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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Qianye Fantian was Qianye Ying’er’s biological father, but she had attacked him ruthlessly. The Moon Eaters in the area were quite shocked because they didn’t know the full story behind their grievances.

Several Brahma Kings threw all caution to the wind and rushed to Qianye Fantian’s aid. The Fourth Brahma King produced a white spirit pellet and tried to feed it to Qianye Fantian. “My lord, quick—” 

Qianye Fantian had pushed his hand away immediately.

By now, the poison had seeped so deep that even the blood running out of his body was changing colors. But instead of suppressing it, he shouted at his Brahma Kings, “My lord? Did you go blind or deaf? Ying’er is your lord now! She is the new master of the Brahma Monarch Realm!”

“Heh!” Qianye Ying’er sneered out loud. Her killing intent hadn’t subsided or deviated in the slightest despite Qianye Fantian’s actions. “Qianye Fantian, is this your final struggle? Do you really think you can protect your dogs with such a pathetic and ridiculous method?”

“No, they aren’t my dogs any longer.” Qianye Fantian slowly rose to his feet. His eyes were growing unfocused, but they still carried the might of a god emperor in them. “They are now yours and yours alone!”

He abruptly spun around and shouted at his Brahma Kings. “What are you all waiting for!? Swear loyalty to your new god emperor already! Or have you forgotten even the most basic loyalty and faith we uphold in Brahma Monarch Realm!?”

Qianye Fantian’s words only deepened his daughter’s sneer. The Divine Oracle wrapped around his body like a golden snake and pulled him right next to her feet, and the dark energy surrounding the weapon ate away at his flesh, bit into the bones and caused showers of blood to burst out of his body.

Qianye Fantian didn’t let out a single cry of pain. He looked up from beneath Qianye Ying’er’s feet and said hoarsely, “Ying’er, remember that I am the person you hate the most and want to kill more than anyone else, not them! They are nothing more than loyal servants who carry out their master’s orders and responsibility.”

“They are your kin, for you all have the blood of the Brahma Monarch flowing in your veins! That will not change, now or ever!”

“Is that so?” Qianye Ying’er’s smile didn’t warm up in the slightest. She could still remember Qianye Fantian’s cruelty as clear as yesterday, so she would never allow herself to be tempted by his words for even a second. She said coldly and tauntingly, “But I’m still going to kill all of them. After all, you’re the one who taught me to be absolutely thorough when eliminating my targets. So tell me… what should I do in this situation?”

Thump!!

The Third Brahma King abruptly dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Qianye Ying’er. He said in a trembling voice, “Our lord is Qianye Ying’er, and we swear to serve our lord until death claims us all. Our lord is the new emperor, and our lord is the heavenly mandate. Our vow is eternal as long as we live, and we won’t regret it even in death!”

He had completely realized what Qianye Fantian meant by “the final way out” at this point. He had meant to preserve the Brahma Monarch’s bloodline and inheritance at all costs.

He didn’t want the fate of Eternal Heaven and Moon God to repeat themselves with Brahma Monarch… he didn’t want Brahma Monarch to be wiped from even the annals of history. Even if the cost was all of their pride and shame.

Behind them, the last eight Brahma Kings and remaining Brahma Monarch Elders also dropped to their knees and swore the same vow.

Unfortunately, all it succeeded in doing was to deepen the ridicule in Qianye Ying’er’s eyes.

“I was hoping that the dying Brahma Heaven God Emperor would at least show me a top tier struggle, but all you could put up was a shabby performance?”

“In that case, you might as well save your strength for the wailing you’re going to be doing in hell!!”

She swung her arm and detonated her darkness profound energy. Qianye Fantian was instantly sent flying like a bleeding rag doll.

The Third Brahma King extended his hand and stopped two Brahma Kings who wanted to help their former lord, but his own body was trembling uncontrollably.

Even now, Qianye Fantian didn’t circulate his final power to protect himself. His body was almost completely ravaged by darkness profound energy at this point.

He lifted his head again on the ground, but this time he was looking at Yun Che.

“Yun Che, you are the man who has everything, so it’d be a shame… if you spend them all on hatred and revenge alone… from the moment you take this step, you are destined… to become the ruler of the God Realm!”

“You may have successfully defeated the Eastern Divine Region… but you’ve also brought the Southern Divine Region and the Western Divine Region to full alert. You won’t be able to repeat the surprise attack that enabled you to take over the Eastern Divine Region, so you’ll definitely need more power to accomplish what you desire!”

His voice was weak, and he was barely able to raise his hands. However, the words he spoke still caused shivers in everyone’s heart. “A person… is always more useful alive than dead! They will be as loyal to you and Ying’er as they were to me! They will be your dogs, your tools, your stepping stones… it will only be a huge loss to you and Ying’er to kill all of them!”

“A true ruler grows stronger after they conquer their enemies… not the other way around!”

Yun Che: “...”

“Hmm!”

He was going to rise to his feet, but he slipped and fell to a kneeling position. The blood flowing out of all his orifices was growing darker and darker in color.

This was Qianye Ying’er’s “family matter”, so no one—Yun Che, Chi Wuyao, the Moon Easters—had said a word or interfered from the start.

“Are you finished?” Qianye Ying’er spread her fingers and gathered an astonishing amount of black energy at her fingertips. It looked like Qianye Fantian had failed to cause her to waver or react at all.

“If you are done spouting your ridiculous last words…” Qianye Ying’er pointed at Qianye Fantian. “Then die…”

“I only regret that you won’t be able to atone for your sins to mother herself because she is in heaven, and you are destined to stay in hell forever!”

She dashed toward Qianye Fantian hatefully and prepared to execute him. There was more than enough energy in her palm to annihilate him completely.

Boom— 

There was a terrific sonic boom and shaking of spaces… but it wasn’t because Qianye Ying’er’s attack had landed on Qianye Fantian and destroyed him. It was because Yun Che had appeared and stopped her movement by force.

“You?” Qianye Ying’er frowned in complete confusion.

Still grabbing Qianye Ying’er’s wrist in a death grip, he muttered, “Yan One, kill him.”

Yan One carried out the order immediately. A black, ghastly hand appeared out of nowhere and penetrated Qianye Fantian’s body, crushing his innards and wiping out the last vestiges of his life force.

“...” The Brahma Kings felt their hearts clenching in sorrow, but no one moved or said a single word.

The light in Qianye Fantian’s eyes faded gradually… as it turned out, there were some things in the world that couldn’t be transcended even by absolute power and tactics. He was defeated, but he didn’t feel like his defeat was undeserved.

When his consciousness started departing his body, and his body started falling forward uncontrollably… he gave his final look to Yun Che.

It was a look of faint gratitude.

He had never had such an emotion in his life as the ruler of Brahma Monarch Realm... because it wasn’t an emotion a ruler should have.

But in the final moment of his life, he had given it to his most feared enemy; the enemy who ultimately succeeded in driving him to his death.

Thump.

He slumped in a pool of his own blood and ceased moving.

Before his consciousness faded completely, he sent a soul message to Qiane Ying’er.

“The Devil Queen commands the Witches and the Soul Stealing Realm… how are you going to beat her... if you’re alone… Ying’er...”

“...” Qianye Ying’er pupils trembled violently for the first time.

Qianye Fantian’s aura and soul finally finished fading.

Perhaps the man himself didn’t expect that he, the strongest god emperor of the Eastern Divine Region, would end his life and his era… in such a way.

No one moved closer to his corpse. The nine Brahma Kings and the Brahma Monarch Elders dropped to their knees and kowtowed to Qianye Ying’er again to express their loyalty and subservience.

Qianye Ying’er slowly clenched her fingers before shaking off Yun Che’s hand. She stared at his black pupils and questioned coldly, “Why did you stop me from killing him!? You… you…”

Yun Che took in her anger calmly and said softly, “You shouldn’t live only for the sake of revenge. He doesn’t deserve that, and… I don’t want you to bear the shackles of ‘patricide’ forever. That is not a burden anyone should bear.”

Qianye Ying’er: “...”

Yun Che undoubtedly hated Xing Juekong to the bone. Back then, he could tear the latter into a million pieces and still have more hate to vent.

But when he actually had a completely defenseless Xing Juekong in his palm, he discovered that he couldn’t muster the strength to kill him. For the past few years, he had kept the former god emperor frozen in the Primordial Profound Ark so that he would suffer every second of his life, but not once did he try to kill him.

It was because Xing Juekong was ultimately Jasmine and Caizhi’s biological father. He just couldn’t bring himself to become the murderer of their father.

Qianye Ying’er stood dazedly where she was and didn’t recover even after a long time had passed.

“However, I have broken my promise to you, so as compensation…” Yun Che shot a glance at the poisoned Brahma Kings and Brahma Monarch Elders. “...you are free to decide their fates.”

If this was fifteen minutes ago, Qianye Ying’er would’ve eliminated these people without any hesitation… after all, they were Qianye Fantian’s dogs, and they had tried to hunt down her and Yun Che back then.

But now, she was unable to come to a decision.

“My lord,” the Third Brahma King said softly, “you are the new ruler, and there is no one in the realm who would disobey you. The two ancestors would be glad to have you as well.”

Qianye Ying’er didn’t show any reaction, but Qianye Fantian’s voice kept replaying itself in her mind:

“They are your kin, for you all have the blood of the Brahma Monarch flowing inside your veins! That will not change, now or ever!”

“No, they aren’t my dogs any longer. They are now yours and yours alone!”

“The Devil Queen commands the Witches and the Soul Stealing Realm… how are you going to beat her... if you’re alone… Ying’er...”

…….

“Cure… them.”

She finally gave her final verdict. It was the words she would never have allowed herself to say a couple minutes ago.

The Brahma Monarch and the Brahma Kings—especially the nine Brahma Kings—teared up almost at the exact same time after they heard her final verdict… and it wasn’t just because they had gotten a new lease in life.  

“Alright.”

Yun Che shot her one glance and agreed without hesitation.

He walked up to the Brahma Kings and opened his hand. The greatest purifying light in the world started shining from his left palm.

“He Ling,” Yun Che whispered, “don’t worry. Even if we assume that the people who killed your parents are still alive, there is no way the Brahma Kings are them. More importantly, they will help us identify the real culprits in no time.”

He Ling answered obediently before releasing the purifying light of the Sky Poison Pearl. It quickly cleansed the nine Brahma Kings and the sixty three Brahma Monarch Elders of the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison.

The Heaven Wounding Thought Severing was an impossible nightmare to the current world, but not to the Sky Poison Pearl. After all, it was created from the Sky Poison Pearl itself, so no other artifact was more suited to cure it. Very soon, the green dots in their pupils faded into nothingness completely.

A while later, the Sky Poison Pearl stopped shining. The Sky Poison had been removed completely.

However, it also left the Brahma Kings and Brahma Monarch Elders feeling so weak that they had trouble standing upright. It would surely take them a long time before they recovered completely.

But this was paradise compared to the hell they were in before.

The Third Brahma King bowed to Qianye Ying’er and Yun Che, and everyone else behind him followed his lead. “Thank you, my lord, Devil Master.”

“Turn on the great projection formation,” Chi Wuyao ordered a subordinate softly while watching Qianye Ying’er from the side. Her charming smile hadn’t changed, but the look in her eyes grew a bit more complicated than normal.

This was an outcome she was glad to see, considering how deeply Qianye Ying’er hated Qianye Fantian. Earlier, the woman would’ve executed every man and woman that were in any way affiliated to him, but now...

Like it or not, it was impressive that Qianye Fantian was able to accomplish this feat right before he died.

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