Against the Gods

After Luo Shangchen went away, Yan Tianxiao suddenly let out a sigh. “I had heard of this Luo Changsheng a long time ago. He was supposed to be a young and extraordinary talent. After seeing the man with my own eyes, I can now say that he was a bit foolish and naive, but not without a backbone. It’s always a bit of a shame to lose a person like that.”

“Backbone?” Chi Wuyao smiled. “Yama Emperor, you didn’t think he would rather die than submit to darkness, did you?”

“Hmm?” Yan Tianxiao looked at her with question marks on his head.

Chi Wuyao explained, “From the moment he was born, Luo Changsheng was known as the son of the Holy Eaves Realm King and the disciple of Luo Guxie. His talent was unprecedented, and he was made the Holy Eaves Young Master at a very young age. You could say that he was born with a silver spoon another person wouldn’t dare to dream of in a hundred lifetimes.”

“Death is scary to him of course, but what scares him even more is losing the things that made him what he was today, and worse than that, having them changed into the eternal shame of his life.”

“Had he chosen to stay alive, he would never have been able to return to the Holy Eaves Realm. Luo Shangchen would hate him forever, and it was only a matter of time before the world learned of his shame.”

“That’s why he chose death. With this act, Luo Shangchen’s hatred for him would vanish, leaving behind only sorrow and the bond they had forged. The Holy Eaves Realm wouldn’t announce the truth to the world, and the world would forever remember him as ‘Luo Changsheng’, not the true name he would ever want anyone to know.”

“...” Yan Tianxiao frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Chi Wuyao shook her head with a smile. “I’ll stop here. He is dead, and I see no benefit in exposing the truth and destroying the pride he gave his life to protect.”

Yan Tianxiao looked thoughtful, but he didn’t ask anything else.

Chi Wuyao turned away and commented one last time. “His choice was ‘smart’, I suppose, but it also exposed the fragility of the man. What can you do? His life was just too ‘easy’.”

Although Chi Wuyao had chosen not to expose Luo Changsheng’s “shame”, that didn’t mean she pitied him in the slightest.

Luo Changsheng had used death to protect his secret and engrave the name “Luo Changsheng” into everyone’s heart. This also meant that he was his “father’s” son through and through; a noble who looked down on the denizens of the lower star realms from the bottom of his heart, and a supremacist who would would rather die than be remembered as the son of a lower class man; a bastard.

In other words, he would rather die than acknowledge his biological father. He seemed to have forgotten that Yun Che, the man who brought the Holy Eaves Realm to its knees, was of a humbler origin than him.

_____________

Eastern Divine Region, Heavenly Mystery Realm.

The Heavenly Mystery Realm was the most unique upper star realm in the entire Eastern Divine Region bar none. It had the smallest territory and overall weakest profound practitioners out of all upper star realms, and it only had a sect with less than a thousand disciples, the Heavenly Mystery Sect.

Not only that, it was viewed as a special sacred ground throughout the entire God Realm.

Every year, the majority of the visitors came to the Eastern Divine Region expressly to visit the Heavenly Mystery Realm.

Today, the Eastern Divine Region had been turned upside down, and it was time for the upper star realm, the Heavenly Mystery Realm to decide its fate.

The Heavenly Mystery Three Elders—Moyu, Mowen and Mozhi—were currently sitting at the front of the Heavenly Mystery Temple. A group of disciples—in fact, all of the disciples of the Heavenly Mystery Sect—were kneeling in front of them.

“Leave,” Moyu said in a long, heavy tone. His hands were pressed together, and his expression was completely blank.

“Senior Ancestors,” the leader of the disciples begged tearfully, “please don’t chase us away. The Heavenly Mystery Realm doesn’t have a fighting force, and we are of no threat to the Devil Master at all. Besides that, most of the upper star realms have already surrendered to him. Why can’t we just do the same?”

“It has nothing to do with that,” Moyu said indifferently. “Leave.”

“Please come with us, Senior Ancestors. We can go to the Western Divine Region! Surely they will welcome us and our Heavenly Mystery divine power with open arms?”

“There won’t be a Heavenly Mystery Sect or Heavenly Mystery divine power anymore.” Mozhi repeated the ruthless statement that had stunned all Heavenly Mystery disciples into speechlessness a while ago. “From this day onward, you will never call yourself a Heavenly Mystery disciple again… now leave.”

In the end, the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders appeared as stony as ever.

Seeing that their last attempt to change their senior ancestors’ minds was futile, the Heavenly Mystery disciples bowed deeply and said, “Thank care… senior ancestors.”

They scattered and left the realm just like that. A long time ago, the Heavenly Mystery Realm would be overflowing with people hoping to take a peek at fate for their own gain. Today, Moyu, Mowen, and Mozhi were the only ones left in the quiet, desolate realm.

“Ai.” Moyu opened his eyes and stared at the darkened sky. He said, “The will of the heavens is unpredictable, and fate can change at any moment. So what if we could glean a moment of heavenly mystery?”

Mowen asked, “How do you think the balance of scales will weigh? Do you think we’ve led virtuous or sinful lives?”

“We are sinful.” Mozhi gave his answer. “Perhaps the very act of gleaning a heavenly mystery was a sin from the beginning.”

Mowen raised his hand and summoned the Heavenly Mystery God Canon. Together, the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders merged their strength and opened the book of prophecy once more:

When the nine stage heavenly tribulation appears, the True God will return. Virtue will lead to eternal peace. Evil will bring the carnage of a devil god.

For a long time, they simply stared at the prophecy on the first page… also the final prophecy of their realm’s founder, Great Ancestor Haotian.

Back then, Great Ancestor Haotian was almost at the same level as the Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor in terms of status. The Heavenly Mystery Three Elders worshipped him deeply, and they had never doubted his final prophecy.

When the latter half of the prophecy suddenly appeared at the Conferred God Stage, the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders had concealed it from the public to protect Yun Che.

Yun Che’s battles during the Profound God Convention were eye-opening even for the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders. They had seen how clear and free of taint his eyes were, and they were certain that Yun Che would bring great happiness to the world when he achieved full maturity.

Had they chosen to make public the prophecy, the people would’ve overlooked the first half completely. They would only think of him as a threat and act to eliminate him.

After Yun Che saved the world and was betrayed by the very people he saved… they chose to inform the Eternal Heaven God Emperor about this after a long and serious consideration.

At the time, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor was neck deep in regret and self-loathing. The thought of killing Yun Che never crossed his mind even though the latter had exposed his darkness profound energy, and he was even thinking hard on how to protect Yun Che’s life, all the while keeping his birthplace a tight secret.

After the Eternal Heaven God Emperor saw the prophecy, he quickly changed his mind and declared Blue Pole Star’s location to the world. The Eternal Heaven Realm was also the one who spearheaded the hunt for Yun Che.

As a result, Yun Che was driven to a dead end, and he changed completely into a devil.

Evil will bring the carnage of a devil god…

The cruel prophecy was being played out in the Eastern Divine Region right now… and this might just be the beginning.

The three of them… and the prophecy their great ancestor left behind…

In a sense, they were the true culprits behind everything that had transpired.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every drop of blood spilled on the soil of the Eastern Divine Region was soaked with their sin.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It will accompany us on our final journey,” Moyu said slowly.

Mozhi raised his head and stared at the golden light of the Heavenly Mystery God Canon. “In that case, let us use our final lifespans and peek at the fate of the Eastern Divine Region one last time. Who knows, maybe the devil god will be merciful. Perhaps we’ll be able to depart at peace.”

No one answered him, but everyone stretched out their hands at the same time.

All violators of the heavens would be punished. That was why their lifespans were shaved every time they peered into the future.

This one last time, they sacrificed all their remaining lifespan to the Heavenly Mystery divine power.

A golden light burst out of the Heavenly Mystery God Canon’s body. It was the brightest the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders had ever seen it glow.

Suddenly, a gigantic black hole appeared where the Heavenly Mystery God Canon was… it looked like a bottomless abyss.

The moment it appeared, every light in the world—even the golden light of the Heavenly Mystery God Canon itself—was devoured by it. The world before them suddenly fell into darkness, and they saw countless dying and collapsing planets, star realms, and even star regions. Laws were crumbling, and the entire Primal Chaos was shaking like an earthquake.

It was as if a giant devil like nothing they had ever seen was devouring the entire Eastern Divine Region… and even the entire world.

“What… is… that…”

An indescribable chill gripped their bodies in a death grip. They shivered like never before until death finally caught up with them.

The Heavenly Mystery God Canon collapsed into dust on the spot.

The Heavenly Mystery Three Elders were still seated exactly where they were, but with several major differences: their lips were purple, their pupils had widened to their breaking point, and their features were completely distorted in fear.

From this point onward, the Heavenly Mystery Realm was gone from the world forever.

And no one ever knew the terrifying “heavenly mystery” they had glimpsed in the end.

____________

“Big Brother Yun Che!”

A crisp, melodious cry broke out in the sky as Shui Meiyin dropped next to Yun Che. The moment she beamed, she shone like a light that was too pure to be tainted.

Yun Che had transformed into a completely different person since he returned with the Northern Divine Region. The father-in-law who always clapped his shoulders while shouting “worthy son-in-law”, and the sister-in-law who was as proud as she was gentle were replaced by a pair of deferential subordinates who were constantly worried that they might somehow incur his wrath. But Shui Meiyin… Shui Meiyin was the only one who seemed to see and treat him exactly the same as before.

She had appeared next to Yun Che instantly; wrapping her arms around his like it was the most natural gesture in the world… Yan Three almost made the mistake of slapping her away before he stopped himself in time and shivered at the near mistake.

“Why did you come?” Yun Che poked her on her delicate nose once before smiling just as warmly. “This place is quite dangerous, you know. The Western Divine Region and Southern Divine Region could launch a sneak attack here at any moment.”

“It’s because I miss you, of course!” Shui Meiyin beamed at him. “Big Brother Yun Che, are you free right now?”

“Yes, I am.” He smiled back. He was waiting for Qianye Ying’er to return to him.

When he left the Brahma Monarch God Realm, Qianye Ying’er had told him that she would return to him regarding everything related to the wood spirit’s tragedy in three days. But three days had passed, and she still hadn’t sent him a message.

“In that case… can you tell me about your experiences in the Northern Divine Region?” Shui Meiyin looked at him with expectant eyes.

“Haven’t you heard about them from Chi Wuyao?”

“I want to hear it from you.” Shui Meiyin shook his arm slightly. “Please?”

Yun Che gave it some thought before replying, “It’s too long to finish in one sitting. I’ll tell you all about it when we’re somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?” Shui Meiyin blinked and whispered next to his ears. “Is it a place where we can be… alone, Big Brother Yun Che?”

All three Yama Ancestors shivered at the same time before sealing their sense of hearing completely… youngsters these days were so disgusting.

Yun Che’s smile grew wider before he said, “To be honest, I’m more curious about the years you spent at the Moon God Realm. Xia Qingyue didn’t do anything bad to you, did she?”

“...” Shui Meiyin looked away before curling her eyebrows. “Can we make a promise, Big Brother Yun Che?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we never bring up the name ‘Xia Qingyue’ again? Please?” She looked completely serious when she said this.

“Why?” Yun Che asked.

“It’s because she did terrible things to both you and me, and every time I hear her name, I’ll inevitably recall the memories I least want to think about. She’s dead already, so can we please forget about her completely?”

Yun Che looked slightly astonished, but he quickly gave her a smile and said, “Sure.”

She was right. That woman was dead, and talking about her would only bring back painful memories to himself and the people around him. She was best left forgotten forever.