Against the Gods

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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Immediately, the black-robed old man Qin Jian and Princess Hanwei flew with Yun Che towards the royal city which they had escaped from with great difficulty.

Qin Jian did not try to persuade the princess. Dongfang Hanwei had suddenly grabbed ahold of a life-saving straw and given her personality, she definitely would not listen to his advice… He also hoped that this man, whose identity was unknown and whose body coursed with a dangerous aura, would truly be able to save the royal couple who were in mortal peril right now.

In the past, Yun Che would never use his strength to bully or scorn others. If someone else treated him with respect, he would never disrespect them. Because he had deeply received the teachings of both Yun Gu and Xiao Lie, he had always treated unfamiliar seniors with exceptional respect, but today… both Dongfang Hanwei and Qin Jian were continuously pressured by a heavy oppressive feeling as they flew beside Yun Che and they did not even dare to pant for breath.

During the entire journey, whether it was the senior or the princess, he had not even looked at them properly once.

As for why he had changed his mind and decided to help them...

“Senior…” Princess Hanwei finally opened her mouth timidly as she spoke in a very cautious voice. “I don’t know… how I should address Senior?”

“Yun Che.”

Upon seeing that he had given her a direct reply instead of ignoring her, the anxiety in Princess Hanwei’s heart was soothed a little. Qin Jian frowned as he also tried to ask a question, “Given Venerable One’s abilities, you are definitely some bigshot whose name can shake an entire region, but this old one has never heard of you before… Could it be that Venerable One is from another star region?”

Yun Che continued to look ahead as he coldly replied, “This star realm, what is its name?”

Qin Jian was stunned by Yun Che’s reply and abruptly said, “Ah, so that’s how it is, Venerable One is really from… Err, in reply to the Venerable One, the name of this realm is the East Ruins Realm. Has Venerable One ever heard of the Five Nether Ruins?"

“I haven’t.”

Those two cold and testy words caused Qin Jian’s heart to thump hard in his chest… He did not even know what the Five Nether Ruins were. Given his dreadful power, there was no way that he was an ill-informed and ignorant person. If that was the case, then it was very likely this person had been born in an even higher plane… that was to say an upper star realm! As a result, he knew nothing about middle star realms, which also meant that it was beneath him to understand.

His attitude and tone immediately grew even more respectful and he hurriedly explained in detail, “The Five Nether Ruins are the five principle star realms in this star region. They are seperated into the East Ruins Realm, where we are, the Western Ruins Realm , the Southern Ruins Realm, the Northern Ruins Realm, and the Central Ruins Realm in the middle.”

“The East Ruins Realm is made up of three regions, the place we are in is the eastern region of the East Ruins Realm.”

“The eastern region is comprised of thirty-six countries, the Eastern Frost Nation that this old one and Her Highness belongs to is one of these thirty-six nations. However, the strongest powers in this area are the ‘Nine Great Sects’.” Qin Jian quietly looked at Yun Che’s expression before he said it anyways. “The people that the Venerable One killed just now were from Dark Roc Mountain, which is one of the Nine Great Sects.”

“You're saying that the ones who have forced your Eastern Frost Nation into a desperate situation is this so-called Dark Roc Clan?” Yun Che said impassively. No one could tell what was going through his head.

“No,” Princess Hanwei shook her head and said in a low voice, “it’s the Heavenly Martial Nation. The Heavenly Martial Nation borders our Eastern Frost Nation, they have openly harbored the ambition to swallow up our Eastern Frost for many years now, so we constantly engage in battle. However, this time around, they have, through some unknown means, actually managed to enlist the help of one of the Nine Great Sects, the ‘Great Immortal Palace’ and there are even rumors that the ‘Great Immortal Profound Palace’ has already become the guardian sect of the Heavenly Martial Nation.”

“This time, they have a Divine King from the Great Yin Immortal Palace to assist them, so we have no way of defending against them.” Princess Hanwei’s body started trembling. “I had originally desired to live and die together with the royal city, but Royal Father ordered Grandfather Qin to flee the royal city with me… So Ming Yang was basically just taking advantage of our unfortunate circumstances and he was prepared to use this as a pretext to kidnap me. We met him just as we left the royal city. Grandfather Qin put his life on the line to shake them off, but who would have imagined…”

An expression finally appeared on Yun Che’s face as a very faint look of scorn appeared on his face. “You’re still a royal household from a middle star realm. To think that you don’t even have a Divine King, no wonder your country is on the brink of destruction!”

How could Qin Jian and Princess Hanwei dare to get angry at Yun Che’s mockery? Instead, Qin Jian gave a soft sigh and said, “I won’t hide it from the Venerable One, our Eastern Frost Nation has actually always had a guardian Divine King and his name is Fang Zhou. Our ruler has always been exceedingly deferential and respectful towards him and treated him as the Eastern Frost’s guardian and imperial advisor. We even pay an extremely large amount of tribute to him every single year.”

Qin Jian paused for a little while, as if he was hesitating about something, but he still continued in the end. “Even though he has a very arrogant personality, he is extremely powerful. If he was around, it definitely wouldn’t have reached this point. However, when the Heavenly Martial Nation suddenly made their move with the assistance of the Great Yin Divine Palace this time, Fang Zhou just so happened to leave the city on business a few days before, and we do not know where he went… Sigh.” 

“...” Yun Che’s eyes narrowed.

Qin Jian said, “Venerable One’s power is deep and unfathomable, so for us to be able to obtain Senior’s assistance this time is definitely the protection of the heavens over our Eastern Frost Nation. If… if Senior is not willing to get too involved, even rescuing our monarch is already the blessing of heaven. This old one’s life is insignificant but I am willing to trade my rotten life for this.”

There was no way that one did not have to pay an enormous price in order to obtain the help of a master who was completely unrelated to them. But he hoped that the one who paid the price in the end was him and not Princess Hanwei.

At this time, the slight fluctuation of profound energy suddenly appeared on Qin Jian’s body. He paused for a small instant before he swiftly took out a sound transmission that was flickering with gloomy black light.

Upon hearing the sound transmission, Qin Jian’s expression kept changing before an expression of wild joy finally settled on his face. His head jerked upwards as he spoke to Princess Hanwei in an excited voice, “Your Highness! The monarch sent a sound transmission… The danger imperiling the royal city has been averted for now!”

“Ah!?” Princess Hanwei’s delicate head turned around, her eyes trembling. For a moment, she was barely able to believe her own ears. “Is it… true? How is it…”

“It’s the Imperial Advisor! The Imperial Advisor managed to return in time!” Qin Jian shouted with barely-suppressed emotion. “The Heavenly Martial Nation was afraid that the battle between Divine Kings would cause too many casualties, so they had no choice but to retreat for now… This is great! Thank the heavens that the Imperial Advisor managed to return in time and our ruler is safe and sound.”

Just before this, when Qin Jian had mentioned Fang Zhou, his words were filled with a clear discontent and there was even a faint sense of loathing towards him. He had also called him by his name and without any honorifics. But at this moment, he not only respectfully addressed Fang Zhou as “Imperial Advisor”, he was even filled with gratitude and rejoiced about him.

“That’s great… that’s great.” The darkness and terror that Princess Hanwei had always been suppressing was instantly dispersed at this moment. Her eyes filled with tears once again, but this time they were tears of joy.

The guardian Divine King Fang Zhou had returned and he had not only solved the danger that befell the royal city, he had also brought a sense of security for their future.

Even in her excessive joy, she still had not forgotten about the matter with Yun Che. She hurriedly wiped away the tears that were blinking in her eyes as she gave a courteous bow to Yun Che. “Senior Yun, the danger imperiling the royal city has been settled and we no longer need to trouble Senior to take action. But this junior has to repay Senior for the debt of saving my life. So I request that Senior enter our Eastern Frost Royal City as a guest so that this junior can be given the opportunity to repay you.”

Repaying him for saving her life was one of the reasons, but if she could think of a way to make him stay in the Eastern Frost Nation, that would undoubtedly be an incredibly good thing… Qin Jian had personally said that he was a Divine King!

If the Eastern Frost Nation could obtain another Divine King besides its guardian and imperial advisor Fang Zhou, then even if the Heavenly Martial Nation had the assistance of the Great Yin Divine Palace, they would still have to think twice before attacking.

After she finished speaking, she hurriedly added, “Regarding the matter of the Dark Roc young master, no one else was present there and we definitely won’t leak a single word regarding it, so Senior can be at ease.”

This sudden change did not seem to bother Yun Che at all. Even after hearing Princess Hanwei’s words, his reaction was still as calm and tepid as still water. “Then let me see just how you will repay me exactly… Let’s go!”

The Eastern Frost Royal City was shrouded by the smoke of battle but it still retained its imposing manner.

The danger had indeed been lifted and they did not see the Heavenly Martial Nation’s troops or profound practitioners.

This was the first time that Yun Che had truly entered one of the human cities inside the Northern Divine Region… Or perhaps it would be better to say one of the devil people’s cities.

However, if one forgot about the fact that they cultivated darkness profound energy, what difference was there between the people and city in front of him, and the rest of the God Realm?

Just as the three people entered the city, several heavily-armoured profound practitioners, who were clearly city guards, came to greet them from afar. They bowed and said, “Nineteenth Princess, Master Qin, the monarch has ordered us to await your arrival since long ago.”

“What about Royal Father and the rest?” Dongfang Hanwei asked in an anxious voice.

“In reply the Nineteenth Princess, the monarch is currently organizing a grand celebratory feast for the Imperial Advisor. The monarch said that once the Nineteenth Princess and Master Qin have safely returned, they can directly enter the palace.”

“Alright!” Dongfang Hanwei turned around slightly and spoke to Yun Che, “Senior, please follow me. Royal Father has always respected the strong, so once he meets Senior, he will definitely be delighted.”

She had originally thought that given Yun Che’s gloomy, cold, and arrogant personality, he would very likely reject her. So she never imagined that he would actually assent to it with an impassive grunt.

Dongfang Hanwei took the lead as they hurriedly entered the royal city’s main palace. A huge feast was being held in the palace. The people who attended the feast were either royalty, important officials, or the important figures from the various domains and sects within the Eastern Frost Nation so the air and profound aura radiating from every one of these people was indeed uncommon.

“Hanwei!”

Just as Dongfang Hanwei stepped into the palace, the Eastern Frost King had already risen to his feet in excitement. After that, he swiftly approached to personally welcome her back. Upon seeing his most beloved daughter, a barely-concealed concern filled his eyes. “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Dongfang Hanwei shook her head and held back her tears as she said, “With Grandfather Qin putting his life on the line to protect me, this daughter is fine… and now that I see Royal Father safe and sound, I can finally stop worrying.”

As she hurriedly wiped away the tears that ringed her eyes, she stepped aside and said, “Royal Father, this senior is someone this daughter met while she was outside. He is a venerable Divine King.”

When the two words “Divine King” rang out, countless gazes within the palace suddenly shot toward them. The look in the Eastern Frost King’s eyes also changed dramatically. He looked towards Qin Jian and upon seeing his subtle nod, all of his doubts were immediately dispelled. He hurriedly stepped forward and gave him a faint bow even though he was the ruler of a country. “This humble king could not properly welcome the Venerable One and it was completely remiss of me. But since we are holding a grand celebratory feast within the palace right now, if the Venerable One does not find it to be too humble and simple, would you mind joining us?”

Yun Che gave another grunt to express his assent as he directly walked in.

Under the Eastern Frost King’s personal arrangement, Yun Che was given one of the highest seats. His arrival had caused the entire grand palace to immediately become much quieter and all eyes were trained on him at the moment… Divine King, those two words were simply far too intimidating. It was just that his face was simply far too young and unfamiliar to them.

“This fellow cultivator.” A tepid voice rang out from one of the main seats at this moment, carrying with it a nearly imperceptible sense of might and power. “Could you grace us with your name, and which sect you come from?”

The one who spoke was a yellow-robed middle-aged man with a fair complexion. He swirled the wine cup in his hand as he shot a sideways glance at Yun Che… Yun Che was indeed a Divine King and he could clearly sense his aura that was at the first level of the Divine King Realm.

However, when compared to him, a third level Divine King, he was still far inferior. No matter whether it was the level of their power or the density of their auras.

During this grand feast, he was not seated at any part of the banquet hall. Rather, he was seated to the side of the main seats… and he was, astonishingly enough, seated at the same level as the Eastern Frost King!

Because he was the Eastern Frost Nation’s guardian Divine King, the Eastern Frost’s Imperial Advisor Fang Zhou, who had just accomplished the great feat of saving the city!

Yun Che extended his hand to pick up his bamboo chopsticks and he actually did not even glance at Fang Zhou at all. It was as if he had not even heard what he had said.

Fang Zhou’s eyebrows sank slightly but Dongfang Hanwei hurriedly said, “This senior’s name is Yun Che and he is not someone from the Eastern Ruins Realm.”

“Yun Che? Heh heh…” Fang Zhou chuckled as he said in a leisurely voice, “Fellow cultivator Yun, I don’t know which sect you’re from… But what exactly is your motive behind approaching the Nineteenth Princess and entering our Eastern Frost imperial household!?”

His voice suddenly grew severe, giving everyone a huge fright. The Eastern Frost King hurriedly got up and said, “Imperial Advisor, this Venerable One is an honored guest that Hanwei personally invited back, he definitely doesn’t harbor any evil intentions… Venerable Yun, the Imperial Advisor has always been cautious and he does not mean anything by it, so please do not blame him.”

“Hmph!” Fang Zhou coldly said, “This Fang has been in this world for thousands of years. Without even mentioning the East Ruins Realm, there isn’t a single Divine King in the entire Nether Ruins star region that I do not know. But I have never ever heard the name Yun Che before.”

“Even though you are only a level one Divine King who has just entered the realm of the kings, you should also still have some pride as a Divine King. How could you so easily accept an invitation to come here… Do you truly have ulterior motives!?” 

“...” Yun Che still did not respond and his fingers were leisurely playing with the bamboo chopsticks in his hand.

Dongfang Hanwei rose to her feet and gave a formal bow as she said, “Imperial Advisor, Hanwei met Senior Yun completely by chance and it was Hanwei who took the initiative to invite him back to the royal city. Furthermore, Hanwei and Grandfather Qin owe Senior Yun our lives, so Hanwei can assure the Imperial Advisor that Senior Yun is definitely not the sort of person that the Imperial Advisor is worried about.”

“Such a thing actually happened?” The Eastern Frost King was completely shocked by those words and he hurriedly bowed towards Yun Che. “So the Venerable One actually saved my daughter’s life. This sort of heavy debt… please receive a bow from this humble king.”

“Oh?” Fang Zhou’s attitude changed and he no longer glanced at Yun Che from the corner of his eye. He smiled in a half-hearted manner as he said, “Oh so that’s how it is. It looks like I was worried for nothing. Our Eastern Frost Nation is going through troubled times, so that is why this Fang has no choice but to be on my guard. I hope that my fellow cultivator will forgive me.”

“As an apology, if you have the time, this Fang could give you a pointer or two. What do you think?”

These words were to clearly show that Fang Zhou was thinking of the imperial family and that he had a broad mind and a big heart. The word “pointer” was also to tell everyone that this Divine King who had just entered the royal city was far inferior to him.

He was still the sky within the Eastern Frost Royal City.

Yun Che still continued to play with those wooden chopsticks but he finally opened his mouth. The iciness contained in his cold and low voice rang in everyone’s ears as he said, “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re worthy enough to give me pointers?” 

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