Against the Gods

Yun Che did not seem to notice, though. He dispelled the barrier and shouted, “He Lu, bring us every last drop of wine in this palace!”

Shangguan Helu acknowledged his command softly. Then, a gentle breeze dropped dozens of jars of spirit wine at their sides. With a flick of her slender hand, she removed the simple seal from one jar. The crisp yet warm aroma of wine immediately filled the air.

The young woman stepped lightly, filling each jade cup on the table. Then, she withdrew silently and closed the barrier once more.

The amber-colored liquid swayed gently in the jade cups, reflecting the complex emotion in Mo Su’s eyes. He raised a finger and rested it on the rim of his cup, his voice faint and distant. “Long ago, I used wine to scorch my thoughts and drunkenness to sink into dreams, but upon waking, I was left with only deeper emptiness and guilt.”

Yun Che looked him straight in the eye. His gaze held not a trace of the awe with which all beings of the Abyss looked up to the Abyssal Monarch. Instead, it was calm as water and accompanied by a faint, concerned smile. “Even the finest wine feels lonely and desolate when drinking alone without a companion; even the most beautiful moments seem cold and empty when enjoying a scenery in solitude. Ten thousand words weigh upon your heart, but for the longest time, you can only bury them deep within your soul. It is only natural that they wound your heart and break your spirit.

“Now that I am here before you, why not let the wine serve as a conduit to pour out your innermost thoughts? Pour all the loneliness of these three million years into this single cup of pure joy, Big Brother.”

Mo Su smiled faintly. “Such eloquent words—they are just like those of Big Brother Ni Xuan.”

He raised the jade cup, his gaze resting on the ripples within. Memories of the joy and delight he had felt while drinking with Pan Xiaodie many years ago flashed through his mind. At the time, he had thought it was nothing out of the ordinary, but upon waking from that dream, all that remained was a solitary figure in a cold hall, drinking alone in self-pity.

His eyes grew misty, and he murmured softly as if in a dream:

“How can I sever this heartache? How can I pass the long night? How can I voice my sorrow? How can I speak of this desolation?”

Yun Che also raised his jade cup, gaze still fixed on Mo Su as he replied in a tone several times more defiant:

With wine, you sever this heartache; with dreams, you pass the long night. To the heavens, you voice your sorrow....”

Yun Che extended his arm, and the jade cups clinked together. The splashing wine seemed to inadvertently wash away the haze from Mo Su’s eyes, allowing their gaze to meet unimpeded. To your younger brother, you speak of that desolation.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Che raised his arm, tilted his head back, and drained the cup in one gulp.

Mo Su’s gaze lingered for a moment, then he too raised his cup and drank it dry.

Yun Che’s smile deepened. Suddenly, he flung his wrist, sending the jade cup flying far away, where it shattered into a shower of shimmering fragments across the floor. Immediately afterward, two large wine jars landed heavily on the table. Yun Che grabbed one of them and buried his head inside, drinking directly from the mouth. Wine splashed everywhere, and the sound of his gulps echoed loudly.

It took nearly ten breaths before the noise finally ceased, and the wine was gone. When Yun Che flung the empty wine jar aside, it was revealed that his face was flushed crimson and his eyes held a hazy, clouded look. He made no effort to dispel the effects of the alcohol with his profound energy. He stared straight at Mo Su with intoxicated eyes, conveying not only encouragement and incitement, but also undisguised “provocation”.

Mo Su narrowed his eyes slightly. His hesitation lasted only a split second before, just as Yun Che had, he grabbed the wine jar and drank straight from it, tilting it back over his head... As the strong alcohol poured down his throat, and intoxication spread through his soul, his identity and majesty as the Abyssal Monarch seemed to fall off layer by layer without a sound.

Bang!

The empty jar crashed loudly against the table, and Mo Su let out a long sigh. What had once been an air of refined elegance and otherworldly grace was now mingled with an overwhelming scent of alcohol. Even the way he braced himself against the jar’s rim carried a touch of reckless abandon that should never have belonged to the Abyssal Monarch.

“It really is... heartfelt and exhilarating.”

He laughed, and this time, his smile was almost entirely free of stiffness and divine formality. Instead, it held a sincerity that felt far too distant, unfamiliar, and luxurious for him.

With a wave of his hand, Yun Che produced two more heavy wine jars. They landed heavily between the two men and wafted out a rich, potent aroma even before they were unsealed. Smiling, he asked, “Your young brother is by your side, and the wine has set the mood. Might I ask my big brother to pour out the ten thousand words within his heart?”

Mo Su grabbed a wine jar, tilted his head back, and took a long swig. This time, though, he did not finish it. Instead, he said wistfully, “Thinking back to those days, I had relied heavily on Big Brother Ni Xuan. He was the only one I could confide in regarding the matters between Xiaodie and me. I have also told him everything. I suppose Big Brother Ni Xuan has already told you all of it.”

Yun Che did not deny it. “Still, I’d rather hear it from you, Big Brother.”

“How could I not know your intentions?” Mo Su smiled faintly. “Ten thousand words bottled up in the heart eventually turn to poison. You’re not merely curious; you wish to help me unburden myself. I suppose this is also one of the wishes Big Brother Ni Xuan has entrusted to you.”

Yun Che opened his mouth to speak, but Mo Su continued, “I know that Big Brother Ni Xuan has advised you to live life to the fullest; to choose whatever you want to do according to your own desires. But from the moment I learned that your name was bestowed by him, I immediately understood the hidden meaning behind it.”

“Huh?” Yun Che looked surprised. “My name?”

His surprise was entirely genuine, for his name truly had nothing to do with Ni Xuan.

“I suppose Big Brother Ni Xuan didn’t tell you about it.”

Mo Su paused, and a hint of mistiness clouded his eyes once more. Slowly, he uttered that name. “Xiaodie... her mother, and her maternal clan, bear the surname ‘Yun’.”

“......” A genuine, faint look of surprise flashed across Yun Che’s brow.

Mo Su continued, “Big Brother Ni Xuan had specifically bestowed the surname Yun upon you for many profound reasons—both for your sake, and mine.”

He grabbed the wine jar and took a long swig again. When he finally looked up, his gaze was fixed on the distance, as if he was gazing upon the ancient shadow of Ni Xuan.

Only then did the look of surprise slowly fade from Yun Che’s face. He nodded slightly, and a sigh escaped his lips. “So that’s how it is... It wasn’t until today that I realized this name held such profound meaning, either.”

In the Era of Gods and Devils, Pan Xiaodie had held an extremely high status not just within the Original Nether Devil Clan, but the entire Devil race. It was to the extent that the Original Nether Devil Emperor had bestowed upon her the Original Nether Void Breaching Mirror as her protection. Naturally, her mother and her maternal clan had to be extraordinary as well.

Despite searching his memory, Yun Che could not recall any ancient Devil Clan approaching the level of a Devil Emperor that bore the surname “Yun” in the surviving records.

The Heavenly Handle Yun Clan, from which he hailed, did bear the surname “Yun”, but it was just a struggling remnant of the Devil race, barely managing to survive the powers to be of the Northern Divine Region. Had it not been for his emergence, they might already have been completely reduced to dust and forgotten history. They bore no connection to the word “powerful” whatsoever.

In Primal Chaos, records of the ancient Devil race were far scarcer than those of the God race. Instead of dwelling on the matter, Yun Che sighed and said, “Master once mentioned that your cultivation had greatly improved after your travels, yet your first encounter with her was one that ended with your defeat. It was only later that you learned that she was actually the foremost figure of her generation among the Devil race... To have raised such an extraordinary woman, I imagine her mother must have hailed from the strongest devil clan under the command of the Original Nether Devil Emperor.”

“No,” Mo Su said slowly, “Xiaodie’s maternal clan did not originate from Pan Ming’s ranks, but from Nine Fiend.”

“Nine Fiend...” Yun Che whispered before narrowing his eyes a little. “Oh? So they’re Devils who served under the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor? It seems that the ancient Devil Clans get along quite well after all—enough to “join forces” like this.”

Mo Su turned his gaze at him, a faint, inscrutable smile playing on his lips. “It would appear that you know very little about the affairs of the Devils.”

Yun Che was momentarily puzzled. He did not understand why his casual remark had prompted such a response from Mo Su. He gulped down a large mouthful of wine, belched loudly, and spoke with a slur, “That would be an understatement. My master rarely spoke to me about the ancient Devil race. He had always deliberately avoided the subject when I’ve asked him about them. Over time, I stopped asking altogether.”

He continued without waiting for a response, “Speaking of the four great Devil Emperors who once led the ancient Devils, I only know roughly that... the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor held the highest status, the Original Nether Devil Emperor possessed the greatest strength, the Nirvana Devil Emperor had the most abundant soul power, and the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor... Well, his assessment was rather contradictory. It was said that he was the weakest in strength, yet simultaneously the most terrifying of them all. Come to think of it, the Creation Goddess of Life, Li Suo, had fallen at the hands of the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor.”

Shaking his head as if puzzled, Yun Che raised his wine jar and clinked it loudly against Mo Su’s. He then took another huge gulp.

Mo Su remarked, “That assessment is actually spot on.”

“Oh?” Yun Che’s face lit up with curiosity.

Mo Su was more than willing to clarify for him. He began slowly and deliberately, “In terms of personal strength, the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor is indeed the weakest among the four Devil Emperors. However, the Nine Fiend is a different story.”

“At the dawn of the Devil race, the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor cut away a portion of his flesh, devilish soul, and the power of Nine Fiend. Each fragment of the Nine Fiend became a devil in its own right with its own legacy. Over time, they formed the Nine Fiend Devil Clans under his command.

“Shadow Fiend, Nether Fiend, Poison Fiend, Blood Fiend, Calamity Fiend, Devourer Fiend, Ash Fiend, Heavenly Net Fiend, Ghost Net Fiend... all of them had formed clans, and all of them bore the Devil Emperor’s name!

“Given the Nine Fiend Devil Clans’ unique origin and status, it would be no exaggeration to call them all direct descendants of the Devil Emperor.”

Yun Che listened quietly, then interjected at the right moment, “I did not know that the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor was such a unique existence. Master mentioned that the Creation Goddess of Life, Li Suo, had fallen victim to the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor’s devil poison. I assume that it was the work of the power of the Poison Fiend?”

Mo Su replied, “According to the records and accounts of the beings from the Eternal Pure Land, that was indeed the case.”

“To think that the Poison Fiend was capable of slaying even a Creation God—it must surely be the most formidable force among the Nine Fiends.” Yun Che let out a deep sigh, his mind drifting for a fleeting moment.

It was highly likely that the Absolute God Slaying Poison that afflicted Jasmine all those years ago had originated from the Poison Fiend energy left behind by the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor... The devil poison had been dissipating for a full million years, yet it still managed to push Jasmine to the brink of death, and with ease, too—how terrifying.

“That is not true,” Mo Su said softly. “The mightiest of the Nine Fiends was, in fact, Shadow Fiend. Not only was it the strongest, but it was also the most unique and mysterious of them all. It was also... Xiaodie’s maternal clan.”

Whenever the name “Xiaodie” was mentioned, a lingering tremor would ripple through the depths of Mo Su’s eyes. He grabbed the wine jar and drank again with wild abandon, allowing the intoxication—which he could have easily dispelled—to spread throughout his body.

Shadow Fiend......

The word had never existed in Yun Che’s or Chi Wuyao’s memories.

Clearly, it had vanished completely into the dust of the ages with the downfall of the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor and the end of the Era of Gods and Devils.

“The direct descendant of the Original Nether Devil Emperor, and the strongest heir of the Nine Fiend Devil Emperor... no wonder she turned out to be such a prodigiously talented individual. A figure of this caliber—looking back through the ages—could likely only be matched by my Big Brother.”

Mo Su looked at him, and their gazes met. Despite the hazy intoxication in the older man’s eyes, Yun Che noticed that the terrifying obsession embedded behind them had not diminished even the slightest bit.

“Yun Che, I understand your intentions, and as your big brother, I am deeply touched and grateful. But... the karma and grudge between Xiaodie and me simply run too deep; there is no room for compromise, no way out. I will not allow anyone I care about to be dragged into this, and she... feels the same way. Perhaps even more so.”

These words ensured that Yun Che could not press the matter further... not even through seemingly casual probing.

“All right!” Yun Che replied heartily, jerking his arm and spilling wine everywhere. “The point of drinking and chatting is, of course, to speak freely of joyful matters. So, Big Brother, would you be interested in hearing the many teasing remarks our Master has made about you?”

“Hmm?” Mo Su sat up straight at once. “Brother Ni Xuan’s barbed remarks are indeed bizarre and varied. Just in the first year he took me on my travels, he had spoken of the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor in the most disparaging terms. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t spare a brother with his back turned toward him....”

“Hahahaha! Spare you? I’m afraid that we can drink until tomorrow, and I still won’t be able to recount them all!”

Mo Su: “......”

......

“Divine Son Xi, a Night Patrol Officer from the Eternal Night Kingdom of God, requests an audience.”

Meng Jianxi abruptly spun around with a deep frown. “A Night Patrol Officer? Which one?”

“She claims to be the leader, the ‘Nightstalker Owlbird’.”

Meng Jianxi’s furrowed brows sank even lower.

Eternal Night and Dreamweaver had just fallen into a bitter feud. Given the Lightless Divine Regent’s nature, she likely harbored a hatred so deep it ran to the marrow. The conflict would not end until one side was destroyed.

At a time like this, a Night Patrol Officer was paying the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God a visit?

Who was Shenwu Mingque? Since Shenwu Yefeng was demoted to a slave of sin, she had become the leader of the Night Patrol Officers of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God. She was a figure of supreme authority second only to the Lightless Divine Regent herself.

Not only had she appeared to the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God in person, but she wasn’t even here to meet Meng Kongchan. No, she was requesting an audience with him, a mere Divine Son.

Meng Jianxi fell deep in thought, remaining silent for a long time.

The male messenger spoke up. ‘Should we inform the Divine Regent and the Chief Lord of this matter first?”

“Mm.” Meng Jianxi nodded slowly as he pondered. “Of course we should... Wait!”

A sudden thought struck him, and his gaze grew intense.

“Go escort our distinguished guest to the main hall at once. Inform them that I am currently away on business and am rushing back at full speed... Also, there is no need to specifically inform Father and the others of this matter.”

After making the arrangements, Meng Jianxi set aside his current tasks and headed straight for Yun Che’s Divine Son Palace.

Since returning from the Pure Land, Meng Kongchan had been preoccupied with matters concerning the Eternal Pure Land. He was handling nearly all internal affairs himself and had little time for anything else. Naturally, he could not have done anything to attract the attention of other kingdoms.

The only exception Meng Jianxi could think of... was the dragon-shaped profound crystal Yun Che had entrusted to him.