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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A long time ago, Jasmine told him that the Heretic God’s memories in his Indestructible Blood showed her that the seeds were scattered across the Blue Pole Star. That was one of the reasons why she went to the Profound Sky Continent.

Maybe Jasmine hadn’t wanted to mention the Northern Divine Region and had left it out of her explanation, or maybe the Heretic God had purposely removed it from his memories for some reason… but the fifth Heretic God Seed after fire, water, lightning and darkness was found in the Northern Divine Region!

In the world of devils.

If he hadn’t obtained the darkness seed first and learned some of the Heretic God’s ancient secrets, the reason behind the seed’s location would’ve eluded him.

Yun Che waved his arm gently, and a storm engulfed the world in front of him like ten thousand flying dragons. The domain of wind was huge, but they roared with impeccable precision according to Yun Che’s will. When Yun Che withdrew his arms, the wind also disappeared in an instant.

“Wah!” Yun Shang exclaimed in admiration, “You cultivate wind profound energy too, senior? You’re amazing.”

Most Northern Divine Region profound practitioners cultivated darkness profound energy, and less than half that number cultivated other types of profound energy. However, she had seen fire, lightning, and wind from Yun Che already. As far as she knew, she had never seen a profound practitioner like him.

“Let’s go.”

Yun Che turned around and led Yun Shang back the way they came.

He had sensed the Heretic God Seed’s existence since the first day he came to the Central Ruins Realm. He immediately figured that the eternal storms of the Central Ruins Realm might be caused by the Heretic God Seed.

However, he hadn’t sought it out immediately. If the storm of the Central Ruins Realm suddenly stopped without warning, it would draw a lot of attention.

In the past, finding a Heretic God Seed would’ve excited him a lot. But today, he felt unnaturally cool-headed and unconcerned. Perhaps this was how one felt when their heart had died, leaving only hatred behind.

By the time he returned to Qianye Ying’er’s side, the storm had already eased up quite a bit.

Qianye Ying’er was going to ask something when she suddenly noticed the change in Yun Che’s aura. His body was clearly surrounded by pure wind element.

Her pupils became focused as she stared at Yun Che like he was a monster again. She asked, “Don’t tell me you’ve mastered wind profound energy?”

Yun Che waved his hand… and all the storms within a hundred kilometers of him disappeared immediately. The world was oppressively silent for a time.

“...” Qianye Ying’er sucked in a shallow breath before saying, “The Creation God of the Elements truly deserves his name. The three divine regions mustn’t have realized what kind of monster they’ve brought down upon their heads. What’s even funnier is the fact that this terrifying monster used to be a kind-hearted messiah who just wanted to return to his home in the lower realms and live in peace. Hahahaha!”

Qianye Ying’er suddenly laughed loudly. Her words, her laughter; they were all infused with deep irony and sorrow.

“It’s time to go,” Yun Che said.

“Where?” Qianye Ying’er shot Yun Shang a glance before saying, “Are we taking her home?”

“That’s right.”

“Ah!” Yun Shang looked up in pleasant surprise. “Really?”

“I’m half a step away from entering the Divine Sovereign Realm,” Yun Che said. From level five Divine King to peak Divine King; it was the kind of progress that could scare the shit out of god emperors. However, the words had poured out of his mouth without the slightest hint of emotion. “My need has outgrown the available resources… Thousand Desolation Realm seems like a good choice for our next step.”

“Does this mean you wish to avoid Nanhuang Chanyi?” Narrowing her golden eyes, Qianye Ying’er’s lips suddenly curved dangerously as she said, “I actually think we should meet her. She said she’ll show up after half a year, and I believe she won’t break her promise.”

“Weren’t you the one who claimed to hate getting into pointless trouble?” Yun Che replied coldly, but a sudden thought caused him to raise his eyebrows and ask, “Did you figure out who she is?”

“Perhaps.” Qianye Ying’er lifted a finger and summoned a sound isolating barrier around them, keeping Yun Shang out of the loop. Then, she said slowly, “The Northern Divine Region is far more isolated from the other divine regions than you can possibly imagine. Let me guess, you’ve never heard of any concrete rumors regarding the Northern Divine Region, nor the name of a powerful devil person from that area despite having lived in the Eastern Divine Region for several years. Am I right?”

“...” She was correct.

“In the Eastern Divine Region, the Brahma Monarch God Realm’s ability to gather intelligence is second only to the Moon God Realm, which has the special ability ‘Soaring Moon’. However, even we knew very, very little about the Northern Divine Region. Despite our best efforts, most of the information we’ve gotten has been centered around their three greatest king realms. No one paid attention to their young geniuses because there was simply no need.”

“But Nanhuang Chanyi knows that you exist. Isn’t that very strange? Moreover, what she said to you and how she acted toward you that day… it made me feel like she knows about the nine stage lightning tribulation, the True God prophecy about you, your Heretic God profound veins, and even… the return of the Devil Emperor. ”

“If I’m wrong, then I can’t understand why she would say the words ‘dawn of darkness’.”

“...” Yun Che’s frown deepened slightly.

“Only someone from a king realm could know you to this extent and identify you with such ease! But it’s a fact that Nanhuang Chanyi is just the princess of a divine country in a middle star realm.”

“She’s someone from a king realm, but she hides herself in a middle star realm with a flawless cover. She’s a woman, and that hazy feeling she gives…” Qianye Ying’er didn’t realize that her own eyebrows were furrowed. “Everything is pointing me toward a name.”

“Who?”

“The Witch!”

“The Witch… who is that?” Yun Che asked.

“Before we speak of the Witch, we must speak of the so-called deadliest woman in the world. Even that old dog Qianye Fantian told me this a long time ago: if there must be one thing that scared him in the world, she would be it.”

“Her name is Chi Wuyao!”

The name Qianye Ying’er revealed… was a name Yun Che had never heard before.

“Is she one of the three devil emperors of the Northern Divine Region?” Yun Che asked. Someone who could intimidate even Qianye Fantian had to be a god emperor at least.

“She’s the great realm king of the Soul Stealing Realm and one of the three god emperors of the Northern Divine Region. However, very few people call her that because she has a greater title—queen of the northern region, the ‘Devil Queen’.” 

“If she’s the queen, then who’s the king?” Yun Che asked.

“There is no such person,” said Qianye Ying’er as darkness flashed across her eyes. “No one has ever dared to call themselves the ‘king’ of the northern region.”

“Is she that much more powerful compared to the other god emperors?” Yun Che asked with a frown.

“No,” Qianye Ying’er said, “It’s because all the men who had an affair with her… are dead.”

Yun Che, “...”

“Apparently, she has a face that can charm the entire world, and every frown or smile she makes can consume one’s body and soul… literally!” Qianye Ying’er let out a disdainful snort as she said this. “It is said that she has married four men during her whole life: first a lower realm king, then a middle realm king, and after that an higher realm king… her throne is built on the corpses of men. It is said that all three realm kings are dead because she sucked their blood essence dry.”

“The last man she married is the Clear Sky God Emperor of the Clear Sky God Realm.”

Clear Sky God Realm? Yun Che’s eyebrow twitched once… Qianye Ying’er once told him that there were three king realms in the northern region: Burning Moon, Yama and Soul Stealing. So there shouldn’t be a “Clear Sky God Realm”.

“Heh, men are such lowly and lamentable creatures.” Qianye Ying’er’s lips curled into a cold, disdainful sneer. “She was a woman who climbed to her current position on the bodies of her ‘beloveds’, and only the heavens can tell how many men she went through before she got to where she is. But countless men fell for her anyway, including the Clear Sky God Emperor. He chose to marry her even though his entire realm was against it, and the entire world was laughing at his decision… naturally, his death was just as laughable and lamentable.”

“...You mean that Clear Sky God Emperor is dead too!?” Shock finally flashed across Yun Che’s face.

“Correct, he’s dead.” The sneer on Qianye Ying’er’s face grew wider. “Just like all the men she married before, there were no signs of battle, poison, internal or external injuries at all on their bodies. They were even smiling… except they’re all dead now.”

“That isn’t all. No one knows what kind of heretical method Chi Wuyao used, but somehow she was able to make the entire Clear Sky God Realm submit to her and change the name of the realm itself to Soul Stealing Realm, all in just a hundred years’ time. Heh, I wonder, did she sleep with all the men in the entire realm to make that happen?”

“As for that dead Clear Sky God Emperor, he is a disgrace to all god emperors!”

Yun Che had never heard of the “Northern Devil Queen”, but what Qianye Ying’er described still made his blood run cold. He asked, “So, you’re saying that Nanhuang Chanyi is a subordinate of Chi Wuyao?”

“The Devil Queen is served by the ‘Nine Witches’,” Qianye Ying’er continued. “The Nine Witches are also known as the queen’s ‘Shadows’. From what I’ve heard, some people guessed that the Nine Witches are the queen’s soul avatars, or unusual women who were chosen for various reasons. Nanhuang Chanyi is probably the latter.”

“The Nine Witches hide themselves in the darkness and keep a close eye on the Northern Divine Region. They pay special attention to heretics so that the three divine regions can’t slip in a spy. No one knows who they really are, or perhaps I should say their identities are constantly changing. There are some verifiable facts about them, however. All Witches have a divine inheritance from the Soul Stealing Realm, and their strength is awe-inspiring. They also have exceptional spiritual perception and insight…”

“In conclusion, based on the limited knowledge I have regarding the Northern Divine Region, Nanhuang Chanyi is most likely a Witch serving the Devil Queen!”

Yun Che fell silent as he processed the information he had received from Qianye Ying’er.

If what she said was true, this meant that he was recognized by a king realm less than a year after he entered the Northern Divine Region… what terrible luck.

“You really are a harbinger. No place is peaceful wherever you go.”

“What do you want to do when we meet her?” Yun Che asked.

“I’m going to take back control from her, of course!” Qianye Ying’er’s eyes abruptly turned chilly. “I don’t like being pushed around by another person!”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Oh, that’s simple.” Qianye Ying’er smiled sinisterly before holding up a small, golden bell with her slender fingers. “This here is a ‘Mini Brahma Soul Bell’. It has the ability to invade one’s soul and knock them out temporarily. As long as we don’t wake her on purpose, she shouldn’t be awake for a long time.”

“But you’ve lost your Brahma Soul power. How are you planning to use it?” Yun Che asked.

“I’m always prepared.” Qianye Ying’er gathered her fingers. “The Mini Brahma Soul Bell contains a small reserve of my Brahma Soul soul energy. It is why I was able to escape to here even though I was crippled and reduced to a Divine Sovereign by that old dog Qianye Fantian.”

“The amount of energy it currently contains is… probably enough for one more use. However, I’ll need your help to guarantee success, what with the lack of Brahma Soul soul energy and my current state.”

“You mean the Dragon Soul?”

“Correct.”

“What exactly are you planning to do?”

Qianye Ying’er moved her lips slightly and sent a sound transmission into his ears instead.

“Heh, how despicable,” Yun Che said with a sneer.

“You’ve done something a million times worse to me, haven’t you?” Qianye returned the sneer and said, “So, are we doing this or not?”

“Of course we are,” Yun Che replied without hesitation.

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