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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Chapter 381 - Eternal Night’s Secret, Thousand Year Calamity

“Eternal Night Royal Family?” This was the first time Yun Che had ever heard this name.

“The Five Great Sacred Grounds existed long before the Profound Sky Seven Nations. They had already existed for many millennia, so much that they might possibly have lasted longer than over ten thousand years. Even though the Five Great Sacred Grounds have always mutually balanced and restricted one another, on the surface, they had also mutually supported and were united. Moreover, they had the same principles… which were to protect the Profound Sky Continent and prevent the invasion of foreign powers. They were the entire continent’s largest, most important barriers that simultaneously did not interfere with any of the continent’s internal disputes. As a result, they have received the entire continent’s admiration, reverence, and were even deified like gods… but this did not mean that they were all good people!”

Feng Qianhui raised her eyes to look at Yun Che, and said calmly: “I originally should have no right to judge whether or not those from the Sacred Grounds are good or evil, right or wrong, but my sect’s disciples never being allowed to get close to those from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was one of the wishes left behind by a deceased Frozen Cloud ancestor! Because that year, the Eternal Night Royals had all died due to the malicious plotting of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!”

Yun Che: “?”

“Among the Five Great Sacred Grounds, the Eternal Night Royal Family was the only family-oriented force. Unless they have taken in a wife, they would never recruit outsiders. Thus, the most firmly united force within the Five Great Sacred Grounds was the Eternal Night Royal Family. Even though there may be some friction amongst the Five Great Sacred Grounds, there had never been great grievances. However, a thousand years ago, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s new Sword Master, who is also the current Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian, assumed his position. On one day several tens of years after he assumed his position, the surrounding little towns near the core location of the Eternal Night Royals’ base were suddenly enveloped in a black fog overnight. Everyone within the towns, regardless of whether they were powerful profound practitioners or the untutored elderly, women, and children, they all violently died within the black fog… Very quickly, all the blame and criticism were aimed at the Eternal Night Royals, because when the Eternal Night Royal Family’s core profound arts, the ‘Eternal Night Illusory God Record’, was activated, there was precisely a black mist that coiled around the body! Those who died under the ‘Eternal Night Illusory God Record’ also released black mist that coiled out from their bodies… that would not dissipate until several days later.”

“...” After listening to here, Yun Che more or less understood what had happened. When the name Xuanyun Wentian came out from Fen Qianhui’s mouth, it had tightened Yun Che’s heart even more… because his grandfather, Yun Canghai, had precisely suffered under Xuanyuan Wentian’s hands! Yun Canghai’s lord and friend, the Illusory Demon Realm’s Demon Emperor, had also died under Xuanyuan Wentian’s hands. He said softly: “Could it be, a framing?”

“Right, this was a malicious framing. At that time, aside from the one who had framed them, no one knew that this was a framing.” Feng Qianhui continued: “Soon after, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was the first to voice out, saying that the ‘Eternal Night Royal Family’ was a sinful devil clan who increased their devil powers by massacring innocents. Then, in the name of protecting the Profound Sky Continent and eliminating evil, they allied with the other three sacred grounds and annihilated the Eternal Night Royal Family. Even though the Eternal Night Royal Family was powerful, they simply were not able to withstand the combined forces of the four great sacred grounds and were ultimately exterminated. At the very end, only the king of the Eternal Night Royal Family was left, and under his extreme resentment and sorrow, he suddenly devilized.”

“Devilized?”

“Yes. Once all sorts of negative emotions reached their pinnacle, one’s own power regulations would also have the possibility to be negative, and would thus become an awful negative power. This kind of rumor had already existed long, long ago, but the Eternal Night King was actually the first to “devilize” in the true meaning, which proved that the rumor wasn’t false at all. After all, for his entire clan to be annihilated, and his wife and children cruelly murdered, he would inevitably denounce the entire world, and hate the heavens and earth. His devilization truly solidified him being called a “devil”, which made him die from the combined forces of the leaders of the four sacred grounds. After his devilization, a great change occurred to his soul. His body had been destroyed, but his soul actually did not dissipate for a long time, and was even incapable of being destroyed. Thus, Sun Moon Divine Hall used the Soul Sealing Coffin to seal off the hostile spirit of the Eternal Night King. As for the only key that could open the Soul Sealing Coffin, it had been discarded more than ten thousand miles away, not allowing the hate filled soul of the Eternal Night King be able to be free… But now that a thousand years had already passed, the hate filled soul of the Eternal Night King should have dissipated by now.”

Yun Che propped up his chin with his hand and asked: “Why did Mighty Heavenly Sword Region want to frame the Eternal Night Royal Family? How did this benefit Mighty Heavenly Sword Region? Since you know the truth, then didn’t it mean that the other three sacred grounds already know about the truth as well?”

“Because of the sword that the Eternal Night Royal Family was guarding —— Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.” Feng Qianhui continued: “Xuanyuan Wentian is an extremely ambitious man. He wholeheartedly wants to be unequalled under the heavens and become the world’s only master. The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword is a divine sword the Eternal Night Royal Family had been guarding for many generations, and is the only ‘Sovereign Profound Sword’, the ‘Monarch of Swords’. It was rumored that the force that could control the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword would be unrivaled within the Profound Sky Continent. Only, even after several millennia, there was never anyone within the Eternal Night Royal Family that was able to master the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Since Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s main weapon was a sword, and honored the sword, members of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had long since longed for the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Xuanyuan Wentian, even more so, frantically wanted to take the sword for himself, which thus ended up in the malicious framing and the extermination of the Eternal Night Royals. After that incident, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword vanished without a trace. No one knew where it was… and the most probable estimation would be that it had already fallen into Xuanyuan Wentian’s hands a long time ago. Not long after, the other three sacred grounds naturally suspected this, and realized that this was probably Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s conspiracy, that they had wrongfully annihilated the Eternal Night Royals. Since they were sacred grounds, even though they knew that it was extremely possible that they were wrong, even if they had been used by another, they could still only accept their mistake; they absolutely could not allow the name of the sacred grounds to be sullied.”

“As a result, they absolutely could not clear the Eternal Night Royal Family’s name, and even publicly proclaimed that the Eternal Night Royal Family was a ‘sinful devil clan’. In order to prevent this being traced back by later generations, they had even gradually erased all written records and traces of the Eternal Night Royal Family’s existence within the entire continent. Now that a thousand years have passed, the Eternal Night Royal Family name had long since been forgotten due to the concealment of the sacred grounds. It would only be randomly found within written accounts of sects that have lasted for more than a millennium.”

These few words said by Feng Qianhui was probably the behind-the-scenes story that barely anyone from other regions would have heard. Yun Che naturally knew why Feng Qianhui would tell him all these. He pondered for a while, then said: “Grand Palace Mistress, may this disciple offend you to ask you why our sect would have such a thorough and detailed written account of not only the grievances between the sacred grounds a thousand years ago, but also the forbidden truth that was cooperatively concealed by all four of the sacred grounds?”

“Because the Eternal Night Queen had previously saved the life of our Frozen Cloud ancestor, Mu Bingyun. Even though the Eternal Night Queen’s profound strength had reached the pinnacle and her status was incomparably respected, she was still gentle and kindhearted. Not only did she rescue our Frozen Cloud ancestor from the claws of a Tyrant Profound Beast, she’d even bestowed its profound core to our Frozen Cloud ancestor after killing that Tyrant Profound Beast, and also gave many directions that benefited our Frozen Cloud ancestor through her entire life. If it weren’t for the Eternal Night Queen’s rescue and guidance, then our Frozen Cloud ancestor wouldn’t have made such great accomplishments that enabled her to look down at everyone in Blue Wind, and you could even say that if it weren’t for her, there wouldn’t be today’s Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. Because our Frozen Cloud ancestor regarded the Eternal Night Queen as one of noble virtue and a benefactor, she never believed that the Eternal Night Royal Family was a ‘sinful devil clan’. But our Frozen Cloud ancestor did not have the power to help the Eternal Night Royal Family right wrongs and avenge them, so she had no other choice but to preserve the true facts and pass them on within Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, to prevent the truth from ever disappearing, while also alerting all Frozen Cloud disciples to never associate with Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!”

“At present, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Sword Master is still Xuanyuan Wentian. With such an ambitious Sword Master who is this despicable and malicious, one could imagine just how filthy Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is. IF you join Mighty Heavenly Sword Region in the future, my Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace will cut off all relations with you.” Feng Qianhui said solemnly.

Yun Che was very clear about the ambitiousness of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. If they weren’t, his biological parents would not have been hunted down, his grandfather would not have died, and he would not have been stranded in Floating Cloud City nineteen years ago. It was just that Feng Qianhui was not aware of these grievances. Yun Che’s heart hopped up and down as he said earnestly: “I thank Grand Palace Mistress for enlightening me, this disciple shall engrave it into his memory.”

“Good!” Feng Qianhui nodded slowly: “You must by all means avoid mentioning everything I’ve told you to others. Me telling you about this means that I believe that you can differentiate between good and evil, and separate trivial matters from the serious. Additionally…” Her gaze swept across Yun Che and Xia Qingyue: “Even though you and Qingyue are husband and wife in name, you are not allowed to truly become husband and wife until Qingyue has completely cultivated the Frozen End Divine Arts. The yin energy within a female’s body greatly helps the cultivation of ice attribute profound arts. If she loses her virgin vital yin, Qingyue’s Frozen End Divine Art cultivation would inevitably be detained, and even a bottleneck, which she would be incapable of breaking through in her entire life, could appear. Qingyue is my Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace’s future hope, and I definitely will not allow such a mishap… I believe that you also can judge the severity of this matter.”

Xia Qingyue: “...”

Can’t do anything before Frozen End Divine Arts has been completely perfected… Mn, in other words, it’ll be totally okay once it’s been completely perfected!

Yun Che was originally worried that Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace would make it mandatory for Xia Qingyue to retain her vital yin throughout her entire life, but this warning from Feng Qianhui was simply an undisguised hint! He hurriedly replied: “Yes, this disciple will sincerely comply with Grand Palace Mistress’ instructions.”

“Good!” Feng Qianhui slowly nodded as her face revealed a smile: “I have already finished saying what I ought to have said. I confess, even though you are my Immortal Palace's first male disciple in all of our history, I am deeply comforted by the fact that you have become a member. After all, Blue Wind’s two great young talents have both assembled at my Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace.”

“Temporarily, we shall not disclose your joining of our Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace today, and will inform the entire sect during tomorrow’s sect assembly. If there is nothing else to be said… Qingyue, take Yun Che on a stroll within our Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. Any place that you can go to, you may bring him there as well. Yuxian, you stay here.”

“Yes.”

Xia Qingyue got up, gave Feng Qianhui a salutation, and then left with Yun Che.

As soon as they left, Gong Yuxian got up and asked hurriedly: “Senior Master, why exactly did you make such a decision today? Is it truly because of the simple fact of Yun Che’s strength and influence?”

Feng Qianhui had on a deep expression. She raised her head slightly, and answered with a voice that sounded like a sorrowful sigh: “Yuxian, do you still remember the thousand year prophecy our Frozen Cloud ancestor had left behind that year?”

Gong Yuxian stared blankly, then her eyes trembled acutely, and her complexion also changed: “Could Senior Master be referring to… the ‘Thousand Year Calamity’?”

“Yes.” Feng Qianhui closed her eyes, her expression serene: “In those days, Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace’s Mistress and a wanderer of Black Fiend Empire’s Heaven’s Fate Clan were close friends. At that time, the Heaven’s Fate Clan was at its peak. They were about to see through heaven’s way and clearly discern heaven’s fate. It was highly inappropriate to be able to discern heaven’s fate, and ultimately, they had met judgement from heaven’s way, and were annihilated. When the Frozen Cloud ancestor founded Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, the Heaven’s Fate wanderer had previously seen through heaven’s fate, and informed our ancestor of our Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace’s thousand years of glory, as well as the great calamity that would come after a thousand years. If this calamity were to be weathered, Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace would have ten thousand years of prosperity. If not, the name Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace would no longer appear in this world. And in terms of time… the thousand year date has already arrived. From nearly one year ago, I had always been ill at ease, and was even haunted by nightmares non-stop when resting my mind. In addition to that, such a disciple with abnormally high aptitude like Xia Qingyue suddenly emerged in my Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, and the Frozen End Divine Arts that went silent for a thousand years resurfaced in the world as well… The various abnormalities, were seemingly all hinting the arrival of the Thousand Year Calamity.

Gong Yuxian’s expression was in sudden turmoil. She slowly sat down: “So the reason why Senior Master did not spare to break our sect’s rules and allowed Yun Che to join our Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, was always so we could have an additional force of resistance in response to the possibility of a great calamity?”

Feng Qianhui sighed: “Compared to the survival of our sect, what is breaking a sect rule? Sigh, I only hope… that if the Thousand Year Calamity really arrives… the heavens will assist my Frozen Cloud!”

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