Against the Gods

Just like that, the Star and Moon twins’ trial to achieve a breakthrough was shattered before it could truly begin.

Yun Che did not dare to stay close with the Stellar Star Sovereign close by. He walked out of the shadows as a sinister smile slowly spread across his face.

“What was the point of that?” Li Suo asked.

Yun Che dispelled the abyssal dust surrounding his body and returned his aura and state to that of an ordinary profound practitioner. “I’m just creating a chance for one of them to come to the Endless fog alone.”

“Alone?” Li Suo rejected the idea knowing what she knew about the Divine Children of the Abyss. “The Divine Children literally represent the future of the Kingdoms of God. Their safety supersedes everything. There is no way a Divine Son would appear alone outside the Kingdom of God, much less the Endless Fog.”

“He will,” Yun Che declared with confidence. “Considering the amount of time it would take for them to return to the Star and Moon Kingdom of God, the abyssal corruption I planted has more than enough time to seep deep into his profound veins. In that state, not even the Star and Moon Divine Regents could dispel the abyssal corruption perfectly.”

“You’re saying…” Li Suo seemed to realize something. “You’re forcing him to come to the Endless Fog in search of the Fog Monarch, the one existence who is rumored to be capable of curing abyssal corruption perfectly?”

“That’s right.”

Yun Che’s answer failed to convince Li Suo, however. She replied after a moment of thought, “Even with everything you did, the Fog Monarch is still too enigmatic and ephemeral an existence to the public. The only real proof regarding the Fog Monarch is his hostile stance toward the Pure Land… since your scorn and blasphemous words against the Pure Land must be known to the entire world by now.”

“The six Kingdoms of God exist only thanks to the Abyssal Monarch. Their power exists because it was bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch. While the Star Divine Son’s abyssal corruption can only be dispelled via damaging his profound veins, if the treatment was handled by the two Divine Regents, the permanent damage he suffers cannot possibly be too great.”

“Therefore, I don’t think that the Divine Son of a Kingdom of God would make a choice that goes against the Pure Land… not to mention that whether or not he can find the ephemeral Fog Monarch, from his perspective, is a question to begin with.”

Yun Che smiled. “If he was the Divine Son of any other Kingdom of God, then you would be perfectly right. However, this is the Star and Moon Kingdom of God we’re talking about.”

Li Suo: “…?”

“I have a question for you,” Yun Che said suddenly. “A multiple choice question.”

“Which situation do you think is most unacceptable to a person? One, a stronger rival suddenly soaring to a height they could never hope to reach; two, an equal who slowly but surely surpassed them; or three, a weaker rival who gradually surpassed them in the future?”

“The third situation,” Li Suo answered immediately after Yun Che finished his question.

“That is a very good answer,” Yun Che answered, “but in the case of Sha Xing and Xian Yue, it is the second situation.”

“Why’s that?”

A hint of complex emotions flashed in Yun Che’s eyes as he gazed forward. “If I was who I was many years ago, my answer would have been the same as yours. But then… I had a friend when I first entered the God Realm.”

“His name, is Huo Poyun.”

Li Suo knew Huo Poyun. She had witnessed his Nine Heavens Cry of Dead Crow and Shattered Jade through Yun Che’s eyes. However, she could never understand his words back then.

“Huo Poyun wept when he heard of my death, hated when he heard of my return, saved my life when the entire world turned against me, tried to kill himself through me when I invaded the world with my devils… and finally, sacrificed himself using Nine Heavens Cry of Dead Crow and Shattered Jade when I was at my most desperate.”

He did not explain Huo Poyun’s complex feelings and changes toward him. There was no way Li Suo would understand even if he did. “Nothing he did has ever been within my expectations. If I have to say why, it was all because of ‘imbalance.’”

“You saw how amazing Sha Xing and Xian Yue’s teamwork was. Their compatibility is at a level even I find terrifying. But if one of them experiences ‘imbalance’… then the ‘heart devil’ he would suffer would far, far surpass Huo Poyun’s.”

Li Suo did not say anything for a very long time. She seemed to be trying to refresh her view of humanity through Yun Che’s words.

“I very much look forward to the evil flower that will bloom from the seed I planted. I sincerely hope that you will not disappoint me, bearer of the Heavenly Wolf divine power and prideful Divine Son of the stars.”

When he exited the abyssal fog once more, a fierce battle was happening ahead of him.

Pan Buwang was surrounded by thick black energy, but the dirty blood covering his entire body was even thicker. The viciousness in his eyes was sharper and more soul-wrenching than an abyssal beast’s eyes as well.

A dark storm rose without warning and devoured the abyssal power of the two Divine Extinction Realm abyssal beasts before him layer by layer. Once they were out of power, it began devouring their bodies as well.

Pan Buwang growled animalistically as a pitch black spear drew a black scar in the air before penetrating both abyssal beasts in an instant. The black scar that erupted into layers of black storm and dragged the severed abyssal beasts into the abyss of death.

With that done, Pan Buwang slowly rested his spear on the ground and dropped to one knee. He bowed his head and greeted Yun Che, “This disciple greets his master.”

Drip.. drip drip…

The sound of dripping blood was unbelievably clear in the deathly silent Endless Fog. Pan Buwang’s face was expressionless, however. He wasn’t even looking at the pools of blood beneath his body. Despite feeling so fatigued he could fall over, he maintained his posture and did not move a muscle.

“Very good.” The Fog Monarch praised him simply. “It looks like you have mastered the fourth level of mutation. Revenge truly is the most magical power in the world.”

“Today, this monarch shall teach you the fifth level of mutation.”

Pan Buwang looked up immediately, the fatigue in his eyes instantly replaced by the demonic glint of excitement and desire. As he kowtowed to Yun Che in thanks, he suddenly asked, “Master, will I… have the privilege of seeing your true self one day?”

“True self? Hahahaha!” The Fog Monarch sneered. “This monarch is the monarchical spirit born from the abyssal power of the Endless Fog. As such, I do not have a so-called true self. If I must define myself, then I suppose every speck of abyssal dust in this Endless Fog is me.”

“No,” Pan Buwang stared at the twisted, misshapen pupils in the abyssal fog, “I know you’re really a human, master.”

Fog Monarch: “…”

Pan Buwang remained kneeling as he explained honestly, “The devil arts I practice are the strongest dark profound art in the entire world. However, you only need one demonstration to be able to learn them perfectly, and mutate them into more powerful versions in just a matter of days.”

“Not only that, the mutated devil arts are always more compatible with my body and profound veins. At the same time, in order to maximize the power of the devil arts, executing the mutated devil arts requires perfect utilization of all fifty four profound entrances in one’s profound veins.”

“Before you mutate a devil art, you always adjust them to be compatible with your profound veins first… and the only race who has fifty four profound entrances is humans. The beasts and the spirits all channel their power in completely different ways.”

“If you are not a human who possesses fifty four profound entrances in your body, there is no way you could mutate each level of the devil arts to be perfectly compatible with the fifty four profound entrances.”

“…” Yun Che hid a gasp.

That counts as a mistake? Are you fucking kidding me right now?

For several instants, Yun Che was sorely tempted to silence Pan Buwang.

“Hehehe!” The Fog Monarch let out a cold chuckle. He neither confirmed nor rejected Pan Buwang’s theory, but his raspy voice abruptly grew several times colder. “Pan Buwang, you are smarter than I thought you were. However, someone as smart as you should also know when to feign stupidity.”

Suddenly, Yun Che recalled that his master had said the exact same thing to him.

“This disciple is aware.”

Pan Buwang wasn’t afraid despite the oppressive cold. He stared straight at the Fog Monarch’s eyes and said, “If you hadn’t saved me, I would be no different from the dead even if I was still alive.”

“My Mother taught me that a man should not betray love or forget favors… and your favor to me is as big as my Mother, the one who gave birth to me. With that in mind, how can this disciple possibly fake his words and heart before you?”

His eyes were full of violence when he was facing the Abyss, and as dead as the abyss of death when he was facing darkness. It was only when he was facing the Fog Monarch that his eyes were humanely pure… almost perfectly pure.

Pan Buwang was definitely a man of passion. Otherwise, he could never have come this far—not for the sake of his mother and lover at least.

He said sincerely, “This disciple vehemently desires to know what kind of person the master who saved him and taught him is… one could even say it is my greatest desire besides taking revenge.”

Pan Buwang did not say that he would never leak the Fog Monarch’s true identity, but every word he spoke, every twitch of his face, and every twinkle in his eyes told the Fog Monarch that Pan Buwang would die a million deaths before he committed something that would betray his master even a little.

A cold, bloody wind brushed against the nostrils.

Finally, the Fog Monarch answered, “You will know one day. Perhaps you will have completed your vengeance by then.”

“This monarch will allow this insolence one time, but you shall not speak of this again. Do not forget what you must do!”

Pan Buwang lowered his head and responded heavily and obediently, “As you command.”

He slowly rose to his feet and summoned his spear back into his hand, causing it to shine with a black light. Despite being covered in wounds and injuries, he did not ask to take a short rest. He simply stared at the Fog Monarch with bright, fiery eyes and said, “Please, give me your guidance!”

……

Time stirred and churned senselessly under the black tide. Carrying the weight of age in its belly, it spurred many a growth, treated many a wound, and cleansed many a heart and soul.

But to the Star Divine Son, time… was torture.

For the umpteenth time, Sha Xing gripped his solar plexus with a death grip. Six months had passed, but the abyssal corruption still pained him like no other every time he channeled his profound energy.

What was even worse than the pain was the impediment to his circulation and the snail’s pace at which his profound energy had been progressing.

Today, an invigorating bit of news had spread throughout the Star and Moon Kingdom of God like wildfire.

The Moon Divine Son Xian Yue had successfully entered the fourth level of the Divine Extinction Realm this morning.

The Star and Moon Kingdom of God held a celebration every time the Star and Moon Divine Sons made a breakthrough, but it was different this time.

This time, the twin Divine Sons who used to achieve a breakthrough at the exact same time… were no longer in synchrony.

This time, only the Moon Divine Son achieved a breakthrough.

When the news broke, Sha Xing wore a smile on his face, but bled through his fingers.

He had just arrived at the Star God Palace where the Heavenly Star Divine Regent resided when he ran into the Stellar Star Sovereign, who just walked out of the entrance.

The Stellar Star Sovereign saw through Sha Xing instantly and sighed. “If you are here to ask the Divine Regent to sever the abyssal corruption inside you, then I will not stop you. But if you came today harboring delusional dreams… then I would ask you not to disturb him. It’s been half a year. You should accept reality by now.”

“Reality…” Sha Xing clenched his teeth tightly. “The Divine Regent is strong. I’m sure he has a way. I’m sure…”

The Stellar Star Sovereign shot him a look. “The supreme one has messaged High Priest Ling Xian several times and even visited the Pure Land in person for you. You already know what the answer is. The supreme one is infinitely powerful, but this level of abyssal corruption inside your profound veins… no one can solve it. No one.”

He reached out and gave Sha Xing a pat on the shoulder. “The supreme one has expended countless time, effort, and abyssal crystals to seal the abyssal corruption and prevent it from worsening for half a year. At this rate, you are simply wasting resources holding out for a miracle that will never come true… You should know that many Star Sovereigns and Star Officials are growing dissatisfied.”

Sha Xing’s lips trembled. He immediately bowed his head so no one could see his loss of composure.

Stellar Star Sovereign continued, “A lizard cuts off its tail for survival. By no means is it an act of weakness; simply one of necessity. Moreover, the supreme one promised that, together with the Sky Moon Divine Regent, they could ensure that the permanent damage done to your profound veins is under ten percent.”

“Ten… percent… heh.” Sha Xing whispered and let out a self-derisive, pained chuckle.

To lose ten percent of his profound veins permanently was to fall behind in terms of cultivation level, progress, profound energy circulation, his future ceiling… everything. Permanently.

It also meant he would become his equal’s eternal burden.

Sha Xing did not continue toward the Star God Palace. Instead, he turned around and said softly, “I understand. I will consider this carefully. I won’t burden the Divine Regent and the Star Sovereigns any longer.”

“Mm.” Stellar Star Sovereign nodded and stopped there. As the protector who was supposed to ensure such an accident never happened in the first place, he had been wrestling with guilt and regret as well.