow her this much.

In the end though, no matter how slow she was walking, it was only a matter of time before she arrived before Yun Che. She bowed toward him and asked in a chilly tone, “What are your instructions, my lord.”

Instead of answering, Yun Che extended his hand and sent a wisp of black energy toward Yan Wu.

Yan Wu’s eyes immediately turned icy, but her father growled at her from behind. “Do not resist!”

So Yan Wu forced herself to stay still and gritted her teeth. Her entire body was shaking slightly in trepidation. Meanwhile, the black energy had invaded all the way into her profound veins, utterly uncaring if she consented to the act or not.

However, her trepidation and her hostility only lasted several breaths. Her eyes grew unfocused when she noticed the changes within her body, and her excitement and disbelief grew exponentially when the full scale of her transformation slowly dawned upon her…

Yun Che withdrew his arm and the dark energy after he was finished.

Yan Wu stood where she was and stared at herself for a very long time. Her disbelief looked like a permanent fixture on her face, and she looked like she had fallen into a dream.

Suddenly, the proud woman bowed again, but this time she had dropped to one knee instead of just bending her waist. The chilliness in her voice had been completely replaced by a kind of excitement that could only come from the bottom of one’s soul. “Yan Wu… Yan Wu thanks you for your blessing, my lord!”

Yan Wu had a legendary temper. There was no one in the whole realm who didn’t know about it.

Even Yan Tianxiao himself seldom saw such a deep look of gratitude and respect coming from Yan Wu.

Surprised and puzzled, Yan Tianxiao walked up to Yan Wu and put a finger to her shoulder. In that moment, disbelief and excitement overcame his expression just like Yan Wu’s, and he muttered to himself in a daze, “The… the rumors regarding the Witches are actually true…”

“Hmph. One of the reasons the Burning Moon Realm submitted as quickly as it did was because they had seen the Witches’ transformation with their own eyes.”

Yun Che said indifferently while his hand glowed with devilish light. “This probably looks like a miracle to you people, but to me… it is just something I can do anytime I feel like it.”

Yan Tianxiao also knelt next to Yan Wu, and this time it didn’t feel nearly as difficult as the previous times. “Please grant your blessing to the Yama Devils, my lord. We will forever remember your favor and serve you with everything we have!”

Once again, he was made to witness the true power of Eternal Calamity of Darkness.

The power to manipulate the dark energies of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness however he liked, the power to create miracles that transcended common sense itself at the wave of a hand...

He was sure that this wasn’t all the Eternal Calamity of Darkness could do.

In this moment, he even started to feel like… it was his duty to serve the new master of the Northern Divine Region.

“I will give my blessing to most Yama Devils. But in exchange, I want your loyalty!”

Yun Che spoke very slowly so that no one could miss his words. “Don’t say I didn’t warn all of you, once you’ve sworn to serve me, there is no...”

“Turning… back!”

Yan Tianxiao looked up and stared at Yun Che directly. He knew how he should act in a situation like this. “My lord, you are the only inheritor of the great Devil Emperor... you are also the only person ever to have beaten us completely. There is no one else who deserves our loyalty besides you, my lord.”

“Very good.” Yun Che praised him before rising to his feet. When he walked away, the Three Yama Ancestors followed him closely so as to protect him from any danger.

“I have two things I would like you to do.”

“Please share with me your thoughts, my lord,” Yan Tianxiao said seriously.

“One, you will order everyone to keep today’s occurence a secret, especially… from the Soul Stealing Realm.”

These days, he couldn’t think of Chi Wuyao without feeling a surge of black emotions.

“Hmm…” Yan Tianxiao frowned a little before replying, “My lord, I think it’s already too late. Your power has shaken the world itself, and there are countless spies from Soul Stealing Realm in our lands. I highly doubt the lockdown will be in time at all.”

“It doesn’t have to be. The appearance of trying is good enough.” Yun Che narrowed his eyes a little.

“...” Yan Tianxiao thought to himself for a moment before answering, “It will be done, my lord.”

“Two.” Yun Che shot Yan Tianxiao a sideways glance. “You will send someone to the Imperial Heaven Realm and bring a man to me. I would prefer it if you can keep it a secret, but it doesn’t matter in the long run if you fail.”

Imperial Heaven Realm?

Yan Tianxiao raised his eyebrows slightly… that was where Yun Che had killed the leader of the Yama Ghosts, Yan Sangeng.

At the time, he was so angry that he ordered his men to capture Yun Che at all costs. He even went so far as to send three Yama Devils to the Soul Stealing Realm and demand Yun Che… at the time, he had no idea what an absolute monster Yun Che was, of course.

“Who is this man you wish for us to escort, my lord?” He asked cautiously.

Yun Che looked up before replying in a quiet tone, “Tian Guhu.”

Not only was Tian Guhu the strongest profound practitioner of the younger generation, he could even fight opponents who were several levels above him. It was so that even Yan Tianxiao, a god emperor had heard about him and taken the effort to study him.

Yan Tianxiao didn’t ask any further questions. He simply turned around and ordered his men. “Yan E, head to Imperial Heaven Realm yourself and bring Tian Guhu over.”

“You will go immediately.”

Usually, it was beneath Yama Devil to bring a normal denizen of an upper star realm to the Yama Realm themselves.

However, the Imperial Heaven Realm was inferior only when compared to the king realms of the Northern Divine Region, and Tian Guhu was extremely famous among his juniors. Finally, the order had come from Yun Che himself… so it wasn’t surprising nor excessive to send a Yama Devil to retrieve Tian Guhu.

“Yes!”

Yan E accepted his orders and flashed out of the room.

“Yan One, Two, Three, follow me,” Yun Che ordered.

Yan Tianxiao said, “Where are you heading to, my lord?”

Yun Che walked past him without pausing his footsteps. He merely said, “Focus on performing your duties and don’t ask unnecessary questions!”

In the past, Yan Tianxiao was the one who did the admonishing, not the other way around. But since he hadn’t recovered from Yan Wu’s great transformation, he was able to enter his role quickly and answer, “You are right, my lord… best wishes to you, my lord.”

Yun Che and the Three Yama Ancestors left the hall without a word. They seemed to be heading to the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness.

For a time, the imperial hall was oppressively silent. A while later, Yan Tu finally spoke up carefully, “Your Majesty, are we really going to… to…”

For now, it looked like nothing had changed in the Yama Realm.

The Yama Emperor was still the Yama Emperor, the Yama Devils were still the Yama Devils, Yama Imperial District wasn’t occupied or held hostage by the enemy… they didn’t even lose any freedom whatsoever.

If they had to count their losses, then there were the buildings and Yan Jie… although the latter was definitely a good thing. Had he shown his true colors after he became the Yama Emperor of the Yama Realm, they couldn’t even imagine what would’ve happened to their country.

The fact that Yun Che hadn’t changed anything or tried to restrict them at all meant that they could betray him anytime they wanted. However… the fact that he was so lax was a sign that their new lord wasn’t worried in the slightest. That itself said a lot.

Instead of replying immediately, Yan Tianxiao turned toward his daughter and asked, “Wu’er, what do you think?”

Yan Wu pulled her attention away from her body and said, “I think… I think I can leave the Northern Divine Region now and still recover and manipulate darkness profound energy almost as well as I am now.”

What she said shocked absolutely everyone.

“Your Highness, you mean…?” Yan Tu asked urgently.

“A long time ago, Chi Wuyao tried more than once to persuade my royal father to work with her and tear down our cage together. However… it was only a pipe dream at that time.” Yan Wu was speaking in a frigid tone, but it wasn’t the intimidating, imperialistic tone that she usually used when she spoke to inferiors. It was the cold chill of forming determination.

“But Yun Che is different. He meant what he said, and he has the power to carry it out!”

Yan Wu looked around her before saying, “We only live once. It would be too boring and frustrating to hole up in the darkness forever, don’t you think? With a chance like this and a leader like him… why don’t we give it a shot and try to overturn our fates?”

“We may end up dead and destroyed, but at least we would’ve been worthy of this land of darkness that gave birth to us and the power we inherited!”

Yan Wu’s words shook everyone.

Earlier, she was the one who showed the most resistance out of all of them.

No one was expecting her to change this drastically after Yun Che touched her.

Yan Tianxiao started calmly, “You mean to say…”

“I have decided to follow him!” Yan Wu declared resolutely and without any hesitation.

Hearsay would never be as convincing as personal experience.

“Are you sure?” Yan Tianxiao asked again.

“Yes. I will never regret my decision.” Yan Wu raised her hand and summoned a cycle of darkness. “Once upon a time, I was a half-cripple the second I stepped out of the Northern Divine Region, and any talk of resistance was nothing but a joke. But now, I can’t wait to unleash my powers on the soil of the three Divine Regions! I want them to feel the hatred and anger we’ve stored in our hearts for countless years!”

Bang!

She clenched her hand, and the small globe of darkness exploded in her palm. She looked down and said, “Don’t be surprised by my change of attitude. You’ll understand what I mean when you have received the same blessing as me… I think I’m starting to understand why the ancestors made the decision they did.”

It was true that the Yama Devils and Yama Ghosts still couldn’t understand Yan Wu’s change and transformation at all, but her drastic change in behavior did make them a lot more accepting of Yun Che.

“Good.” Yan Tianxiao nodded slowly. He understood now why Yun Che had chosen Yan Wu as his first subject of transformation. It wasn’t a random choice.

“Remember what he said. Once you’ve sworn to serve him, there is no turning back.” Yan Tianxiao warned solemnly.

“No, we’ve all seen how ruthless he is. Like it or not, it’s already too late to turn back,” Yan Wu said indifferently. “I would much prefer to die on the soil of the three Divine Regions than in his hands. I would’ve at least achieved something.”

Her attitude had completely turned around since she was blessed by Yun Che. In fact, she would probably be the first one to step out and kill anyone who tried to rebel at this stage.

“Hehehe.” Yan Tianxiao chuckled amiably. Despite being the Yama Emperor, he didn’t have any criticism to offer Yan Wu. “Wu’er is right. No matter what you think or feel right now, never forget that Yun Che is above me.”

“You have all seen with your own eyes his worthiness and his power. At the very least… you should never display any disobedience in front of him.”

Finally, Yan Tianxiao sent out the order. “Now, go carry out our lord’s order and lock down the rumors as quickly as you can!”

At the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness.

Yun Che was back with the three Yama Ancestors, but he wasn’t here to cultivate his powers. Instead, he flew toward the edge of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness.

Along the way, he kept seeing purple light in his vision. It was the purple light of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. At his level of strength, these terrible flowers couldn’t affect his soul any longer.

He never tried to look at them either.

After all, all that would do was drag his heart and soul into a dark, painful abyss he never wanted to remember.

Yun Che eventually came to a stop. He was staring at a devil crystal with mysterious dark light circulating throughout its body.

These devil crystals were scattered at the edge of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness. The oddly-shaped crystals looked like they were naturally formed. The phosphorous lighting bouncing off their surface gave them a dark and dreamy appearance.

Yun Che bent downward and tried to touch the black crystals, but the three Yama Ancestors cried out at the same time.

“Don’t touch it, master!”

Yun Che froze in mid-movement.

Yan One said, “These devil crystals are the crystallization of the ancient yin energy in this place. They take an incredibly long time to form. Although they look similar to a normal devil crystal, the dark energy they contain is incredibly dense and unstable. Any physical contact at all will result in a violent backlash.”

Yan Two said, “We’ve tried to master its power before, but it proved to be an impossible task even if all three of our powers were combined. The consequences were so great that we dared not even get close to it—ah!”

Yan Two suddenly exclaimed in shock. It was because Yun Che had ignored their warning and touched the black crystal.

However, the backlash they imagined didn’t happen. The black crystal didn’t even react whatsoever.

As the three Yama Ancestors let out a long sigh of relief, Yan Three said, “You two always talk nonsense. There’s no way our master would be hurt by something as pathetic as the Devil Crystal of Eternal Darkness!”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. We were overly cautious.” Yan One and Yan Two nodded hurriedly.

Meanwhile, Yun Che had removed his hands from the crystal and was narrowing his eyes slightly. A series of thoughts were spinning rapidly inside his head.

Crystals were without a doubt the most stable form of energy.

It was why all kinds of profound crystals were used to improve one’s cultivation, forge formations and artifacts, and even traded as currencies.

However, this so-called “Devil Crystal of Eternal Darkness” was completely different from the usual darkness crystal.

The second Yun Che had made physical contact with it, the energy residing inside it had awakened violently like a devil god that was woken up from its sleep.

These unusual crystals were the product of time and crystallization of the primal yin energy in this place… or more specifically, the death energy of the ancient devils who died here. Even he could only imagine how much hatred and killing intent their death energy contained when they perished in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness.

Yun Che slowly looked around him. He only spotted a couple of devil crystals in this area, but the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness was gigantic. He had no doubt that he could gather a mountain of devil crystals if he tried.

The corner of Yun Che’s mouth slowly turned up. The end result looked something like the sinister smile of a bloodthirsty monster.

Behind him, all three Yama Ancestors shivered in unison.