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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On the very first day that they met, Qianye Ying’er had told Chi Wuyao that Zhou Xuzi was the “big present” that she was giving to her.

They would prepare everything and lure him to the Northern Divine Region for a meeting at the appropriate time before killing Zhou Qingchen to enrage him. They would use this incident to provoke Zhou Xuzi into attacking the Northern Divine Region in rage.

They just needed a tiny spark to ignite the fires of hatred which had smouldered in the heart of the Northern Divine Region since time immemorial. Once they had their “incident”, lashing back at the Eastern Divine Region would be eminently reasonable to the Northern Divine Region. But the moment the Eastern Divine Region was struck by this “reprisal”, they would blame both the Northern Divine Region and the Eternal Heaven God Realm… instead of forming a unified front against a common enemy.

The Western Divine Region and Southern Divine Region would also view their predicament with silent bemusement.

Qianye Ying’er had the right idea, but Chi Wuyao had rejected it even while she praised it. She even decided to meet the Eternal Heaven God Emperor much earlier than they had previously decided.

The opportunity to raise the curtain on this war should not be gambled on Zhou Xuzi’s actions. It was something they had to be in full control of, something that had to occur at just the right time.

Furthermore, it was impossible for anyone to guess whether Zhou Xuzi, who was keenly aware of his responsibilities as the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, would really lose his mind and attack the Northern Divine Region.

In fact… the Eternal Heaven God Realm immediately sealed itself after Zhou Qingchen’s death and they had not made a move since.

At the very least, they were definitely not preparing to take revenge on the Northern Divine Region. In fact, they were doing their best to erase all traces of that meeting to preserve Zhou Qingchen’s dignity in death while Chi Wuyao had been behind all of the rumors that had been quietly circulating in the Eastern Divine Region and Western Divine Region.

Moreover, when Chi Wuyao said that she wanted to be in full control of this “opportunity”, what she meant was that she wanted to use her own hands to “help” the Eternal Heaven God Realm light this dark fuse.

Qianye Ying’er had no choice but to admit something about Chi Wuyao. Beneath her sultry and foxy looks, beneath her gentle and tender warmth toward Yun Che, lay a soul that was even more intelligent and meticulous than her own, a soul that was even more fiendish and malicious than her own.

Perhaps Yun Che would not be the only nightmare that plagued the three divine regions! Because there was still another, Chi Wuyao!

The former was a nightmare they had personally crafted, the latter… was a nightmare that had been lurking in the darkness for ten thousand years!

Qianye Ying’er waved an arm and the Great Void Cauldron flew back in her hands. She did not spare the destroyed star realm another glance as she turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

When she reappeared again, she had already reached a neighboring star realm.

This was a very small middle star realm that was a little deeper inside the Northern Divine Region.

The terrifying sounds of a star realm shattering had long ago reverberated through the region, putting most of the people in this middle star realm on full alert. A Divine Sovereign broke his seclusion and flew into the air. He stared in the direction the explosion had come from.

His name was Ye Jiancheng[1], and he was the realm king of this middle star realm. He was also its only Divine Sovereign.

When he felt the oppressive might that radiated from the Great Void Cauldron press down on him, his eyes widened in fear and alarm.

BOOOOM————

The world around him instantly transformed into a purgatory of destruction. He desperately tried to flee, but he was still caught up in the incomparably dreadful energy wave that swept across his star realm… His vision was blurry, but he still managed to make out the figure of a huge ashen cauldron.

Qianye Ying’er had already flown away from the stricken star realm by this point. However, before she left, she had used her divine sense to scan the dazed Ye Jiancheng.

Not long after, a third star realm exploded in a dark star region not too far away from this one.

……...

A middle star realm and two lower star realms which were at the southern border of the Northern Divine Region had been destroyed in the span of a single night. When news of this started to spread, it shook the entire Northern Region.

Life in the Northern Divine Region was extremely cruel and the lower the level of the star realm, the more savage it was. It was a common thing to see people do evil for profit and plunder other people. Dynasties seemed to rise and fall all the time and it was not uncommon for even countries and clans to be completely destroyed.

However, this was not what was happening in the southern part of the Northern Divine Region. The scale of destruction on an entirely different level. It was the wholesale annihilation of entire star realms!

Even the most chaotic world was governed by a basic set of rules. As star realms of the Northern Divine Region, even if an upper star realm truly hated a lower realm, they would only wipe out the realm king and his sect or the core clan of that realm.

But destroying a star realm was equivalent to turning the flesh and bones of the Northern Divine Region itself into dust. This was a great crime that no living being could accept or forgive, a crime that would alarm anyone who heard of it.

This calamity had utterly destroyed two lower star realms. Not a single blade of grass remained.

The middle star realm had nearly been completely shattered as well. Ninety-nine percent of its inhabitants had died and the surviving profound practitioners did not even know what had hit them. Their realm king, Ye Jiancheng, was discovered in an unconscious state by the elites of the other star realms who had rushed over to investigate what had happened. The news quickly spread and the resultant shock and fury began to shake the entire Northern Divine Region.

The destruction of a star realm. This incredibly vile deed had not been perpetrated in the already dwindling Northern Divine Region for many years.

The anger of the Devil Master and Devil Queen was swiftly aroused and they immediately dispatched members of the Soul Stealing Realm to investigate.

A king realm undoubtedly needed to come forward to investigate this great crime and judge the perpetrators behind it!

In order to express how serious this disaster was to them, the Devil Queen sent Third Witch Ye Li and Fourth Witch Yao Die to investigate the scene of the crime.

By the time Ye Li and Yao Die had arrived, the realm kings of the forty nearby star realms and the various overlords who were situated in the south of the Northern Region were already waiting for them. Profound arks of various sizes filled this vast star region.

In the remote south, where even middle star realms could vie for supremacy, the arrival of a Witch was not any different from a deity descending from the heavens to visit them.

They had not only gathered early to welcome Ye Li and Yao Die, they had even gathered all of the survivors and profound practitioners who had been in the vicinity when this calamity had struck.

When Ye Li and Yao Die arrived, the shattered fragments of the broken star realms were chaotically drifting around in space and the aura of destruction still lingered in the air.

This was especially true for the two lower star realms. Not a single speck of their existence remained. It was as if they had never even existed before.

The gathered realm kings immediately came to greet the Witches once they saw them, their bodies trembling with fear and apprehension. Witch Yao Die ignored all of them. She stood in the center of the destroyed star realm as her aura swiftly swept across the remaining signs of destruction. She suddenly spoke in a low voice, “This energy seems to be rather strange.”

She turned her head back to look at them. “Do any of you have any impressions regarding the energy lingering in this place?”

The gathered realm kings shook their heads in panicked unison.

“I heard that there were some survivors from that middle star realm. Where are they now?” Ye Li asked.

“Your Highness.” The realm king who was clearly the leader of the pack stepped out and greeted her in an extremely reverential manner. “There were very few survivors and all of them have already gotten on board profound arks.”

“Additionally, when this disaster happened, there were some profound practitioners who happened to be traveling through this star region. We managed to gather all of them and place them aboard our profound arks.”

“Very good.” Ye Li gave a small nod of her head. “Thank you for your hard work. Please bring us to where the survivors are.”

That word of praise very nearly caused all of the realm kings to drop to their knees in gratitude.

This disaster caused the attention of the entire Northern Divine Region to be focused on this place. As the star realms of a remote star region, they had never received such attention before.

Once they boarded the profound arks, Ye Li and Yao Die personally questioned each and every survivor. However, most of them were still frightened and distressed and their thoughts and words were barely intelligible. The rare few who were clear-headed could only shrug their shoulders helplessly when they were questioned. They had no idea of what had happened.

At this time, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance. “Realm King Jiancheng has woken up!”

A middle-aged man with a wan complexion was walking toward them while being supported by someone else. His clothes were tattered and his body was stained with blood. His aura was extremely weak and anyone could tell just how badly wounded he was with a single glance.

He had been caught in the very heart of the calamity. All of the living creatures around him had perished but he had managed to survive due to his powerful Divine Sovereign body. However, it was clear that he had barely survived, his aura was as thin as gossamer threads.

“This person’s name is Ye Jiancheng.” The leader of the gathered realm kings introduced the injured man to Ye Li and Yao Die. “He is the realm king of the destroyed Fodder Realm.”[2]

Ye Jiancheng, who had practically been carried over here, tried to bow anxiously despite his extremely weakened state. His lips trembled as he tried to speak. Ye Li raised a hand to stop him and a layer of vast but gentle profound energy covered his body. “There’s no need for decorum. Tell me, did you see anything when disaster struck your realm?”

Witch Ye Li’s words violently stabbed into Ye Jiancheng’s muddled brain. The dreadful scene that had played out in front of him before he had lost consciousness flashed through his mind again, causing his eyes to widen in shock and terror.

“A cauldron… It was a cauldron… A very large cauldron!” he roared, his voice trembling with fright and alarm.

“A cauldron?” The people around him glanced at each other.

“Speak clearly. What sort of cauldron was it?” Ye Li said in a solemn voice as she drew a little closer to Ye Jiancheng.

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” Ye Jiancheng shook his head in panic. “It was a white cauldron… A very large… cauldron that I’ve never seen before… and it suddenly crashed into my…”

“Ah!”

As Ye Jiancheng rambled on, a startled cry suddenly rang out from below.

The person who had let out that cry was a thin and frail-looking man. The aura of the Divine Spirit Realm could be sensed from his body and he was cowering at the back of the crowd.

The leader of the realm kings flew into a rage as he scolded the man. “You insolent cur, how dare you interrupt Her Highness’ questioning. Drag him out!”

“Wait a moment!” Yao Die said. She stared at the frail-looking man and her eyebrows sank as she asked him a question. “Did you just let out a cry because you suddenly recalled or realized something?”

“No, no.” The frail-looking man shrunk even more under Yao Die’s penetrating gaze. His body was trembling with instinctive fear.

“Milady Witch is asking you a question. How dare you lie to her?” The leader of the realm kings roared in anger. “If you hide anything and provoke the wrath of Milady Witch, there will be nowhere in the Northern Divine Region that you can hide.”

The weak-looking man’s face instantly turned ashen and he looked like he was about to collapse in a heap.

“There’s no need to be so anxious.” Yao Die’s voice grew gentle. “If you truly did discover something, just tell us whatever you saw. The Soul Stealing Realm will definitely reward you for your efforts.”

The Witch’s soft and gentle words caused some of the tension to bleed out of the frail-looking man’s face. He gulped audibly before he finally managed to muster up the courage to speak. “The great white cauldron that Realm King Jiancheng spoke of… I also happened to see it last night.”

Everyone was shocked by those words. Yao Die took a single step forward and asked, “What kind of cauldron was it? Where did you see it? Recount everything you saw to me.”

The frail-looking man did not speak. Instead, he extended a trembling hand. An ordinary Profound Imagery Stone lay in his palm.

Profound energy surged into the stone and an image was immediately projected into the air.

A cluster of brilliant white light glowing in the sky was being projected into the air. Everyone could clearly see a cauldron in the center of that white light.

This image had been recorded from afar, but the silhouette of the cauldron could clearly be seen. One could well imagine just how enormous it must have been.

The star realm that was about to meet its impending doom could also be clearly seen in the lower left corner of the image!

The moment everyone clearly saw that image, Ye Jiancheng, whose aura was already weak and thin, suddenly started shouting like a lunatic. “That’s it! That is… the cauldron! It’s that cauldron!! Ahhh!”

Ye Jiancheng’s wounded body had received too much external stimulus. After he yelled those words, his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted dead away yet again.

All the realm kings looked towards the two Witches. They were about to tell them that they had never seen this cauldron before, but, to their shock, the saw expressions of deep shock bloom on the Witches’ faces.

Their breath caught in their chests and they did not dare utter a single word.

“This is…” Yao Die gasped in shock and bewilderment, “the Great Void Cauldron? No, it can’t be!”

She immediately denied the words that had come out of her mouth.

“You aren’t mistaken,” Ye Li replied in a solemn voice. “That is the artifact that was left to the Eastern Divine Region’s Eternal Heaven God Realm by the gods. The artifact that possesses mighty spatial divine power, the Great Void Cauldron!”

The words “Eastern Divine Region’s Eternal Heaven God Realm” struck everyone who heard them like a bolt of lightning.

Ye Li turned around to look at that weak-looking man and said, “Who are you and why did you record this image?”

The man looked like he had been frightened out of his mind and it took him a few seconds to muster up the courage to speak. His voice trembled as he spoke. “Thi… This lowly one’s name is Bo Xishan. I was born in the South Ruins Realm. Whe… When I was traveling last night, I happened to see that white light so I recorded it. I… I… I also did not expect to be caught up in the fearsome storm that rushed at me. I fainted on the spot and by the time I had woken… woken up, I had already been taken into custody by these realm kings… Eh, no, no, I had been offered shelter by these realm kings.”

Ye Li tapped the air with her finger and the Profound Imagery Stone in Bo Xishan’s hand flew into her palm. She gave an order after that. “This matter is of grave importance so you need to follow me back to the Soul Stealing Realm!”

“Ah?” Bo Xishan was taken aback by that order. But he soon replied in a trembling voice, “Yes, yes.”

“We are also going to take Ye Jiancheng back to the Soul Stealing Realm,” Ye Li said.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Her gaze swept over everyone present and her voice suddenly turned cold. “This matter concerns the Eastern Divine Region and it is far more serious than any of you can imagine. Before we find out everything, none of you are allowed… to leak anything that you’ve seen or heard today!”

All of the realm kings nodded their heads hurriedly, cold sweat dripping down their backs.

Ye Li and Yao Die did not tarry any further. They also took the unconscious Ye Jiancheng and trembling Bo Xishan along with them...

However, the moment they left everyone’s sight, the fear in Bo Xishan’s eyes suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a strange gloomy light.

Even though Ye Li and Yao Die had used their authority as Witches to issue a gag order, news that “three star realms had been destroyed by the Great Void Cauldron belonging to the Eastern Divine Region’s Eternal Heaven God Realm” had spread like wildfire to every corner of the Northern Divine Region. In less than two hours after their departure, this news was already reverberating through the entire Northern Divine Region.

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1. Pretty much means "let's get it over with". Literally means walk at double the speed

2. Author's pun that literally translates to "walk-on" realm

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