Against the Gods

For a moment, an unexpected yet terrible silence loomed over the calamitous world.

Shui Meiyin jerked violently as all the blood drained away from her face.

“Oh no…” A powerless murmur also slipped out of Chi Wuyao’s lips.

Shui Meiyin had already told her about Yun Che’s plan using her Stainless Divine Soul. She had been looking for an opportunity to unleash her Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul the entire time.

In this world, there was no one who had a better sense of opportunity than Chi Wuyao. When she struck, it was always when her enemy was at their weakest and most vulnerable. She was one of the main reasons Yun Che was able to conquer God Realm as quickly and as dominantly as he did.

While Yun Che was staking his life to create that opportunity, Chi Wuyao too was seeking that opportunity with all her might.

Unfortunately for them, their plan had just been exposed to Mo Beichen. He was going to be on his guard from now on.

In other words…

They'd never get the chance they were hoping for.

“That is a good plan. You gave me chills for a second there,” Mo Beichen said in a low voice. He did not think that their plan was laughable, nor did he ridicule it as just another lowly being’s pipedream.

He might look down on everything in this world, but he would never, ever look down on the Sky Poison Pearl. After all, it was one of the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, a profound artifact that was considered to be on the same level as a Creation God.

Qi Tianli had already told him that Yun Che possessed the Sky Poison Pearl, but he had no idea how powerful or terrifying its poison might be.

This meant that the Sky Poison was a complete unknown to him, and there was nothing more terrifying than the unknown. Ergo, if he hadn’t lowered his guard before, he absolutely wasn’t going to start now.

“HAH!!!”

Yun Che shouted as a devilish pattern erupted within Yun Che’s pupils. After the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword had returned to peak strength, he brought it down on Mo Beichen’s head once more.

Mo Beichen threw out both arms to guard against the attack, but something was different this time. Yellowish brown profound energy actually shone from his left arm before taking the form of an arm shield just like the one on his right arm. At the same time, a boulder-like profound formation expanded across its surface.

The two profound formations joined together to form a defensive barrier that could plunge anyone into despair.

BANG—

Yun Che’s devilish flame and sword might exploded across the boulder formation.

Both men’s arms shook violently as a mighty explosion launched them away from each other.

The wind howling beside his ears felt cold and miserable. Even though he caught himself by severing the space behind him with the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword, blood gushed out between his lips once more.

This time, the recoil and rebound were causing cracks to appear on his internal organs as well.

Chiang!

The ninth Southern Sea divine origin winked out.

Yun Che was running out of time.

Moreover, his physical condition would only worsen as the terrible rebound consumed him, which meant that his strength and control would only grow weaker as time passed.

Some distance away, Mo Beichen had also skidded to a halt. Yun Che’s attack had left a couple of long, thin cracks across the yellowish brown barrier, but they were healing at a visible rate.

By the time he fully righted himself, all of the cracks had disappeared into nothing, leaving behind only a flawless, practically untouched wall.

Previously, Mo Beichen had raged at the fact that he was forced to use just a single vambrace. But now, he was holding both of them in front of himself.

Yun Che did not deserve them. No one in this world deserved his profound abyssal artifact!

But the Sky Poison Pearl? Yes! Yes it does!

No matter how poor his opinion of this world was, only an utter fool would act high and mighty before the Sky Poison Pearl.

“…” This time, even Chi Wuyao had closed her eyes helplessly.

The situation wouldn’t be so hopeless if Mo Beichen was even the slightest bit more arrogant than he was.

With his twin shields in front of himself and his profound energy surrounding his entire body, Mo Beichen’s expression suddenly turned grave and solemn.

“I am His Majesty’s loyal subject and 779th Abyssal Knight, the ‘Dust-sealing Guardian’ Mo Beichen.”

“Today, I use my shield of protection against a lowly being not to trample over my own honor, but to defend my body and secure priceless artifacts and inheritances for my eternal liege!”

He was justifying his actions both to himself and the Abyss.

He must treat the Sky Poison Pearl with the highest level of caution, but his opponent was ultimately just a lowly mortal.

In the end, there was no denying that he had violated his knightly honor by using his profound abyssal artifact against a lowly mortal from this world.

They could hardly believe it, but Mo Beichen’s solemn declaration had plunged them into deeper despair.

Even worse than the despair was the shock assaulting their senses. They had thought there was nothing else that could shock them after everything they had been through up to this moment, but they were proven wrong yet again.

The 779th Abyssal Knight…

Mo Beichen was the most powerful profound practitioner they had ever seen… and he was only ranked 779th among the Abyssal Knights!?

Just how many terrifying Abyssal Knights were there in that place known as the Abyss!?

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the priests and Pope stood above the knights…

The Abyssal Emperor was above all of them!

What could they possibly do against such power?

“I’m sorry… master… I’m sorry…”

Inside the Sky Poison Pearl’s space, He Ling was curled up into a ball and shivering like a leaf. She could not stop sobbing as she apologized to Yun Che again and again.

Their final hope… and she had destroyed it with her own hands.

No one had ever managed to intercept her sound transmission before, but… she never understood or touched the power of a Half-God either.

“It’s not your fault. You’re not allowed to blame yourself.”

Yun Che consoled He Ling in a gentle yet domineering voice before dashing toward Mo Beichen once more.

Mo Beichen crossed his arms in front of himself and simply waited for Yun Che to reach him. Clearly, he wasn’t even going to bother with a counter attack anymore. He was going to protect himself with all his might!

The Abyssal Knight with the title “Guardian” had gone into full defense mode with his defensive artifact turned on.

There was nothing more despairing than this situation.

This time, Mo Beichen did not move a muscle. In fact, his eyes didn’t so much as twitch as Yun Che bore down on him with another slash.

Right before Yun Che’s sword would make contact with his barrier though, the young man’s figure suddenly blurred in front of him.

It looked as if the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword was slashing toward him, but the expected impact didn’t happen at all. It was an afterimage.

Executing Star God’s Broken Shadow and Moon Splitting Cascade in quick succession, Yun Che was able to appear behind Mo Beichen in an instant before thrusting his burning sword at the man’s heart.

The yellowish brown-colored profound formation appeared when the blade was a-third of a meter away from Mo Beichen’s back.

As it turned out, Mo Beichen’s boulder formation did not just cover one side.

It was a globe that protected every angle of his body.

In other words, there wasn’t even a gap that he could exploit!

THANG!

The metallic clang was followed by an explosion of power.

Yun Che and Mo Beichen were pushed fifty kilometers away from each other once more.

The Abyssal Knight’s face turned red, but he returned to normal just a few seconds later.

Thin cracks appeared on his profound formation again, but they healed just half a breath later.

Mo Beichen had to admit that Yun Che’s destructive power was terrifying even to him. There wasn’t a single attack that hadn’t left some cracks on his boulder formation.

If he had continued to act with the same arrogance and carelessness as at the onset, there was definitely a chance Yun Che could’ve caught him by surprise and impaled him with his sword.

Now, his dream was just that, a dream.

“The name of this arm shield is ‘Eternal Boulder’,” he declared. Right here and now, his figure felt as tall as tall as a mountain that propped up the sky. “It will fill your remaining time with endless despair!”

By now, everyone was aware that the dying light in Yun Che’s body signified the time remaining before his Half-God powers expired. Naturally, Mo Beichen was no exception.

There was a cold and short silence. Then, the corners of Yun Che’s lips turned up.

The light in his eyes deepened as it became mixed with an unspeakable weight and darkness. He pointed his sword at Mo Beichen and said slowly, “If it is my fate to die here today, then I will make certain…”

“That you will come to the grave with me!”

“Hehe!” Mo Beichen chuckled. “Keep dreaming, fool!”

“Ah…” He Ling abruptly looked up from her position and screamed piteously, “No… No!!”

RUMBLE!!

Profound energy, flesh and blood exploded from Yun Che’s body once more as he attacked Mo Beichen.

The situation was completely hopeless, but he still had nine divine origins. He could still struggle for a while.

So he would linger. He had too many things in life he couldn’t let go. He would linger until the last possible moment before he did the inevitable.

When there were three stars left in the sky, the Asura would return to this world!

His life for a temporary reprieve for all life in the Primal Chaos… Hah, it would be worth it!

RUMBLE!

RUMBLE!!

The clash between sword and shield continued to destroy the God Realm of Absolute Beginning with unbridled savagery. The dim lighting twisted their figures into indistinct, warped shadows.

Explosive black flames, a howling wolf, and a yellowish brown light that could not be destroyed no matter what pierced everyone’s eyes again and again.

Now that his mind was finally made up, his power was flowing smoother than ever before.

He was no longer restricting his mind either. Like an invisible hand, his divine perception brushed past Chi Wuyao, Mu Xuanyin, Qianye Ying’er… and of course, Yun Wuxin inside the barrier.

Out of everyone present, Chi Wuyao was the only one who sensed his touch and figured out his intentions.

“Idiot,” The darkness in her eyes melting away into gentle water, she whispered in a voice only she could hear, “Do you really think we would let you go alone…”

Chiang!

The tenth Southern Sea divine origin died.

Chiang!

The eleventh Southern Sea divine origin turned into dust.

The Half-God power he unleashed was powerful enough to destroy the world, and yet it just couldn’t destroy the Eternal Boulder no matter what. And all this time, the stars kept winking out one after another.

Powerless, hopeless… the words appeared in nearly everyone’s mind at least once.

Hope wasn’t what kept the final seven stars going. It was the reluctance to let go even though they knew that their efforts would be for naught.

Down on the ground, Cang Shuhe abruptly looked to one side.

There, her brother, Cang Shitian was less than three hundred meters away from her.

“Brother?”

Everyone was paying attention to the battlefield and watching as the starlights extinguished one after another. As a result, almost no one had noticed Cang Shitian’s movements.

He casually pushed the Deep Sea Barrier containing Yun Wuxin to Cang Shuhe.

“This is yours.”

He leaped into the sky after saying that.

Cang Shuhe quickly caught the Deep Sea Barrier.

Excluding Yun Wuxin, even the weakest profound practitioner present was a high rank Divine Sovereign. There was no chance Yun Wuxin could’ve survived the shockwaves if she was exposed to them even a little.

Cang Shitian had created the Deep Sea Barrier with almost all of his power. It did its job perfectly, and not a hair on her person was harmed in the slightest.

Cang Shitian had not returned to her previous location, however. Instead, he flew straight toward Yun Che and Mo Beichen…

There lay the battlefield of Half-Gods. It was a forbidden domain not even a powerful Divine Master could go near.

“Brother, what… what are you doing?”

As Cang Shuhe stared at her brother’s back, a deep sense of unease suddenly welled up inside her heart.

Cang Shuhe came to a stop upon hearing her question.

He was too close to the battlefield, so deadly energy blades left wound after wound on his face and his body. However, he remained where he was as if he couldn’t feel them at all.

There was a flash of deep blue, and he raised his hand to reveal the Deep Sea Divine Pearl he had taken from Cang Shuhe earlier.

The divine artifact was the origin of the Deep Sea lineage, and the heart of the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm.

“Hehehe!”

He chuckled, The sheer madness and brutality he had buried in his eyes this whole time finally unleashed.

Then, he uttered the words that could only have come from a madman:

“I’m going to kill Mo Beichen, of course!”