Against the Gods

The Soul Stealing Realm was far smaller than the gargantuan realm they had imagined. As they gazed at it from a distance, they realized that it was not even as big as the Snow Song Realm.

In this world of darkness, this star region resembled the huge and yawning mouth of a devil of darkness. They felt like they would fall into that abyss forever the moment they approached it.

This was a king realm of the Northern Divine Region... As Yun Che stared at the Soul Stealing Realm from a distance, the world that was wreathed in black fog seemed to continuously change shape. A peerlessly dreadful cold, stifling oppressiveness, and feeling of danger radiating from the Soul Stealing Realm repelled any living being who tried to approach it at all times.

“This is located at about the center of the Northern Divine Region.” Qianye Ying’er had never been to this place before, but she spoke in an exceedingly confident voice. “There is a unique region in the Northern Divine Region known as the【Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness】. This region is located at the center of the Northern Divine Region and it is also the core of the Northern Divine Region. To a certain extent, you can understand it as the Northern Divine Region’s darkness origin vein.”

“Darkness origin vein?” Yun Che let out a cold and disdainful snort. “The Northern Divine Region has declined so drastically that this so-called origin vein must be a dead vein by now.”

Qianye Ying’er continued, “This is also the reason why the darkness aura here is at its most dense and pure. The three king realms, the Yama Realm, the Burning Moon Realm, and the Soul Stealing Realm, all call this place their home. In other words, the three king realms in the Northern Region are all very close to each other. It is said that if a Divine Master flew at full speed, he could travel from one realm to another in a few hours.”

The tip of Yun Che’s brows twitched as he asked, “Of the three king realms, which one is the closest to the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness?”

“The Yama Realm,” Qianye Ying’er replied. “The Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness originally belonged to them in the first place. As a result, the Yama Realm had always existed in the most core location of the Northern Divine Region. This is also probably the reason why the consolidated strength of the Yama Realm is the strongest amongst the three king realms of the north.”

“Speaking of which...” Qianye Ying’er suddenly recalled something and her voice dropped several octaves lower, “I saw something concerning the Yama Realm in the records of the Brahma Monarch Realm back in the day. It was a name called ‘Yan Zu’. This name was marked with a very serious warning soul mark and this warning did not come with any explanations.”

“That is also to say that the ancestor of the Brahma Monarch God Realm had managed to sniff out the existence of this ‘Yan Zu’ from one of his channels, but he didn’t manage to find out exactly what it was. However, the warning soul mark that was engraved on these two words was a little too excessive.”

“There’s no way Chi Wuyao doesn’t have information regarding this character. We’ll find out when we ask her,” Yun Che said.

As they spoke, the two of them drew closer and closer to the Soul Stealing Realm. After they pierced through layers upon layers of black mist that could devour one’s soul, they finally landed on a piece of grayish-black ground.

Even though the Soul Stealing Realm was very small, it was, surprisingly enough, not a sealed king realm. However, there was no doubt that no ordinary person could enter this area, the place where the Devil Queen and all of her Witches dwelled.

Yun Che extended his divine senses, piercing through the layers of darkness before his gaze finally landed on a spot in the northeast direction.

That place was the core devil region of the Soul Stealing Realm, the sacred realm of devildom where the Devil Queen of the Northern Region dwelled.

They reduced their speed as they flew in the northeast direction, swiftly sweeping over the land that made up this dark king realm and the creatures living in it.

“I’ve already told you everything that I know about Chi Wuyao,” Qianye Ying’er said. “As for her Nine Witches, even though many rumors and written accounts abound, I only came to know the name of three Witches when I was still in the Eastern Divine Region.”

“Three?” Yun Che was rather shocked.

“The Seventh Witch Hua Jin,” Qianye Ying’er said in an unhurried manner. “Her profound strength is ranked at the bottom of the Nine Witches, but her ability to conceal and disguise herself borders on the realm of the divine. In fact, it’s likely that she has made multiple appearances in the Eastern, Western, and Southern Divine Regions.”

“It is also because her ability to conceal and disguise herself is much too strong and abnormal that all the king realms are aware of the existence of this Witch.” When Qianye Ying’er thought of that little girl in the bamboo forest... and how she had been tricked by Hua Jin even though she’d been so near to her, Qianye Ying’er’s brow furrowed deeply.

Even though her cultivation was far inferior to what it once was, the blood of a Devil Emperor now flowed in her veins, so her ability to sense darkness was exceedingly strong. Yet she had not been able to see through Hua Jin’s disguise even though she had been less than ten steps away from her. That ability of hers could not be described as “terrifying”.

“How about the other two?” Yun Che asked.

“The Great Witch, the very first Witch that Chi Wuyao ‘created’. The most powerful of all the Witches,” Qianye Ying’er said as her voice suddenly dropped several octaves, “a level ten Divine Master!”

The tips of Yun Che’s brows violently twitched before he said, “Then what about the third Witch?”

“The Great Witch is actually two people.” Qianye Ying’er said something extremely strange.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Jie Xin and Jie Ling.” Qianye Ying’er spoke two names which carried world-shaking might in the Northern Divine Region. “They are a pair of twin sisters and they are also the Soul Stealing Realms Great Witch.”

Yun Che frowned as he said, “So you mean that the so-called Nine Witches are actually ten people?”

“No,” Qianye Ying’er replied. “The Witch below the Great Witch is the Third Witch. Jie Xin and Jie Ling are not only identical in appearance, even their aura and their cultivation are exactly the same. It’s said that other than themselves, only the Devil Queen can tell them apart.”

“As a result, they are both the Great Witch. There is no Second Witch amongst the Nine Witches.”

Yun Che muttered something inaudible under his breath before his gaze swivelled towards her. “So you’re saying that they’re both level ten Divine Masters?”

“That’s right.” Qianye Ying’er nodded her head. “This is probably also why the Burning Moon Realm is so afraid of the Soul Stealing Realm.”

Yun Che lapsed into a deep silence.

A level ten Divine Master was what everyone recognized as the level of the god emperors.

The level ten Divine Masters in the Eastern Divine Region:

The Star God Realm used to have only one: Xing Juekong, but he was now crippled.

The Moon God Realm had one: Xia Qingyue.

The Eternal Heaven God Realm had two: Zhou Xuzi and Honorable Taiyu.

The Brahma Monarch God Realm used to have six, but the Three Brahma Gods had been killed by a single wave of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s hand and Qianye Ying’er’s power had been crippled due to the fact that she had accepted the slave imprint. So today, there were only two of them left: Qianye Fantian and Gu Zhu.

But in this withered and destitute Divine Region, the Soul Stealing Realm actually had three!

Chi Wuyao, Jie Xin, Jie Ling.

“Ten thousand years ago, when this was still the Clear Sky God Realm, the only person who was a level ten Divine Master was the Clear Sky God Emperor himself,” Qianye Ying’er continued. “After the Clear Sky God Emperor’s sudden death, Chi Wuyao took the throne by force. Every realm thought that the Clear Sky God Realm would descend into chaos and turmoil, and the most likely scenario was that it would end up splintering apart and collapsing due to its internal disorder and end up being divided amongst the Yama Realm and the Burning Moon Realm. Thus reducing the number of king realms in the Northern Divine Region to two.”

“However, what ended up happening was that the Clear Sky God Realm’s internal strife was resolved just as soon as it was starting to erupt. In fact, it was resolved in an unfathomably fast amount of time. Chi Wuyao somehow managed to twist the inherited power of the Clear Sky God Realm into something else, transforming it into the power of the Witches, a power that could only be passed on to women.”

“After the ‘birth’ of the Great Witch Jie Xin and Jie Ling, everyone in the Northern Divine Region was shocked by what Chi Wuyao had achieved.” Qianye Ying’er looked straight at Yun Che, “The secrets that she possesses are of a similar ilk to yours. You both have powers that cannot be explained by the knowledge and universally-recognized principles of this current world.”

“You have your powers because you obtained the legacy of a Creation God, but... what about her?”

“If she did not have power that far transcended the powers of others, how would she dare to have ambitions that other people would not even dare dream of? Isn’t this precisely why you chose her in the first place?” Yun Che said in a bored voice. “As for what secrets she possesses, those are not important.”

“No, they are important,” Qianye Ying’er replied without a single pause. However, she took one look at Yun Che and chose not to continue. To the current Yun Che, revenge was his everything. He truly did not care about anything else.

After the two of them had traversed most of the Soul Stealing Realm, an enormous invisible barrier appeared within their senses.

Even though they were fifty kilometers away, just the invisible oppressive might radiating from that barrier was enough to intimidate most people into stopping in their tracks.

The heart of the Soul Stealing Realm lay within that barrier and it was one of the most important places in the entire Northern Divine Region. Although it was only protected by a barrier that one could not even see, it seemed as if it existed on an entirely different plane from the world around it.

Yun Che unconsciously started to slow down as a dazed look appeared in his eyes.

Because the barrier was extremely similar to the invisible barrier he had seen in the center of the Snow Song Realm, the invisible barrier that isolated the Ice Phoenix Realm from the rest of the Snow Song Realm.

After she extended an arm and blocked Yun Che from advancing, Qianye Ying’er stared at the space in front of them, her gaze cold and steely. “You still have one last chance to change your mind. We can immediately take the next step, or... we can choose to hide away for the next few years.”

Yun Che’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Afraid of your own shadow? Isn’t that the thing you despise the most?”

“What gives me pause isn’t your current level of strength, it’s Chi Wuyao herself,” Qianye Ying’er said in a deep voice. “The result we obtained from our discussion with her was far too ideal. We only met once, but we’ve now already set foot on the Soul Stealing Realm. This sort of ‘alliance’ shouldn’t be this smooth.”

“There’s also one more thing. Although her eyes were hidden from us, I can’t shake the feeling that she’s treating you a bit strangely. However, I can’t figure out exactly why I find it strange and this is the most dangerous part about it.”

Yun Che seemed completely unmoved. He pushed aside the arm she had thrust out in front of him as he said in an indifferent voice, “Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute,” Qianye Ying’er called out to him. “Even though I’ve been by your side constantly over the last few years, I know that you still have many secrets and trump cards that you haven’t told me about.”

Yun Che, “...”

“The less people know about your trump cards, the better. This is something that is only logical, so I’ve never asked you about them or tried to worm them out of you. But I hope that you’ll answer me this time.”

Qianye Ying’er’s body blurred and she appeared directly in front of Yun Che, blocking his path. She stared straight into his eyes and said, “What is the limit of the trump cards you possess right now?”

Yun Che’s gaze turned slightly frosty, but the moment his eyes met Qianye Ying’er’s, the coldness that had just surfaced in his eyes fluctuated slightly.

Her eyes were filled with darkness and the determination to obtain an answer from him no matter what. But other than those two things... there was actually an emotion that should not have appeared in those eyes.

Something that actually seemed like... deeply-hidden worry?

As his brows knitted together slightly, Yun Che spoke in a deep and measured voice, “It is powerful enough to destroy a single person, any person... in this universe.”

The light in Qianye Ying’er’s golden eyes violently shimmered.

“However, I can only use it once,” Yun Che continued. As the scene of Mu Xuanyin dying in his arms flashed through his mind, his voice turned very soft and gentle. “In the end, I will bestow it... upon Long Bai!”

Dragon Monarch Long Bai, the emperor of the dragon race, the monarch of the Primal Chaos... In Qianye Fantian’s own words, he was a transcendent existence that even the four god emperors of the Eastern Region could not defeat if they combined forces. He was unquestionably the number one person in this universe.

So when Yun Che said that his trump card could “eliminate any single person in this universe”, it, shockingly enough included Long Bai!

Furthermore, his eyes had not wavered once when he had said those words... Him being able to kill the Dragon Monarch was not just a possibility. It was clear that he was extremely confident that he could perform such a feat once he used that trump card!

Qianye Ying’er averted her gaze and said, “No wonder you’ve always been so calm and confident. It looks like my worries were for nothing. Even if we have to face the worst situation we can imagine, you will also be able to...”

However, she suddenly realized something as her eyes immediately swiveled back towards him. “What did you mean when you said ‘in the end’?”

“Heh.” Yun Che barked out a cold and apathetic laugh. “There are some trump cards that can only be used in exchange for one’s life. Is this the first time you’ve heard about something like that?”

After he finished speaking, his body blurred past Qianye Ying’er as he started to descend.

Qianye Ying’er did not immediately follow after him. Instead, she lapsed into a deep and heavy silence for a few breaths.

Even though the current Yun Che was still alive, every part of his being was made up of revenge and revenge alone.

Once he completed his revenge, he, who no longer had any attachment to this world or goals to achieve, might...

He wanted to use his own life to end Long Bai at the very end of things... and he had actually said those words without the slightest hint of hesitation or sorrow.

It was as if the life he had right now was merely a tool to obtain his vengeance.

“Other than vengeance, is there truly no other... reason for you to keep living? Even just a little?”

She softly muttered those words to herself as she stared at the distant Yun Che.

Vengeance.

She stretched out a hand and silently stared at her own palm. Every inch of her skin was as white as snow and it seemed to shine with a jade-like juster. If anyone else beheld that arm, they would feel as if they had seen a divine miracle within a dream. They would not believe... No, they would not even be willing to believe that this hand had been stained with a countless amount of fresh blood, filth, and sin.

What was going on?

Her fingers curled up and she unconsciously started to tighten them...

Vengeance. Hasn’t this become the thing I clung to, the thing I lived for after I was crippled. Hasn’t it become my everything?

Why is it that when we are growing closer and closer to our goal, I am actually starting to... become “afraid of my own shadow”, just like he just said!

Just what am I worrying about!?

Crack!

All of her fingers dug into her palm as the clear sound of bones cracking rang in the air. Qianye Ying’er’s golden eyes turned as cold and frosty as an icy hell for a single instant and the bewilderment and worry that had appeared out of nowhere was firmly frozen and sealed away.

Qianye Fantian... killed my mother, deceived me my entire life, shattered my convictions, and destroyed my everything! I trampled on my own dignity, fell into darkness, sold my own body and soul, all just to kill him!

Other than that, nothing else was important!

Nothing... Was... Important...

She urgently made her descent as she landed in front of the barrier with Yun Che.

Just as they drew near, a wave of darkness energy suddenly assaulted them. It was accompanied by a low roar filled with awe-inspiring might and killing intent. “All who dare to intrude on this sacred region shall be kil... UWAAAH!”

Before the words “killed without exception” could be completed, that shout had already turned into a series of low and muffled groans. The storm of darkness was ripped to shreds in an instant and four pitch-black figures fell from within that storm before landing heavily on the barrier.

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