Against the Gods

To perform the Profound Handle Soul Search on a Monarch, even it was just a Monarch who was in the initial stages, would still be extremely hard to accomplish. But Duke Huai had been heavily wounded, seared by the Little Demon Empress’ Golden Crow flames, and his heart and soul had descended into complete chaos, so he was entirely suppressed by her. Neither his body nor soul had any power to resist anymore. In addition to this, Yun He, Yun Jiang, and Yun Xi had assaulted him with their Profound Handles, and it only took a single attempt before a Profound Handle penetrated into Duke Huai’s soul.

The pain and fierce expression that Duke Huai had on his face gradually disappeared, giving way to a dazed and slack look. His eyes had also become dull and lifeless as well, like two empty holes.

“Little Demon Empress, Duke Huai has already been submitted to the Profound Handle Soul Search. If you have any questions, please ask them. He will say everything that he knows without the ability to lie.” As Yun He spoke, he had slightly bowed and had unconsciously moderated his breathing. Being only a few steps away from the Little Demon Empress, that kind of extremely oppressive aura made him feel like all the blood in his body had stopped flowing. Initially, when he had met the Little Demon Empress, or even met with the previous Emperor, he had never felt this kind of sensation.

As Yun He finished, he cautiously withdrew. The hundred thousand people gathered in the Demon Imperial Hall had fallen completely silent, and all eyes were focused on the Little Demon Empress. Before she opened her mouth, no one would dare to utter a single sound.

She had already been the Little Demon Empress for a hundred years, and her status should already have been elevated to the ruler of the Illusory Demon Realm, but today, it was the first time that she had truly become its master. Gender, age, qualifications, none of it mattered anymore. Whether she was the final descendant the Demon Emperor or not mattered even less. Because right now, she held absolute strength!

Regardless of the world, it was only if one held absolute strength that one could become an absolute ruler, and it was only then that one could become a true Emperor. This principle was something that she had been clear about ever since she was young. The hundred years she had ruled as the Little Demon Empress had also confirmed the truth of this principle for her time and time again.

The Little Demon Empress did not approach Duke Huai. Instead, she turned around and said in an apathetic voice, “Yun Che, come and perform the interrogation.”

“Yes!” Yun Che had seemed to guess that the Little Demon Empress would do this, so he answered without being the least bit surprised.

Yun Che kept the Heaven Smiting Sword and walked towards Duke Huai. He bent his head and looked at the person who was, just two hours ago, causing the world to tremble as he was about to ascend to the throne of the Demon Emperor. But now, he knelt there like a dead dog, his entire body covered in blood, his eyes dull and lifeless. Even an unarmed and defenseless commoner would take pity on the current Duke Huai.

There were still many of the peak powerhouses and enormous forces that his Duke Huai Palace had bribed that were still in the vicinity, but not a single person came forward to save him. In fact, not a single person even came forward to speak a word in his favor… Because any who would dare to do such a thing had already died terrible deaths.

The focus of all those gazes swivelled to Yun Che as he strode forward. Yun Che surveyed his surroundings and met all those gazes boldly. After that, his brows faintly sunk and he declared in a loud voice, “All those who are in attendance here today should know that my Yun Family’s Profound Handle Soul Search will cause the mind of the person who has been submitted to it to wander, so that person will definitely not be in control of himself! Any words that he says will come from his own memory, and it definitely will not be false… So all of you need to prick up your ears to have a good listen to what this Duke Huai is going to say… and see just what kind of trash this person whom you nearly made the new sovereign of the Illusory Demon Realm really is, this person whom countless of people were willing to abandon the Little Demon Emperor for and fought tooth and nail to serve!!”

Yun Che turned his body and gazed at Duke Huai as he coldly exclaimed, “Duke Huai, let me ask you! All those years ago, how exactly did the those people from the Profound Sky Continent manage to suddenly invade our Illusory Demon Realm?!”

The gathered crowd originally thought that Yun Che would ask whether he had tried to harm the Little Demon Empress so as to establish his villainy. But who would have thought that he actually asked a question that everyone knew the answer to. Because of this, the faces of the audience were immediately filled with astonishment.

Duke Huai opened his lips and slowly uttered a reply, “It was my royal father… with a dimension transmission art… he informed the Profound Sky Continent… that the Mirror of Samsara which belonged to the Demon Emperor’s clan hid the secret of advancing to the Divine Profound Realm… and with that, he managed to entice them to come over…”

Because he could not consciously control it, Duke Huai’s voice was a bit hoarse, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear what he was saying. Every word that he said was like profound lightning that flashed across a clear sky; they were so shocking that they caused everyone’s face to lose color in extreme horror.

“This… this… this… this isn’t possible!” An old man tottered to his feet, his face filled with alarm, and no matter what, he could not bring himself to believe the words that he had just heard. The “royal father” that Duke Huai spoke of was naturally none other than Duke Ming, who had disappeared more than a hundred years ago. That Duke Ming who had an extremely high profound cultivation and extremely good reputation, who was always smiling…

“What is going on…”

“The invasion on the Profound Sky Continent was actually… this… what exactly…”

The Demon Imperial Hall immediately flew into an uproar, and the expression of every person present had undergone a huge change. Especially the Guardian Families and various Duke Palaces, they were all so shocked that their eyes were wide open and their mouths had grown slack while their very souls began to tremble… Every single one of them began to detect that something was not normal — This was the Yun Family’s Profound Handle Soul Search, so anything said by Duke Huai could not be false!

Perhaps, his crime was not so simple as merely attempting to commit regicide against the Little Demon Empress. In the shadows of Duke Huai Palace… there was perhaps an even more terrifying scheme that was still hidden away.

The reactions of all who were present was naturally more than normal to Yun Che. He stared directly at Duke Huai and continued, “I will ask you something else. The fact that the invaders from the Profound Sky Continent knew our Demon Imperial City like the back of their hands and were able to come and go as they pleased, was this due to the secret support of your Duke Huai Palace?”

“Yes.” Duke Huai opened his mouth and sluggishly uttered one word. That simple, short word was undoubtedly a bomb that was thrown into the Demon Imperial Hall.

Yun Che ignored the cries of shock that entered his ears and continued with a wooden face, “Now, honestly and sincerely tell everyone this, the previous Demon Emperor… just how did he die?!”

When Yun Che suddenly asked this question, he caused everyone to immediately hold their breaths. The previous Demon Emperor had personally pursued the invaders from the Profound Sky Continent and, in his rage, he had impulsively rushed into the teleportation formation to the Profound Sky Continent. After that, all communication had been lost… this was the “truth” that the people of the Illusory Demon Realm all knew. But Yun Che’s question clearly implied certain things, and coupled with Duke Huai’s previous replies, both of these things caused a feeling of dread to cover the hearts and souls of all who were present.

The answer to this question was a secret that Duke Huai could never disclose to anyone else. But under the compulsion of the Profound Handle Soul Search, he could only blindly obey, “It was my royal father… he took advantage of the Demon Emperor’s lack of precaution towards him… and smashed him into the teleportation profound formation that would send him to the Profound Sky Continent… causing him to travel directly to the other side of the spatial tunnel… into the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation that was already lying in wait for him…”

Clamor————

The entire great hall immediately exploded into noise. Shock, fury, sorrow, and disbelief filled every nook and cranny, and even the people from Duke Huai Palace had expressions that were completely dumbfounded as they did not dare believe any of the words that they had just heard… and the forces who had sworn loyalty to Duke Huai started to tremble all over; there were a fair amount of people that directly swooned to the ground, their entire body soaked in cold sweat.

“Abomination… abomination!!” Mu Feiyan fists were so tight that every joint on his hand had turned white. The horrifying guess that Yun Che had brought up four months ago… was in the end still a guess. But after personally hearing the answer from Duke Huai’s mouth, his heart nearly exploded on the spot out of anger. And if he, a person who had already been mentally prepared for such an answer, reacted thus, how do you think the others fared?

It had been more than a hundred years since the previous Demon Emperor had met with calamity, and the truth that everyone knew was that he was harmed by the people of the Profound Sky Continent… But no one, even in their wildest dreams, had imagined that the true perpetrator behind the previous Demon Emperor’s death was actually Duke Huai Palace! Furthermore, it was clearly a scheme that had been meticulously hatched and premeditated!

“My grandfather brought along ten martyrs of the Yun Family to advance to the Profound Sky Continent, but when they had just arrived, they were immediately ensnared in the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation that had lain in wait for them… Was it also a wicked deed that was caused by your Duke Huai Palace?!” Yun Che coldly exclaimed.

“Yes… it was my royal father… who told those of the Profound Sky Continent… when and where the Demon King would make his entrance…” Duke Huai muttered.

Bang!!

Tens of seats, along with a large swathe of ground, were instantly destroyed where the Yun Family was located. The three Grand Elders of the Yun Family, along with the various elders who had followed Yun Canghai all those years ago, all stood there, gnashing their teeth as their faces became flushed with blood, and they could barely hold themselves back from rushing up and tearing Duke Huai to shreds with their bare hands.

“And the Little Demon Emperor, just who killed him? How did he die?!” Yun Che pressed on relentlessly.

“On the wedding night of the Little Demon Emperor and Little Demon Empress… he went alone to pay his respects to the previous Demon Emperor… and he was killed by my royal father… and before he died, my royal father used a soul invading technique to plunder all of the Little Demon Emperor’s memories… after that, he tossed the Little Demon Emperor’s corpse… into the spatial profound formation… and sent him to the Profound Sky Continent as well…”

“Four months ago, in Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, who was it that wanted to force the Little Demon Empress into the Sea of Death?!”

“It was my royal father… and I…”

“What was your true purpose for enticing the people of the Profound Sky Continent into invading the Illusory Demon Realm?!”

“We wanted to use the people of the Profound Sky Continent… to plunge Demon Imperial City into chaos… so that we could murder both the previous Demon Emperor and the Little Demon Emperor and then pin all the crimes on them as well…”

“You are dukes of the Illusory Demon Royal Family! Why did you do such heinous things to the house of the Demon Emperor?!”

“My royal father was not content to serve… so he wanted to rise up above them instead…”

“Then, when did your royal father, Duke Ming, harbor such an ambition?!” Yun Che faintly narrowed his eyes.

Duke Huai opened his mouth but nothing proceeded from it… it was clear that it was something even he did not know.

Yun Che’s questions and Duke Huai’s answers, every single one of them shook the souls and shocked the hearts of those present. Every single word was like a huge sledgehammer pounding away at their hearts and souls. Gradually, after their fury and shock had reached its zenith, what was birthed was astonishingly an icy-cold dread…

For the past hundred years, all the people of the Illusory Demon Realm had thought that it was those of the Profound Sky Continent that had caused the deaths of the previous Demon Emperor and the Little Demon Emperor. It was the inhabitants of Profound Sky Continent that had left the Demon Emperor’s clan bereft of a heir and had caused the Yun Family to fall into decline. It was the evil villains of the Profound Sky Continent who had brought about the greatest calamity to befall the Illusory Demon Realm since its formation ten thousand years ago… With that, all the living beings of the Illusory Demon Realm became filled with hate and resentment towards the beings of the Profound Sky Continent. It was to the extent that the first thing most newborn children learned was that the residents of the Profound Sky Continent were the Illusory Demon Realm’s eternally detested enemies!

And it was only now that they found out, to their shock and horror, that everything that they had held as truth was actually a lie… The entire Illusory Demon Realm and all of those present had been dancing in the palm of the true villain all this while!

And the devil who had caused the deaths of the previous Demon Emperor, the Little Demon Emperor, and the Demon King and had caused great suffering to the entire Illusory Demon Realm… was no less than the person that they had worshipped in this divine and sacred Demon Imperial Hall. They had even planned to make this person… the new emperor!

If not for the Little Demon Empress and Yun Che’s return… besides the Yun and Mu Families, who were prepared to engage in a life-or-death struggle, all of those present would become the most tragic objects of ridicule in the history of the Illusory Demon Realm.

Shock, horror, and fury filled the hearts and minds of every single person as sweat drenched their backs. It was as if they had been trapped in a nightmare that had lasted a hundred years, and it was only today that someone had finally rescued them from it…

“Your Duke Huai Palace has done so many scandalous things that has infuriated both the gods and men. But those families who should have remained loyal to the house of the Demon Emperor and yet turned to you, they are plentiful indeed.” Yun Che said with a cold smirk, “Duke Huai, I am going to have to trouble you to recite the names of every power and family that had thrown their lots in with you… say them one by one, and don’t leave out a single faction!”

Yun Che’s words caused many of those who were present to tremble in shock and alarm. But Duke Huai had already begun to earnestly and sincerely recite. “Duke Zhong Palace… Helian Family… Chiyang Family… Jiufang Family… Duke Zi Palace… Great General Zheng Bei… Bai Family…”

Thud!!

Helian Kuang practically scrambled over on all fours, and he knelt in front of the Little Demon Empress as his entire body trembled and sounded like he was on the verge of sobbing. “Little Demon Empress… I was hoodwinked and led astray by the crafty scoundrel Duke Huai… if I had truly known that he had done such wicked things, even if I died tens of thousands of times over, I still would not have thrown my lot in with him… I… I… I was truly kept in the dark… I beg that the Little Demon Empress will perceive this clearly… I beg the Little Demon Empress to show me grace…”

“My Helian clan has been a Guardian Family for ten thousand years… I, Helian Kuang, will swear eternal loyalty to the Little Demon Empress alone from this day forth… if I dare to go back on my words… may I receive the scourge of heaven… may I be struck by lightning… Please believe me Little Demon Empress… those things done by Duke Huai Palace… I truly knew nothing about them…”

Helian Kuang’s voice grew hoarse, and he began to break down into complete incoherence. The Helian Patriarch who looked down on all under heaven had clearly been reduced to a blubbering mess by the Little Demon Empress’ oppressive might and the crimes of Duke Huai Palace. The crimes that Duke Huai had confessed to, any one of them was enough to make one’s hair stand on end. Any one of them was enough to earn the eternal enmity of the Illusory Demon Realm, and even the complete extermination of a clan to the ninth degree would not be enough to expiate the sins of these crimes! In addition, the powers and families who had stood with Duke Huai would also be painted with the same broad brush; their names would be a repugnant stench for ten thousand years, and they would never be able to emancipate themselves from this guilt.

This Chapter’s Teaser