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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“Zhu Liu!!”

Honorable Tai Yin’s shout was engulfed by the storm of disaster that refused to fade until a long time later.

An Eternal Heaven Guardian was the foundation, soul, and symbol of glory of the Eternal Heaven God Realm.

Even today, the Eternal Heaven God Realm still hadn’t found suitable successors to replace the two Guardians they had lost to the Evil Infant a couple of years ago. But considering that their opponent was the Evil Infant, the worst heretic of the entire Primal Chaos, it was an understandable loss.

However, both the Devil Emperor and the Evil Infant were gone in this world, and an Eternal Heaven Guardian still died right before his eyes.

Worse, he was killed by a giant sword that was both familiar and strange to him.

The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword was the lifebound weapon of the Heavenly Wolf Star God. It was undeniably a powerful weapon. However, to Honorable Tai Yin’s—or anyone’s—knowledge, it wasn’t strong enough to kill an Eternal Heaven Guardian so easily!

Honorable Tai Yin’s gaze cut through the storm of destruction and settled on the fine figure of a girl. The rainbow-colored dress she was wearing was the last gift her mother had tailored for her with her own hands. It was why she willed her body to stay childish, and abandoned the more powerful Heavenly Wolf Battle Armor. She never wanted to wear something else, and it unwittingly became her symbol many years ago.

Heavenly Wolf Star God… Caizhi.

Honorable Tai Yin’s pupils widened to their limits. He realized who the attacker was immediately, but as a Guardian of the Eternal Heaven God Realm, there weren’t many people in the world who knew more about the Star Gods than him. Although Caizhi was known to be incredibly compatible with the Heavenly Wolf’s divine power, it had only been ten or so years since she inherited that power.

Moreover, it was public knowledge that the Heavenly Wolf divine power was the strongest, but also the slowest and most difficult power to awaken out of all twelve Star Gods.

In the beginning, after Caizhi had inherited her Star God power, she often visited the Eternal Heaven God Realm. Zhou Xuzi was also very fond of her. She was undoubtedly the weakest Star God back then. Even if she was impossibly compatible with the Heavenly Wolf divine power, no one expected her to make much progress in a few, or even a dozen or so years.

However, it was a fact that his heart, even his whole body was shaking uncontrollably… the giant sword she wielded was bigger than her, but next to her sword was the dusty remains of an Eternal Heaven Guardian.

Although Honorable Zhu Liu was injured and temporarily crippled by the Dragon Emperor of Absolute Beginning, he was still an Eternal Heaven Guardian. He was one of the most difficult profound practitioners to kill in the entire world. However, Caizhi still managed to kill him in one strike… It shouldn’t be possible unless her power had reached… level ten Divine Master!

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor and Honorable Tai Yu were the only ones who had reached this level in the entire Eternal Heaven God Realm.

Even when the Star God Realm was at its most prosperous, Xing Juekong, the Star God Emperor was the only one who had reached level ten Divine Master.

She… she should be a “wolf cub” at best… could it be...

No… impossible… such a thing couldn’t possibly happen!

Despite all of his experience, knowledge, and strength, the shock was so great that Honorable Tai Yin forgot to make his escape.

By the time he recovered his wits, the sword aura that annihilated Honorable Zhu Liu just a moment ago had already caught up to him. Unable to breathe, the shadow of a snarling blue wolf entered his vision.

The wolf became the only thing he could sense no matter which sense he used. It also felt as if his world would be torn to shreds in the next instant.

Honorable Tai Yin felt another bolt of shock when he realized that the gleam in the wolf’s pupils was chaotic black in color instead of pure blue!

Had she… transformed into a devil!?

The thought passed through his mind at the same time his body reacted unconsciously. His Eternal Heaven divine power roared with all its might like an animal that was rudely awakened from its slumber.

He hadn’t participated in the battle against the Evil Infant. Therefore, he couldn’t remember the last time he had unleashed all of his power without holding anything back.

Dozens of defensive profound formations appeared in front of Honorable Tai Yin in an instant… That’s right, he channeled all of his power into defense because the image of Honorable Zhu Liu being killed in one strike was still alive in his mind. Even if she was as weak as before, the Dragon Emperor of Absolute Beginning was right beside her. There was no way he could defeat him, so escape was his only option!

The storm of destruction hit him, and more than half of his defensive profound formations crumbled immediately. His face turned pale, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The strike also killed his final vestiges of optimism. It was because the sword might he was enduring made him realize that Caizhi was definitely at the level his mind refused to believe even now!

Her power was clearly equal to… no, better than even her shining predecessor, Heavenly Wolf Xisu!

How… is… this… possible!?

Honorable Tai Yin was shocked, but he didn’t panic. He let the shockwave push him away while simultaneously making a grabbing motion toward the Great Void Cauldron behind him.

However, he had just started circulating his spatial divine powers when the space around him was locked by force again. It was immediately followed by a draconic might none could match, and the Heavenly Wolf’s divine power.

Pupils shrinking, Honorable Tai Yin had no choice but to withdraw his power and bear the Dragon Emperor’s power head on. 

Rumble!

The world turned upside down, and Honorable Tai Yin was knocked back several kilometers in an instant. Although he was still standing, blood was pouring out of all his orifices. However, he had no chance to recuperate or even breathe. Two powers far stronger than his were tightening their nooses around his neck, even as the rest of the dragons took to the sky to seal off all of his escape routes.

“Foreign human, you and your greed will be forever buried in this ground!”

The Dragon Emperor’s growl resounded throughout the sky as if he was passing judgment. He was in the Dragons of Absolute Beginning’s territory, and his opponents were the Dragon Emperor himself and the impossibly powerful and corrupted Heavenly Wolf Star God. He might be a powerful Eternal Heaven Guardian, but his death was all but certain.

    ————

Bang!

In the Eternal Heaven God Realm, Zhou Xuzi suddenly swayed on his feet before clutching his forehead. His complexion was deathly pale.

In front of him, Honorable Tai Yu rushed towards him before asking in a serious tone, “What happened, my lord?”

Zhou Xuzi’s aura remained chaotic for a long time. Finally, he stood up straight and said in a weak voice, “Zhu Liu… is dead.”

The God Realm of Absolute Beginning was an independent world. Normally, no soul connection could reach into that world. However, the Eternal Heaven God Realm was anything but normal.

“What!?” Honorable Tai Yu exclaimed in shock. “Who? Who killed him? Did they… fail?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor shook his head. The most he could sense was his Guardian’s death. It was impossible to sense anything else through the barrier that separated the God Realm of Absolute Beginning from the rest of the world.

The god emperor’s face was still bloodless. There was nothing worse to the Eternal Heaven God Realm than the death of a Guardian. He murmured to himself, “With their spatial divine power and the Great Void Cauldron, they should be able to retreat safely even if they failed to steal the divine fruit…”

“Maybe the Dragon Emperor of Absolute Beginning happened to be guarding the divine fruit right at that moment?” Honorable Tai Yu suggested.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor closed his eyes before replying, “Tai Yin controls the Great Void Cauldron. He must be fine even if they did encounter the Dragon Emperor. However, that is not their only task. They’re also supposed to be protecting Qingchen in secret. I cannot rest easy knowing this.”

“Tai Yu, you will head to the God Realm of Absolute Beginning yourself and cancel the trial. Please bring Qingchen back home!”

“Yes, my lord!” Tai Yu accepted the order and went away swiftly.

    ————

This was the first time Honorable Tai Yin knew what the words “nightmare” and “despair” truly meant.

The strongest dragon in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, the corrupted Heavenly Wolf Star God. Either one of these opponents would’ve been impossible to deal with, but the two of them combined meant that he couldn’t even hold out for a dozen or so breaths before crumbling completely. The violent power of the Heavenly Wolf and the tyrannical power of the Dragon Emperor struck him directly.

Bang!

The Dragon Emperor’s claw struck him in the back, sending him crashing into the ground.

Boom!

A tremendous power immediately blew him back up into the air as a merciless wolf cut through his body, leaving behind dozens of holes and blood everywhere.

Boom!!!

Blood just burst out of his mouth before he was hit again by the Dragon Emperor’s claw. All of his internal organs ruptured at once.

He was like a dying leaf that was caught in a violent hurricane. There wasn’t a shred of resistance that he could muster against the destructive violence.

Bang…

Even the Great Void Cauldron he had a death grip on all this time was smashed far into the distance.

Caizhi’s eyes were as cold and dead as an abyss that had claimed billions of lives. The sight of the horribly disfigured Honorable Tai Yin failed to inflict a shred of mercy in her eyes. She made a pushing motion, and the devilish Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword struck the falling Guardian dead on with destructive power.

Considering Honorable Tai Yin’s current status, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the attack outright split him in half.

A dim flash appeared in Honorable Tai Yin’s unfocused eyes. He was still able to move a little despite the crushing pressure and all the holes in his body.

Cha!!

The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword flew past Honorable Tai Yin, but didn’t penetrate his body as expected. It only took away his right arm.

The right arm crumbled into bloody pieces.

Bang!

Honorable Tai Yin crashed heavily against the ground while bleeding all over. His breathing was almost non-existent, and his body was twitching uncontrollably, but he was still conscious. His eyes were wide open with darkness and despair… No one would believe that he was a Guardian of the Eternal Heaven God Realm and a level nine Divine Master if they saw his current appearance.

He wasn’t able to stand up in a long time. Even his last aura was fading at an exponential rate.

The storm slowly subsided, and the Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword flew back to Caizhi’s hands. She looked up slightly at the Dragon Emperor of Absolute Beginning… and surprisingly, he withdrew his astounding pressure and relinquished the right to execute this intruder; her hateful enemy.

Caizhi walked forward slowly and stood in front of Honorable Tai Yin. She stared right into his eyes indifferently and raised her sword at the seemingly already unconscious man.

Suddenly, the cauldron that was knocked far away from Honorable Tai Yin’s hands flashed weakly.

The Guardian disappeared immediately and reappeared right beneath the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning.

The Guardian looked like he was close to dying, but he flew into the air and grabbed the divine fruit with his left hand when everyone least expected it. The Eternal Heaven’s special divine power enabled him to pluck the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning perfectly and with ease.

Caizhi turned around abruptly and summoned the enraged power of the Heavenly Wolf once more, but the Great Void Cauldron appeared back in Honorable Tai Yin’s hand.

The unexpected turn happened so quickly that not even the Dragon Emperor of Absolute Beginning was able to lock the space around them again. By the time his pressure reached the intended spot, both Honorable Tai Yin and the Great Void Cauldron had vanished without a trace. The only thing he left behind was a crumbling profound formation still circulating with high level spatial laws.

Tai Yin… was a Guardian after all.

Angry roars resounded throughout the dragons’ territory. No matter how far the true dragons extended their senses, they were unable to find any trace of Honorable Tai Yu at all.

The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword vanished from Caizhi’s hand, but surprisingly she didn’t look panicked or angry. She simply turned to face towards the south.

“Master.” A dignified voice appeared in her mind. “Why did you purposely let him steal the divine fruit when you hate him so much?”

She didn’t give him a response at all. She simply took to the air and flew toward the south.

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