Against the Gods

Nan Wansheng was feeling disturbed as of late.

When the Eastern Divine Region was invaded by the Northern Divine Region, he hadn’t paid it too much attention. In fact, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to steal a certain object of eternal life. Even after the devil people appeared out of nowhere and massacred the Eternal Heaven Realm, his danger sense was still mostly silent. He chose to use this tragedy to put extra pressure on the Brahma Monarch Realm instead.

After the Moon God Realm was annihilated out of nowhere, after the war across the Eastern Divine Region turned into a landslide when the truth was announced without warning… even he had no choice but to look away from his greatest desire for a moment.

The million-year long perception the Eastern Divine Region had of the devil people of the Northern Divine Region had been the crux behind their downfall. Now, even the Southern Sea God Emperor himself was starting to think that he had been too naive.

This was especially true after the truth was revealed, and he started hearing some undesirable news from the Southern Divine Region.

It was at this moment the Southern Hell Sea King and the Western Hell Sea King walked over to him and said, “They are here, my king.”

Very soon, six people wearing light gold robes entered his dwelling and knelt before Nan Wansheng. Every single one of them was so powerful they could be mistaken for a living god.

They were the Sea Gods. They were respected and feared by everyone in the Southern Sea Divine Region.

The Southern Sea God Realm was the strongest king realm of the Southern Divine Region. The Southern Sea God Emperor was served by the Four Kings of the Sea Gods—the Eastern Hell Sea King, the Western Hell Sea King, the Southern Hell Sea King and the Northern Hell Sea King—and sixteen Sea Gods.

Today, the Southern Sea God Emperor himself, two Sea Kings, and six Sea Gods had gathered in the Eastern Divine Region for a certain purpose.

Nan Wansheng rose to his feet and stared at the six Sea Gods who arrived at the “perfect” time. But not only did he not look happy, he ordered with a deeply concerned expression on his face, “We will be returning to the Southern Sea Realm right away!”

“... !?” All six Sea Gods looked up in astonishment.

They had rushed all the way here without sleep to carry out their ruler’s will, and the first order he gave them after they arrived was to head… home?

The Southern Hell Sea King and the Western Hell Sea King didn’t look too surprised, however. They had been here since the beginning, so they had heard everything that had happened in the Eastern Divine Region.

“I was too naive,” Nan Wansheng said solemnly. “I completely misjudged Yun Che and the Northern Divine Region.”

No one knew the Northern Divine Region’s strength better than they, the god emperors. Previously, Nan Wansheng thought that the Northern Divine Region was just venting their anger in a suicidal manner. He thought that they would be annihilated by the Eastern Divine Region for sure.

Despite being proven completely wrong later on, he still felt that the Eastern Divine Region wouldn’t go down before dealing a massive blow to the Northern Divine Region. If they dared to attack the Southern Divine Region in that state, then he would happily oblige their suicidal wish and destroy them.

If that was the only thing he was proven wrong about, it would’ve been fine. But every day, he had heard at least one piece of news that was beyond his expectations that frightened even him. From that moment, he knew that he had to revise his opinion of the Northern Divine Region, Yun Che...

…and the reason he was lured to the Brahma Monarch God Realm.

Eternal life was a lure that boiled his blood and maddened his soul, but there very well might be an endless abyss waiting for him beyond that lure.

“Let’s go!” Nan Wansheng ordered decisively. Not only would he not underestimate the Northern Divine Region anymore, he would muster the core forces of the four king realms as fast as possible and attack them immediately after he returned to the Southern Divine Region!

He would catch the Northern Divine Region off guard… just as they had caught the Eastern Divine Region off guard.

Suddenly, they sensed an unusual aura swiftly approaching them.

The Southern Hell Sea King glanced to the side and took off like a hawk. When he returned, he was accompanied by a new person.

The tenth Brahma King of the Brahma Monarch Realm, Qianye Zixiao.

“Oh? You are the tenth Brahma King, aren’t you?” The Southern Sea God Emperor shot the newcomer a look before narrowing his eyes. “Has your god emperor finally come to his senses? Are you here to invite me for tea? Although… you don’t seem to be doing too well.”

That was hardly an adequate description of Qianye Zixiao’s condition. Even a non-cultivator could see that his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were glowing an eerie green light.

A Brahma King’s aura should be as thick as a mountain, but Qianye Zixiao’s was flimsy and in chaos. His skin was also writhing unnaturally as if he was enduring a tremendous amount of pain.

Thump!

Qianye Zixiao suddenly dropped to his knees and crawled toward the Southern Sea God Emperor. Everyone was shocked by his sudden display of humility.

“Southern Sea God Emperor… save me… save me!”

Fear, desire, humility… he looked like a dying man who was trying to grasp onto a last straw of hope.

Without knowing the person himself, no one would believe that this was coming from a Brahma King even if they saw and heard him with their own eyes!

“Hmm?” Nan Wansheng stared at Qianye Zixiao with pin-sized pupils.

He was the strongest god emperor of the Southern Divine Region, and he had the observation skills to match it. The fear and despair ravaging Qianye Zixiao didn’t look fake in the slightest. On the contrary, it looked like he had been this way for a very long time.

He suddenly stretched out and sent a wisp of energy toward Qianye Zixiao. The latter didn’t resist in the slightest.

Just as Nan Wansheng’s consciousness was about to invade Qianye Zixiao’s body, he suddenly stumbled backward in an almost comical manner.

“My king!?” Nan Wansheng’s reaction shocked both the two Sea Kings and the six Sea Gods.

Nan Wansheng stared fixedly at Qianye Zixiao before growling, “What is this poison!?”

He had sensed a terrifying devil that threatened to devour him forever just before his consciousness would enter Qianye Zixiao’s body. It turned his blood ice cold and made him pull away before he even touched the poisonous aura.

At the same time, he figured out the answer to his own question. There was only one possibility.

Everyone in the God Realm knew that the Southern Sea God Realm possessed the deadliest devilish poison in the world, the Absolute God Slaying Poison.

The poison afflicting Qianye Zixiao right now was far worse than the Absolute God Slaying Poison. It was so terrible that it could drive a powerful Brahma King to the depths of despair!

It could only be the same poison that drove Qianye Fantian to a dead end years ago! The poison of the Sky Poison Pearl!

“It’s Yun Che! It’s the Sky Poison Pearl!” Qianye Zixiao shouted in a trembling voice. The reason he forewent even his pride was because Nan Wansheng was his last hope. In a sense, there was nothing more convincing than his shameful display of submission. “The Brahma Heaven God Emperor, the Brahma Kings, the elders, the divine envoys… everyone in the capital was poisoned by it…”

It was a huge shock to Nan Wansheng and his people.

The Brahma Monarch Capital, the core of the Brahma Monarch God Realm and even the Brahma Kings and the Brahma Heaven God Emperor himself were infected with the Sky Poison!?

If this was true, and if the Sky Poison was incurable by anything but the Sky Poison Pearl… did this mean that the Brahma Monarch God Realm might be wiped off of the Primal Chaos!?

The Sea Kings and Sea Gods exchanged terrified glances with each other.

King realms seldom warred against each other because any damage dealt to an opponent usually came at great cost to themselves.

Even if the grievance between two opposing king realms was as deep as the sea, no one except the completely insane would stake hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation on a war to the death.

It was why plenty of king realms had risen to power, but none had ever been destroyed for the last million years or so… what the Devil Queen did to the Clear Sky God Realm was basically the worst the king realms had ever seen.

After Yun Che bared his fangs at the world, the Eternal Heaven Realm was massacred, the Moon God Realm was annihilated, and the Brahma Monarch Realm’s core was currently suffering from an incurable poison...

“Scary” was hardly an adequate adjective to describe these tragedies.

The Southern Sea God Emperor stared at Qianye Zixiao coldly for a moment before sneering. “The Sky Poison most likely can only be cured by the Sky Poison Pearl, so why have you come to me instead of Yun Che?”

“No!” Qianye Zixiao shouted hoarsely, “Yun Che is just a bloodthirsty devil right now! He cannot be trusted at all! He is a man who would break his oath to the Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor right in front of the entire world!”

“He gave us a week to consider our options when he poisoned us, but… knowing what happened to the Eternal Heaven Realm, there’s no way he’ll cure even if we bend our knees for him. He would only use this opportunity to humiliate us to his heart’s content!”

“Heh.” Nan Wansheng let out a chuckle. “At least you haven’t lost your mind yet.”

“Southern Sea God Emperor…” Qianye Zixiao crawled toward Nan Wansheng again. “You are the only one who can save me now! The Southern Sea Divine Pearl is the greatest evil banishing artifact in the current world, an artifact that could cure even the Absolute God Slaying Poison! Knowing that, it might just be able to cure me of the Sky Poison as well!”

“Even if it can’t… it should be able to purify it to the extent it is manageable.”

“Ridiculous!” Nan Wangsheng sneered disdainfully. “Do you know how precious the spirit energy of the Southern Sea Divine Pearl is? Even if it could purify the Sky Poison, why would I ever use it on you?”

Qianye Zixiao said immediately, “I could help you get…”

He paused for a moment to sweep the Sea Kings and Sea Gods a glance before lowering his voice, “I could help you get what you want!”

“Oh?” The Southern Sea God Emperor narrowed his eyes and waited for Qianye Zixiao to continue.

The tenth Brahma King explained, “Everyone in the capital is poisoned right now, so if I open the barrier for you, you should be able to grab what you want with ease! I promise you that there’s no way they can resist at all in their current state.”

“Hehe…” The Southern Sea God Emperor chuckled quietly. “Tenth Brahma King, your acting skills are quite shoddy. Am I supposed to believe that a Brahma King of the strongest king realm of the Eastern Divine Region is a man who would sell out their own master? Do you think me a fool!?”

Instead of panicking, Qianye Zixiao looked the Southern Sea God Emperor directly in the eyes and said, “Loyalty is important, but it shouldn’t be more important than one’s life! Right now, I’m just doing what an intelligent man would do to survive!”

“If you still refuse to believe me…” Qianye Zixiao gritted his teeth for a moment before saying, “Feel free to read my most recent memories. I, Qianye Zixiao… will not resist.”

The Sea Kings, Sea Gods, and even the Southern Sea God Emperor himself looked stunned by the offer.

It was always a bad idea to allow another person to inject their soul energy into your soul. If they wished you any harm at all, the consequences were unimaginable.

There was no way Qianye Zixiao would allow this unless he truly had no other choice.

“Why not!” Nan Wansheng had no reason to disagree, so he grabbed the top of Qianye Zixiao’s head immediately.

Qianye Zixiao gritted his teeth and trembled all over, but he didn’t resist as he had promised earlier. He allowed Nan Wansheng’s soul energy to enter right into his soul.

A while later, Nan Wansheng removed his hand from the Brahma King’s head. He wore a strange expression on his face.

“My king?” The Western Hell Sea King took a step forward.

“He did not lie,” Nan Wansheng muttered. “Right now, the Brahma Monarch Capital… heh heh, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a hell where only despair exists.”

He was shocked, tempted, and absolutely terrified by what he gleaned when he said this.

Had this Sky Poison erupted in the Southern Sea God Realm, it could turn it into a poisonous hell in one night as well.

“Seven days… no, we have less than six days left,” Qianye Zixiao said while struggling to keep awake. It was a strain that happened to anyone after their soul was invaded. “When that happens, Yun Che will appear, and ‘it’ will fall into his hands.”

“Actually, I’d like to correct myself… the Brahma Heaven God Emperor might very well present it to Yun Che very soon in order to survive. If you wish to obtain it, you better act as soon as you can.”

The Southern Sea God Emperor stared at Qianye Zixiao for a moment before breaking into a gentle smile. “Tenth Brahma King, you truly are the smartest person of all the Brahma Kings. The world would be a smarter place if only more people were able to figure out the situation quickly, and make the best decisions, in the shortest amount of time like you.”

He slowly opened his palm and revealed a shining golden pearl. Its purifying aura instantly enveloped the space they were in.

It was the Southern Sea Divine Pearl! According to rumors, this ancient pearl possessed the strongest purifying energy in the world. It was also said that it could cure even the Absolute God Slaying Poison… although whether it was true remained to be seen.

Qianye Zixiao looked up the second he smelled the Southern Sea Divine Pearl’s purifying energy. His eyes positively glowed with desire as he stared at the pearl like a drowning man who saw his last straw of hope.

“You will return to the Brahma Monarch Capital now and unlock the barrier right away!”

Although he had just searched Qianye Zixiao’s memories, Nan Wansheng still acted with great caution… he wouldn’t believe the man fully until he saw him unlocking the Brahma Monarch Capital’s barrier with his own eyes.

“Whether or not I am able to get what I want, I promise to purify the Sky Poison with the Southern Sea Divine Pearl once you have fulfilled your end to the promise!”

“I am a man of my word, so you have nothing to be afraid of. Although…” He smiled darkly. “It’s not like you have another choice!”

Qianye Zixiao looked up determinedly and declared, “I do not look back or regret the decisions I make!”

He immediately spun around and flew toward the Brahma Monarch God Realm after saying that.

“Follow him!”

The knowledge that the “artifact of eternal life” was suddenly just inches away from his grasp had extinguished his earlier decision to return completely. He, the two Sea Kings and the six Sea Gods immediately took off after Qianye Zixiao.

…………

Yun Che was standing above the Brahma Monarch Capital, concealed. No one noticed him at all.

A long time later, the powerful barrier enveloping the entire Brahma Monarch Capital suddenly turned off on its own. Only a person with the Brahma Monarch divine power could do this.

At the same time, the auras of the Southern Sea profound practitioners appeared in the distance.

Yun Che narrowed his eyes and smiled darkly.

“A nest of poisoned dogs and a pack of greedy dogs. I wonder who will come out victorious in the end?”