Against the Gods

“Sinner Qi Tianli, realm king of the Qilin Realm, greets the Devil Master.”

The Qilin Emperor brought along his Divine Master Qilin as they respectfully bowed to Yun Che and awaited their fate.

“...Blue Dragon Realm King Qing Que greets the Devil Master.”

The Blue Dragon Emperor imitated the Qilin Emperor’s words and mannerisms as she bowed next to him, but she didn’t seem willing to crown herself with the title of “sinner”.

Her destiny was no longer in her hands and she had already composed her heart, so she was ready to accept her fate, come what may.

Yun Che had been silently watching the distant northern region profound practitioners clean up the bodies of their kin. It was only after a long period of time had passed that he was finally willing to turn around and look at them.

When he turned around, his eyes subconsciously jumped upward as his entire body leaned back.

The Qilin Emperor’s face was weathered, his skin was dull, and his body was withered and shrunken. This coupled with the fact that he was doing his best to suppress his god emperor aura in front of Yun Che made him seem like nothing more than a humble and refined-looking old man.

As for the Blue Dragon Emperor...

She was bent at her waist in a gesture of respect… but shockingly enough, she was still a half an inch taller than Yun Che!

Whenever a man faced a woman who was taller than he was, it was common for them to feel a strange sort of pressure.

The Devil Master of the North was no exception to this rule.

Yun Che’s eyes unconsciously wandered toward the lower half of her body… The diaphanous water-blue robes seemed to be playing a game of hide and seek with a pair of slender and lovely jade legs so long that his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

“... Kneel!” Yun Che barked out in a cold voice.

The Qilin Emperor kneeled down without any hesitation whatsoever.

The Blue Dragon Emperor followed after the Qilin Emperor.

When the invisible feeling of pressure immediately disappeared, Yun Che breathed a silent sigh of relief. After that, he gazed at the two kneeling emperors with cold eyes.

As western king realms which had accompanied Long Bai here, the Qilin Realm and the Blue Dragon Realm had suffered startlingly few losses.

From Chi Wuyao’s sound transmission, Yun Che found out that the two king realms had only lost about a tenth of their forces before Yun Che had emerged from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm… They had suffered even fewer losses than the mightier Dragon God Realm!

This was because these two king realms had been taking it easy from the start. Their god emperors led by example and all of their Divine Masters fought as if they were hobbled. If not for the fact that they did not dare to offend the Dragon Monarch, they would have probably fled from the fight the moment it started.

After that, they were tasked with killing the Divine Masters of the Myriad Manifestations God Realm, Emperor Chi Realm, and Hui Dragon Realm… However, under that peerlessly dreadful Dragon God suppression, it was not much harder than chopping up some vegetables, so it was hard for them to die even if they tried. The worst they suffered were some wounds from the retaliation of the Myriad Manifestations profound practitioners.

“Your performance just now wasn’t bad at all. And I do ultimately need some proper stepping stones in the Western Divine Region.”

Yun Che’s words were completely cold and cutting.

The Qilin Emperor immediately said, “Please do not worry, Your Magnificence. The star realms governed by the Qilin Realm and the Blue Dragon Realm will all submit to the Devil Master. We definitely won’t be involved in anything suspicious. As for the other star realms of the Western Region, this old man and the Blue Dragon Emperor will do our best to…”

“Hmph!” Yun Che cut him off with a cold snort as he slowly raised a palm filled with violent and malicious energy in the air. “Before this, I want all of the people from your clans who have killed a profound practitioner of the devil race in this battle to step forward and commit suicide!”

“If even one of them does not step forward, I will slaughter your entire race!”

Yun Che’s words were filled with a murderous intent.

However, not a single one of the Qilins or Blue Dragons stood forward.

Yun Che’s expression immediately turned sinister and dark as a grim chuckle escaped his lips. “Very good. It looks like you want me to personally take action, huh? However, if my hand is forced, the guilty are not the only ones who are going to die…”

“No! Wait!” the Qilin Emperor hurriedly exclaimed. “Your Magnificence, it isn’t that any member of our race is afraid of death! It is that none of us killed any northern region profound practitioners. This is because this old man and the Blue Dragon Emperor gave a stern command that our kinsmen were not to kill any northern region profound practitioners in battle!”

“Heh!” Yun Che barked out a cold laugh. “How ridiculous! To think that you would actually be shameless enough to utter such ridiculous words!”

“It does sound absurd and ridiculous,” Chi Wuyao’s voice floated over the air. “But every word of it is true. If it wasn’t, I would never have told you to spare them.”

“I can confirm that,” Qianye Binzhu said in a dry voice.

“...?” Even someone like Yun Che was completely flummoxed by this turn of events.

“Your Magnificence, every word that my lord has uttered is true and without falsehood.” A Purple Qilin bravely spoke up in the back, his voice ringing like metal gongs. “Before we arrived here today, our lord gave us the stern command to find an opponent at our level of strength if we were forced to come to blows with the devil race. Moreover, he also ordered us to never deal the killing blow if we happened to end up in a situation where the other party had been pushed into a corner. We were only allowed to let our former allies do the killing.”

“Killing the devil race was a meritorious deed that our other allies were fighting for. However, to us… it was a heavy sin that our lord would surely punish us for,” another Purple Qilin said. “As a result, no one in our race would ever dare to strike the killing blow. On the contrary… we lost more than a few kinsmen to the last desperate strikes of the dying devils.”

“...” This was entirely out of Yun Che’s expectations.

“Why?” he asked the Qilin Emperor as he stared at him intently.

The Qilin Emperor let out a sigh filled with boundless sorrow before he replied, “We Qilins have always been regarded as auspicious beasts in this world. As the highest authority of the Qilin race, the supreme beings who ruled over them, we do not dare to stain this beautiful reputation of ours. The things we hate the most are fresh blood from slaughter and slaughter itself. We only hope for peace to abound in the world.”

“We did not dare to offend the Dragon Monarch, so we could only obey. However, I do not dare to offend Your Magnificence either… Your Magnificence is still young, but you have already obtained the Heretic God’s power and the Devil Emperor’s legacy. Even though I have been wizened by all of my years, I was still shocked time and again by your deeds. I gradually came to believe that Your Magnificence truly might have the power to overturn heaven and earth.”

“As a result, even though the forces of the west held an overwhelming advantage, I still wanted to preserve the last chance we had with you.”

“If the Dragon Monarch won, we would gladly accept his heavy punishment, but if the Devil Master won… we would have preserved our chance at life.”

Yun Che narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Qilin Emperor. After that, he chuckled dryly and said, “What a beautiful ‘preserve the last chance we had with you’. You really are a sly old fox and even the title of ‘Qilin Emperor’ can barely live up to you.”

The Qilin Emperor bowed his head once again. “We only seek peace and harmony. We have never had any ambitions for power or dominance. I also have never had anything but the utmost admiration and respect for the Devil Master. I only ask… for you to spare our lives.”

“Peace? Heh, what a cowardly and timid race. So if someone who has the power to overthrow me appears in the future, will you once again bend your knee to them?” Yun Che asked in a mocking voice.

“Yes,” the Qilin Emperor replied without any hesitation. “It is very hard for our qilin race to reproduce, so the mission that has been passed from generation to generation is to survive and prosper. As such, we have never abused anyone we have power over, and if it is out of our power… we can only go with the flow of things.”

The Qilin Emperor immediately followed up, “However, your might is already enough to shake the heavens and the earth. Even someone as strong as the Dragon Monarch was subdued by a simple flip of your hand. As such, I firmly believe that it is impossible for anyone stronger than the Devil Master to appear in the following generations. Thus, the qilin race will swear eternal loyalty to the Devil Master. This is the vow I make as the leader of the kings of the qilin race, the heavens and earth be my witness.”

“...” Yun Che’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the Blue Dragon Emperor. “Are you also the same?”

The Blue Dragon Emperor replied, “The Blue Dragons have always been a dragon race that protects. Our draconic bodies and might are purely for protection. The Devil Master just needs to do a quick check of my race’s history and you will find that our blue dragon race has never been the instigator of any conflicts. Neither have we involved ourselves in any conflicts.”

“Everything that happened to us today was something that was forced upon us. Even killing the Chi Dragons and Hui Dragons was something that was forced upon us.”

“...” The unnecessary addition of the words “forced” shocked the Qilin Emperor so badly that cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, but he immediately swallowed the words he was about to say.

“Your Magnificence, if we receive your forgiveness, we will be willing to obey any of your commands as long as they do not cross our bottom line. And if you are determined to push us to our deaths… then our only choice will be to fight to the bitter end.”

The Blue Dragon Emperor’s words were cold, calm, and devoid of emotion. In fact, her speech and mannerisms quite closely resembled the Mu Xuanyin of the past.

“Little Blue Dragon!” Cang Shitian leaped forward with a roar. “You dare to threaten the Devil Master!?”

“No! No! No! The Blue Dragon Emperor definitely does not mean that!” the Qilin Emperor exclaimed anxiously. “It is just that her personality is stubborn and rigid, and she sticks too closely to her principles… If she wasn’t such a person, she would not have so wilfully held back her strength in front of the Dragon Monarch today.”

A Blue Dragon Divine Attendant kneeling behind the Blue Dragon Emperor raised her head and said, “Your Magnificence, back when you saved the entire universe, you also saved our Blue Dragon Realm. Ever since that time, our lord has always felt grateful and greatly indebted to you. Even when your darkness profound energy was exposed to the world and the other realms were trying to hunt you down, my lord never changed her opinion of you because of your darkness profound energy. Instead, she constantly rebuked herself for her powerlessness as guilt ate away at her soul… She even sent this sound transmission three times during this terrible battle: Pretend to fight, and you must absolutely never strike the killing blow.”

“If Your Magnificence does not believe me, you are free to search my memories.”

After she said that, the Blue Dragon Divine Attendant closed her eyes and dispersed all of her soul energy.

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Yun Che slowly clapped, and each strike of his palms felt like a blow against the hearts of the Qilins and Blue Dragons. “Amusing, how very amusing. One race only seeks their own safety and security, and will always leave themselves a way out. One race hates battle and only uses their power to defend themselves, while being extremely stubborn and principled. Two races who possess neither ambition nor sharpness, yet they could rise to become king realms. Heh, if you did not possess innate talent and advantages that far outstripped the rest of us, I’m afraid that your races would have long since been wiped out.”

The Qilin Emperor bowed his head. “The Devil Master’s rebuke is correct.”

However, he was currently breathing a very heavy sigh of relief in his heart… because he had sensed that Yun Che had not been enraged by the Blue Dragon Emperor’s words and his cold and sinister aura had actually started to recede.

“Hmph, the lives they were living were simply too good,” Chi Wuyao said in an airy voice. “If they had been living in the Northern Divine Region…”

She did not continue, but everyone could sense the resentment that lay behind those words, the resentment that was coming from the Devil Queen of the North… During these last million years, the other three Divine Regions had pushed the Northern Divine Region into a desperate and squalid condition. It was only today that they had finally seen a new dawn.

So how would they treat the three Divine Regions now that they were the masters? Would they repay hatred with hatred? Or...

All of these decisions rested in Yun Che’s hands alone.

When he was still in the Northern Divine Region, he had said many times that he would turn the three other Divine Regions into dark hells, that he would plunge the people he had once saved into an eternal purgatory of fear, regret, pain, and despair.

However, ever since Yun Che made his sudden decision to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, Chi Wuyao had strongly sensed that Yun Che’s heart had changed… and it was a rather big change.

“So do we spare them or kill them?” Chi Wuyao asked.

The hearts of the Qilins and Blue Dragons rose into their throats...

Yun Che turned around to leave as he said, “You decide.”

When he thought about what had happened at the border of the Primal Chaos and what happened outside the Blue Pole Star… He remembered that the only god emperors who had not attacked him when he was down were the Qilin Emperor and Blue Dragon Emperor, and that was with the Dragon Monarch present.

Once he said those words, all of the tension bled out of the Qilin Emperor, and his body nearly sank to the ground in relief.

As she stared at Yun Che’s back, Chi Wuyao’s jade lips trembled slightly before she said in a slow and languid voice. “You have made a very wise choice today. That choice not only saved your lives, but it saved the lives of every member of your two races as well.”

“Carve everything that happened today into your hearts and remember to never ever do something stupid in the future.”

“I thank the Devil Master for his mercy, I thank the Devil Queen for her magnanimity!” The Qilin Emperor heavily kowtowed toward Chi Wuyao. Now that the calamity had passed, his body was shaking with relief and gratitude. “The qilin and blue dragon races will definitely be entirely loyal to the Devil Master and the Devil Queen, and we will obey your every command. We will do our best to lead the Western Divine Region and we won’t let the Devil Master or the Devil Queen down. We eagerly await your punishment if we do!”

The Qilin Emperor knew that the Blue Dragon Emperor would be unwilling to say many of these things, so he did it for her.

After all, the Qilin Realm and the Blue Dragon Realm had always had a very good relationship with each other. It was something that the entire universe knew about. This was because the behavior and principles of these two realms were far too similar.

As a result, the Qilin Emperor had always regarded the Blue Dragon Emperor as half a disciple and half a daughter. He had watched her grow up, watched her become an emperor… and now, he had also helped pull the Blue Dragon Emperor and her realm away from the edge of the abyss.

The Qilins and Blue Dragons kneeling behind them were filled with relief and gratitude as well. It was at this moment that they finally truly understood why the Qilin Emperor had acted in such a timid and cowardly manner. The return of the Devil Master and the events that followed had proved it to be an imminently wise decision.

After a long time, the Qilins and Blue Dragons finally started to get to their feet. Their bodies were slick with sweat and all of them felt as if an entire lifetime had passed since the Devil Master had spoken to them.

The Blue Dragon Emperor lifted her head to stare at the distant Yun Che.

He was currently seated on the ground as he cradled the small and delicate body of the Heavenly Wolf Star God in his arms. His eyes remained fixed on her face, his gaze never leaving it. It was almost as if he wanted his face to be the first thing that she saw when she woke up.

This scene showed an entirely different Yun Che from before. In fact, it was nearly impossible to connect the tender man in front of her with the imperious and bloodthirsty Devil Master who had just ordered the slaughter of the Divine Masters of four different races.

On the other side of the ruined Deep Sea Divine Region, Shui Meiyin’s figure had appeared in front of the World Dragon City.

The World Dragon City was floating in the air high above the Deep Sea Divine Region, far away from the battlefield. It was also a primordial divine warship, so even the shockwaves from the battle were not enough to scratch it.

With Long Bai’s death, the World Dragon City had lost its master.

Shui Meiyin stared at it quietly before she stretched out a snowy hand… In the next instant, the strange crimson runes that covered the bottom of the World Dragon City briefly lit up before going dark again.

The World Dragon City had obtained a new master in the blink of an eye.

The World Dragon City’s spatial divine power had come from the World Piercer. Thus, as the new master of the World Piercer, Shui Meiyin could have easily seized control of the World Dragon City from Long Bai even if he was still alive.

A devilish light flashed behind her as Chi Wuyao blurred into existence.

White mist drifted about the proudly-standing divine palaces, a boundless ancient aura emanating from them… As she swept her eyes over the entirety of the World Dragon City, even one such as Chi Wuyao found her breath taken away.

“It is one hundred and eighty kilometers long and it contains two hundred palaces of differing sizes. Thirty percent of these palaces contain independent spaces that have not collapsed, so they are far larger than they seem to be.”

“It isn’t a very big city, but every single brick and tile is made from primordial divine stone. So even if more than ninety percent of its divine power has dissipated, it is still practically indestructible in the present world.”

Shui Meiyin continued, “Also, every palace in the city is engraved with a primordial seal. It is clear that the Dragon God Realm did not dare to forcefully break these seals, so they could only quietly wait for them to vanish naturally. Perhaps this is also one of the main reasons it has never appeared in the last million years.”

“When Long Bai awakened it, he only used its spatial hopping ability… In other words, none of the palaces in this World Dragon City have ever been used.”

“So?” Chi Wuyao asked as she turned to look at Shui Meiyin with those beautiful eyes of hers.

Shui Meiyin’s eyes sparkled as her giggles rang in the air like the tinkling of silver bells. “So how about we make it Big Brother Yun Che’s imperial city?”

The World Dragon City. This was the profound ship that the primordial Heretic God personally crafted and gave to the primordial Dragon Gods.

It was both the Heretic God’s legacy and a legacy of the True Dragon Gods.

Thus, it truly was the most suitable imperial city for Yun Che… In this current era, he was the only person who was truly qualified to be the master of the World Dragon City.

“That’s a good idea.” Chi Wuyao’s seductive eyes curved up in glee. “However, I think that we need to change its name first.”