Against the Gods

The Profound Desert Realm was a tiny Land of the Living near the Endless Fog. Spanning only a hundred kilometers or so, the shortest distance between the Profound Desert Realm and the Endless Fog was less than a hundred and fifty kilometers.

Its close proximity to the Endless Fog also transformed it into a refuge and sanctuary to many training profound practitioners. Later, it even developed into a trading center and showed signs of prosperity instead of decline.

The numbers differed day to day, but there wasn’t a day that went by where the Profound Desert Realm did not bury the dead. They were all people who escaped from the Endless Fog but died to abyssal dust corruption before they could return to their homelands.

One month ago, the terrible fate finally fell upon the son of the Profound Desert Realm King himself.

Mo Xifeng, the current realm king of the Profound Desert Realm, boasted a wide network of friends and acquaintances despite his small realm. The fact that he was able to keep the realm together despite its close proximity to the Endless Fog was a testament to his strength. He had entered the Divine Extinction Realm a millennium ago. Although he was unable to progress even an inch beyond Divine Extinction Realm level one after that, it was still enough to cement his influence and authority.

Some time ago, his most talented son, Mo Qianyou, successfully entered the Divine Master Realm. With his permission and blessing, Mo Qianyou had set foot in the Endless Fog for the first time. However, Mo Qianyou was unfortunate enough to encounter a Divine Master Realm abyssal beast at the perimeter of the Endless Fog and was heavily injured despite the presence of his protector. Not only that, the abyssal corruption had reached his heart. It was a death sentence.

When Mo Xifeng heard this news, he lost his mind and flew in a beeline toward the Endless Fog. When he arrived at the edge, he saw his favorite son completely surrounded by Endless Fog. To say that his heart was corrupted by abyssal dust would be an understatement. The abyssal dust had invaded his profound veins and meridians as well. It was a hopeless situation through and through.

Mo Xifeng was weeping in a manner that was completely unbefitting of a realm king when he saw a pair of grayish eyes hidden deep within the abyssal dust. Later, he received a gift not even his wildest dreams could imagine.

A month passed, and Mo Xifeng set foot inside the Endless Fog once more. He was accompanied by a Mo Qianyou who was almost fully recovered, though his profound energy was still a little weak.

It was the area between the Endless Fog and the Profound Desert Realm. Naturally, there was a lot of traffic in this area. Despite this, Mo Xifeng and his son dropped to their knees and shouted into the Endless Fog in front of them, “Profound Desert Realm King Mo Xifeng and his unworthy son Mo Qianyou have come to thank the Fog Monarch for saving his life!”

His voice was loud, and his words were overflowing with sincerity. Every profound practitioner in the vicinity was looking at him.

“You are the one who commands the Endless Fog, Fog Monarch, and I am but a small realm king. I do not know how a humble creature like me can possibly repay a grand being like you. Even so, if there is anything this humble creature can do to help you, anything at all, I will see it done no matter what!”

Countless profound practitioners came and left the Profound Desert Realm every year, but Mo Xifeng remained a rare soul who valued righteousness and promises despite this.

“It’s your turn, Qianyou. Thank the Fog Monarch for saving your life.”

The duo did not climb back to their feet until Mo Qianyou had respectfully kowtowed in the direction of the Endless Fog.

Countless people were shooting them strange looks, and Mo Xifeng knew very well what the gazes meant. Although the Fog Monarch had saved many people since his emergence and given the hopeless and despairing a new lease in life, none of them had ever thanked him after their miraculous recovery.

Why? Because to thank the “Fog Monarch” in public was to disrespect the one true monarch of this world.

The father and son were about to take their leave when suddenly, something unexpected happened.

The abyssal beasts abruptly stopped roaring, and absolute silence overcame the entire Endless Fog all of a sudden.

The blue sky darkened, and an impossibly thick and massive wall of abyssal fog rose all the way to the heavens.

“That… that’s…”

“Could it be…”

Mo Xifeng and Mo Qianyou abruptly spun around and stared blankly at the sky. Their eyes were fixed to a point where a pair of grayish, distorted eyes were staring straight at them.

“The Fog… Monarch!”

Mo Xifeng gasped seemingly in shock and fear.

The Endless Fog was impossibly huge, and the Fog Monarch only showed up every once in a while. That was why he never thought that the Fog Monarch would actually respond to his thanks.

The surrounding profound practitioners were all frozen in place. They could only watch tensely and blankly at the legendary phenomenon.

“Mo Xifeng…”

The Fog Monarch’s voice came from the humongous wall of abyssal fog. His terrifying voice was such that they felt as if their souls were being dragged toward a bottomless abyss at high speed.

“This monarch has saved countless people until this point, but you are the first ever to thank me.”

“I suppose this disgusting world isn’t strictly populated by filthy beings after all.”

Mo Xifeng hurriedly pulled Mo Qianyou to the ground and kowtowed to the Fog Monarch once more. “My son owes you his life, and that is a favor bigger than the heavens. The end may come, but we will never forget it until the day we die. It’s just… we don’t know how to repay you for this.”

“Repay me?” The Fog Monarch’s voice suddenly turned cold and soul-wrenching. “Indeed! I am the one who saved this Abyss, but who has ever repaid me for this favor? How could you hope to repay such a favor?”

“… Huh?” Mo Xifeng froze. Everyone who heard this voice froze in confusion and puzzlement as well.

The Fog Monarch… saved the entire Abyss?

What kind of ludicrous statement was this?

“For what you have done today, I do not mind bestowing you another boon, Mo Xifeng.”

The abyssal fog surged, and a black shadow flew toward Mo Xifeng.

Mo Xifeng hurriedly caught it and found that it was just an ordinary abyssal stone. It was emitting thin wafts of abyssal dust.

“If you ever find yourself in danger, crush this stone inside the Endless Fog, and I will bestow you a chance to have an audience with me.”

“From now on, the abyssal dust will no longer spread in the direction of the Profound Desert Realm. You will find that the ambient abyssal dust in the air is much thinner than usual even after you remove your isolation barrier. Now, you may leave.”

With that said, the abyssal fog rolled back into the Endless Fog and vanished without a trace.

The Fog Monarch’s voice also faded into nothing, though the effects of his words were a different story.

The Mo father and son did not move for a long time. They looked like they were dreaming.

It wasn’t until the abyssal beasts began howling once more that the duo and the profound practitioners in the vicinity finally jolted back to reality. No one was in the mood for practice, however. They were all recalling what just happened and wrestling with the emotions that surged because of it.

When the Mo father and son returned to the Profound Desert Realm, they found that their core elders were floating outside the realm and seemingly inspecting the isolation barrier.

“What’s happened?” Mo Xifeng flew up to them and asked.

“Something terribly strange just happened, realm king.” The elders spread out in both directions and explained their conundrum with great excitement and even greater puzzlement. “A short while ago, the concentration of abyssal dust in the city suddenly decreased drastically. We all thought you had done something to enhance the barrier until we came out and realized that it’s the concentration of the ambient abyssal dust that has dropped.”

“…” Mo Xifeng and Mo Qianyou exchanged a glance with each other. Neither of them could say a word for a very long time.

“Realm king? Did… something significant happen after all?” The elders could not help but ask after noting their odd expressions.

Mo Xifeng clutched the perfectly ordinary abyssal stone tightly. Instead of answering the elders’ question, he muttered again and again with dazed eyes, “It’s real… it’s real…”

“He… really is… the monarch of the Endless Fog…”

……

Deep inside the Endles Fog, Yun Che had just stepped out of a thick cyclone of abyssal dust and stood still when Li Suo suddenly asked him,

“What are you doing?”

Mo Qianyou was a Divine Master guarded by a protector, and he was roaming the farthest edges of the Endless Fog. Unless he chose to commit suicide of his own accord, it was impossible for him to encounter a great crisis. In reality, he had run into a middle-stage Divine Master Realm abyssal beast in an area that should be filled by low level abyssal beasts only.

Why? Because it was Yun Che’s handiwork, of course.

“I’m scattering bait as usual,” Yun Che said casually. “And today, someone has finally taken it.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Li Suo explained. “Although your mastery over abyssal dust is improving every day, it is still going to cost you a tremendous amount of energy and willpower to ensure that the abyssal dust will not spread in the direction of the Profound Desert Realm. The maintenance alone will cost you several hours every day. Are you seriously going to do this forever…?”

“Of course not. You would know that even if you think with your toes.” Yun Che sat on the ground and closed his eyes. Abyssal dust immediately surrounded him from all sides. “I won’t be maintaining it for too long. This is just more bait. The most important thing that happened today is the stone I gave Mo Xifeng.”

“Today’s incident and the sudden plunge of abyssal dust concentration in Profound Desert Realm is going to spread like wildfire. Rumors will forever be rumors to those who have not witnessed the impossible with their own eyes, but this? That is something anyone could feel with their senses. With this… the Pure Land will finally take action.”

His voice was calm and collected. Li Suo was unable to sense the slightest twinge in his heart even though she was tied to him in life and soul.

A year had passed, and Yun Che’s mastery over abyssal dust had only become scarier. More accurately, his body was growing more and more compatible with the abyssal dust everyone was afraid of.

A year ago, when he first made his appearance as the Fog Monarch, it had taken him an obscene amount of time just to gather enough abyssal dust to conceal the Abyssal Qilin God’s aura. Not only that, it had cost him almost half his life.

Now, a mere thought was all he needed to summon enough abyssal dust to blot out the sky.

In fact, Li Suo had a feeling that Yun Che was really recovering his perfect affinity with abyssal dust rather than transforming his body and power to become compatible with it.

There was one thing that hadn’t changed even though his mastery of abyssal dust was growing by leaps and bounds: his cultivation.

“Just how much longer are you planning to suppress your cultivation?” she asked.

Yun Che could have entered the fourth level of the Divine Master Realm nine months ago, but he had forcefully suppressed it to this day.

“Oh!” Yun Che opened his eyes. “Thank you for reminding me. Meng Kongchan has been devoting all of the kingdom’s resources to me, and I supposedly possess perfect divine essence. It would seem unnatural if I do not make a breakthrough soon. I’ll get it done in a jiffy.”

The way he put it, it almost felt like he was being forced to make a breakthrough.

“That’s not what I meant.” She asked a question she had asked several times before, “Previously, you suppressed your cultivation to make a breakthrough in front of Hua Caili and Hua Qingying’s eyes. So, why are you suppressing your cultivation now? I just can’t imagine why considering your current circumstances.”

“It would be stranger if you managed to figure out my genius,” declared Yun Che confidently and arrogantly. “All you need to know is that it’s very important. As for why I’m doing this…”

He still refused to give her an answer, but the corners of his lips curled into a smile so strange that it chilled her. “Be patient. You’ll find out eventually.”

He did not remain for too long. When he climbed to his feet again, the ambient abyssal dust instantly enveloped him like some sort of armor. At the same time, a distorted pair of gray eyes slowly appeared in the thick fog of abyssal dust he surrounded himself with.

“It’s time I pay my bargain bin disciple a visit. I do hope he’ll be able to withstand today’s cruel training.”

The Fog Monarch’s voice word was spine-chilling. “After all, if the training isn’t cruel and painful enough, he would not engrave this power into his flesh and bone; would think that his vengeance was fulfilled too easily!”

……

The Abyss, Pure Land.

The white sky was almost completely devoid of gray. In fact, it was shining with faint gold.

This was the purest, holiest, and most luxurious sky of the entire Abyss.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The clanking of armor symbolized the dignified march of knights. When it came to a sudden stop, the abyssal knight, Bai Yu, was kneeling on the ground. “In compliance with Commander Yuchi’s summons, Bai Yu has come to receive his orders.”

The huge man in front of him slowly turned around. He was wearing a set of white heavy armor and shining like a divine star.

He was the twenty-fourth abyssal knight and one of the thirty six commanders of the abyssal knights, Yuchi Nanxing.

“Bai Yu.” The dignity of an abyssal knight dripped from Yuchi Nanxing’s voice with every word he spoke. “That so-called ‘Fog Monarch’ has shown himself again. I want you to take all your squires with you and suppress him in person.”

Bai Yu did not receive his orders immediately. He said, “The Endless Fog is vast, and there are no tracks that we may follow. To wait for him to show himself would be like finding a needle in the sea.”

“Things are different this time.” Yuchi Nanxing declared, “There is now a way to bait him into showing himself. That said, he is a complete enigma shrouded in mysteries, so make sure you approach this cautiously and do not underestimate your foe for even a second. If you cannot take him down, then strive to unveil his true identity and identify his aura instead.”

“Understood.” Bai Yu responded heavily, “A million deaths would not be enough to pardon one who claims the monarch’s name! Now that the abyssal knights are taking to the battlefield, there is no longer any place in this world for this so-called ‘Fog Monarch’!”

He rose to his feet but did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked Yuchi Nanxing as if they were equals, “Commander, the rumors regarding the ‘Fog Monarch’ have grown much worse in the past year. In fact, it feels like things are going to spiral out of control. Do the exalted Abyssal Monarch and the High Priests have a solution for this?”

Yuchi Nanxing said coldly, “You speak as if such petty villains deserve even a side-eye from Him and the High Priests. Besides, the Abyssal Monarch has been spending time in the ‘Lost Paradise’. He does not have the time or the energy to pay attention to such matters.”

“Understood.” Bai Yu nodded.

“You will move immediately.” Yuchi Nanxing gazed to the south as his voice grew colder. “To that place called the Profound Desert Realm.”

……

The moment Yun Che stepped out of his cultivation space, he immediately sensed an odd atmosphere permeating the Divine Son Palace.

As expected, Meng Kongchan was standing in the courtyard, and everyone in the Divine Son Palace was treating him with the utmost deference as a matter of course. When Yun Che emerged, Meng Kongchan turned around and gave him a smile. “I heard that you were spending eighty percent of your time in cultivation, Yuan’er. You do not need to strain yourself so. As my son, it is your right to enjoy the pleasures and luxuries.”

It was at this moment his eyes flashed with pleasant surprise and excitement, “Yuan’er, you… achieved a breakthrough!”

Yun Che’s aura clearly marked him as a level four Divine Master.

“Yes, I have,” Yun Che replied with a self-satisfied expression on his face.

“Hahahaha!” Meng Kongchan barked out a laugh that shook half the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God. “The Heart Painter Divine Regent told me that you had just completed your breakthrough last year, but to think that you would do it again in just a year! As expected of my Yuan’er! As expected of my Yuan’er! Hahahahaha!”