Against the Gods

Dreamweaver Kingdom of God, Divine Son Palace.

This was the first time Hua Fuchen set foot in this place. Beside him was a beaming Meng Kongchan.

“See, brother-in-law? The heavens as my witness, I have never mistreated your son-in-law even a little.”

Hua Fuchen side-eyed him and said huffily, “As expected of the Dreamless Divine Regent. It’s not everyday someone tries to fish for a compliment by pampering their own son. The thickness of your face is truly unparalleled.”

“What are you talking about?! A son-in-law counts as half a son, so if you really think about it, I’m pampering your son. In that case, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to fish for a compliment, right?”

“Hardy har har!” Hua Fuchen laughed dryly. He noticed this a while ago, but Meng Kongchan’s attitude toward him had changed completely ever since he regained “Meng Jianyuan”. The guy was beaming all day everyday to the point where you couldn’t see his eyes.

When Meng Kongchan was younger, he had sucked up to him like crazy because he wanted to court Hua Qingying. After they became Divine Regents, Hua Caili a.k.a his daughter turned out to be the miracle daughter with perfect divine essence, whereas Meng Kongchan wasn’t able to produce a qualified Godbearer for ten thousand years. Naturally, the man felt shorter than his peers regardless of their relationship.

It was different now. He, the Dreamless Divine Regent, now had two Divine Sons in the same generation. One of them boasted perfect divine essence as well. As if that wasn’t enough, Hua Fuchen’s daughter was absolutely head over heels over Yun Che…

His back had been bent before Hua Fuchen for half a lifetime, but now, it was so straight it could pierce the heavens.

Such was Meng Kongchan’s attitude that Hua Fuchen could practically imagine how the guy was going to boast the crap out of his son in front of the other Divine Regents.

They stepped into the palace, and Meng Kongchan asked smilingly, “Is Yuan’er present?”

Meng Zhiyuan hurriedly strode up to him and saluted him. “Divine Regent! The young master is cultivating right now. We don’t know when he’s going to return.”

“Cultivate?” Hua Fuchen shot Meng Zhiyuan one look and looked visibly annoyed. “I wonder, considering how pretty his female attendants seem to be! Tell me the truth, he’s busy sowing the seeds of the Meng Clan, isn’t he?”

“Brother Fuchen!” Meng Kongchan immediately defended Yun Che. “I understand your scepticism, but that is pure slander! Every single attendant in this palace has been assigned by yours truly, and I can assure you that Yuan’er has never laid a single finger on them. Seriously, I would love it if my dear son chose to grow the Meng Clan, but alas, no!”

Meng Zhiyuan was an intelligent woman. She immediately got the hint and said meekly, “Young master is noble and dignified, but he is also extremely hardworking. He spends over ninety percent of his time inside his cultivation space.”

“This female attendant became young master’s for life from the moment I set foot in the Divine Son Palace. Young master treats us all very well, and he has never even raised his voice against us, much less bullied us.”

“If there is one thing we are aggrieved with him about, it’s the fact that he refuses to allow us to… get close to him. Not even a little. The most we’ve ever done for him is to dress him, and even that only happens once in a while.”

Near the end, her voice was tinged with barely concealed disappointment.

The ugly expression on Hua Fuchen’s face disappeared in an instant. He then looked left and right pretending that he wasn’t concerned one bit.

Meng Kongchan sighed quietly. “I’ve tried speaking with Yuan’er about this multiple times, and I’ve told him that he didn’t need to push himself so hard. He listens to me about everything except this one, and his reason…”

He cast Hua Fuchen a long look. He didn’t say anything, but the picture was worth more than a thousand words.

“Come,” Meng Kongchan grabbed Hua Fuchen’s arm and dragged him toward Yun Che’s cultivation space, “I’ll call the boy.”

Hua Fuchen turned him down. “It’s fine. I came here today only because I was passing through. There is no real need for us to meet, and who knows, maybe he’s at a critical point in his cultivation. I wouldn’t want to disturb him.”

“Hahahaha!” Meng Kongchan guffawed instantly. “See?! You keep saying you don’t care, but your love for your son-in-law is practically etched on your face!”

Hua Fuchen sneered. “You shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. There is still a chance he might not become my son-in-law.”

“I refuse! One way or another, Jianyuan will become your son-in-law, and your daughter will become my daughter-in-law!” Meng Kongchan declared firmly. “I won’t accept anyone else! Even if there are more in the future, they’ll never be anything but Jianyuan’s concubines to me!”

“Oh right, speaking of which, how is my daughter-in-law doing? Is she making good progress?”

Hua Fuchen rolled his eyes at Meng Kongchan and just barely resisted the urge to slap him in the face. He declared with a tinge of pride, “Caili has, in fact, defeated the Seven Star Heaven Breaker Formation half a year ago. The reason she hasn’t emerged yet is because Qingying has added an eighth star formation for her to overcome.”

Meng Kongchan was silent for a brief moment before he laughed even louder than before. “HA HA HA HA! As expected of my daughter-in-law, my worthy—”

Hua Fuchen elbowed him in the arm. “Shut your trap! The Pure Land Meet is still on the horizon, and we have made exactly zero progress with Old Dian! Keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you!”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say, brother-in-law. By the way, how is Qingying—”

“Don’t ask me. Ask her yourself if you dare!”

As the two Divine Regents stepped away, Meng Zhiyuan could only stare at their backs with her imagination running wild.

……

At the same time, deep within the Endless Fog.

Pitch black Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity was illuminating Yun Che’s face. Again and again, he gathered abyssal dust in his palm and pressed it to the flame. However, he just could not produce the reaction he was expecting.

He had performed similar tests countless times at this point. His affinity and mastery of abyssal dust had been growing day by day. His knowledge of abyssal dust was growing by leaps and bounds as well. Then, one day, he suddenly had this vague sensation that he could apply abyssal dust for his own benefit.

This feeling was only growing clearer as time passed, but no matter how hard he worked, no matter how many times he experimented, it was as if a door was blocking his way. He just could not cross over the threshold no matter what.

The Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity disappeared, and he slowly closed his eyes. He held a crimson flame on one hand, and blue ice on the other. With just a bit of concentration, he was able to perform an impossible combination and merge them into an ice flame.

When he tried to do the same with abyssal dust, nothing happened. The transcendent element simply passed through the ice flame and elicited no reaction whatsoever.

The ice flame disappeared, and Yun Che let out a huge sigh of exertion. He was covered in sweat.

“What… am I missing?”

He asked himself quietly.

“Am I lacking in cultivation… or am I lacking in comprehension regarding the Laws of Nothingness?”

Li Suo’s voice came from within his soul sea. “This is the thirty thousandth time you’ve performed the experiment. When are you going to give up?”

“There is no reason to,” Yun Che whispered. “In essence, abyssal dust is the transcendent power of extinction. I am just controlling it, and I can already cause such havoc and annihilate countless beliefs. If I can draw out its power of extinction as well, then perhaps… No, I will certainly gain the power to kill a god!”

Li Suo replied, “You said it yourself. How can obtaining the power to kill a god be easy?”

“Besides even if you can draw out the power of extinction within abyssal dust, at your current cultivation and physique, you would kill yourself first before you kill a god.”

Yun Che did not refute her. He knew she was right. However, the feeling that he could make contact with the primal power of extinction was growing clearer and clearer.

It originated from his invisible comprehension of the Laws of Nothingness. Although he could never capture it for real, that feeling had never lied to him.

Boom!

He activated Hell Monarch and ignited the Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity once more. Then, he blasted it at the abyssal dust in his left hand.

The devilish flame exploded, and the ball of abyssal dust scattered. Then, Yun Che withdrew his energies completely.

After one last attempt that was more an outburst of frustration than true experimentation, Yun Che climbed to his feet, surrounded himself in abyssal dust, and walked toward the inner depths of the Endless Fog.

The Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity that hit the ground continued to burn violently. It would continue to burn for a long time before it finally began to diminish.

No one noticed that a speck of grayish flame—so small it was barely a spark—had appeared within the pitch black flames.

As soon as the grayish flames appeared, it immediately plummeted toward the ground and cut the terrifying Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity in half. The cut was impossibly even and perfect, and the two smaller flames did not rejoin into one for a very, very long time.

No one noticed that the gray spark that hit the ground was melting through the impossibly tough substance like it was snow either. It would continue to plummet downward at an insane speed for heavens-know-how-long before it finally, inevitably, disappeared.

……

Pan Buwang was completely surrounded in darkness. His aura remained so faint that it was almost undetectable despite the heavy interference originating from the thick abyssal dust around him.

It meant that his compatibility with dark profound energy was becoming more and more perfect.

The Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God was the one and only Kingdom of God that practiced dark profound energy. The Pan Clan especially represented the pinnacle of dark profound energy in the Abyss. Therefore, as far as the Pan Clan was aware, it was an immutable fact that dark profound energy was violent and difficult to control.

Only by becoming a Divine Regent could one realize near perfect mastery over dark profound energy.

Oddly, the dark profound energy surrounding Pan Buwang’s person was unbelievably tame. In fact, the last time he lost control and suffered a backlash was over a year ago. Even then, that was an incredibly minor backlash that he easily controlled.

This was a kind of affinity that only the Owl Butterfly Divine Regents had enjoyed, and it was all thanks… to his master, the Fog Monarch.

As soon as Pan Buwang sensed the Fog Monarch’s approach, he immediately dispelled his cloak of darkness and dropped to his knees. He said respectfully, “Disciple Buwang greets his master.”

His reverence, gratitude, and admiration toward the Fog Monarch all came from the bottom of his heart.

“Remove your profound energy. All of it,” the Fog Monarch ordered in a tone that would not accept no as an answer.

“As you command!”

Pan Buwang did not resist. The black fog surrounding him quickly disappeared. Even his natural protective profound energy was fully withdrawn.

The abyssal fog twisted, and what looked like an arm lifted into the air. The next moment, a tremendous power dropped the defenseless Pan Buwang to the ground.

Despite this, Pan Buwang did not try to resist. He had raised his protective profound energy instinctively, but he quickly withdrew it all once more.

He felt his master approaching as he lay on the ground. He neither lifted his head nor said a word, much less resisted.

Abyssal dust enveloped him and began eating away at his life force at a rapid pace. A hand that seemed to be devoid of temperature touched him on his back where his heart was, and both his flesh and his bones abruptly exploded. He felt a power tearing through his body and piercing his profound veins without mercy.

Pan Buwang clenched his teeth in pain, but he did not let out a single cry, much less make a break for it.

Any other profound practitioner would be terrified to their core and fight back with all their might if their profound veins were pierced like this. After all, one thought was all their tormentor needed to destroy their profound veins. Best case scenario, they would lose a portion of their profound veins forever. Worst case scenario… they would live their whole life as a cripple.

Pan Buwang’s teeth were chattering from severe pain and instinctive terror, but still he did not resist. No sound came from his mouth at all.

He was a man with a clear distinction of love and hate. Everything he had today was thanks to the Fog Monarch, so he had no regrets even if the Fog Monarch were to take it all away; including his life.

Bang! Bang! Bang—

Repeated explosions accompanied by soul-tearing pain erupted from his body and profound veins. He could clearly feel holes being ripped open inside his body.

Finally, the pain exceeded his limit of endurance, and he let out a raspy groan. As if on cue, he was tossed away like a burst blood bag.

Pan Buwang lay on the ground and panted heavily. He was sweating so much it looked like it was raining.

The Fog Monarch said coldly, “I’ve unlocked your final divine essence by force. You are now a ‘miracle child’ with ‘perfect divine essence’ in the eyes of the masses.”

Pan Buwang abruptly stopped shaking and looked up. He had gone through so much that he rarely showed emotion anymore, but right here and now, he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed. He just could not believe what he was hearing.

It was because “perfect divine essence” was an exceedingly rare occurrence even in the long, long history of the Abyss. It was to the point where it was described as a miracle every time it appeared.

As the former Owl Butterfly Divine son, his natural talent was among the best of the best as a matter of course. However, not even he dared to dream of obtaining such a miracle.

When he circulated his profound energy though, he could clearly sense the special profound entrance that had appeared in his profound veins… it was without a doubt the profound entrance the Kingdoms of God called the tenth divine essence!

“…” He stared at the twisting gray eyes in the abyssal fog for heavens-know-how-long. Finally, he jolted back to reality, struggled to his feet, and kowtowed heavily to the Fog Monarch. “Disciple Buwang thanks his master once more.”

He was sure that the Fog Monarch was a human… but the more he knew him, the less he could imagine what kind of human he was.

The difference between one extra divine essence and not was almost a chasm that could not be overcome for any Divine Son or Daughter. One could even say that it directly impacted a Kingdom of God’s reputation in the next generation.

After all, a Kingdom of God could toss away a Divine Child they had invested countless time and resources in without any hesitation if a Divine Child with better divine essence were to appear. They would simply cut off their losses and invest in the newer, better Divine Child.

Amazingly, the Fog Monarch… could unlock divine essence by force!

In the beginning, he had forcefully made him a ninety percent divine essence Godbearer. Today, he had unlocked the last portion of his divine essence and made him a perfect Godbearer.

This was something not even the unparalleled Pure Land could do.

Who… Who on earth is my master…

Why is he helping me to this extent… Why is he giving me such special treatment…

In reality, Yun Che could not do this for every profound practitioner. It was strictly limited to dark profound practitioners only. Besides that, he could only do it after increasing the compatibility between one’s body, profound veins and dark profound energy to a certain extent.

As the master of the Laws of Nothingness and Eternal Calamity of Darkness, he was the true overlord of darkness. That was why he could master any body of darkness to the maximum degree.

“The key figures of the six Kingdoms of God will gather at the Pure Land in another month. Tell me, Pan Buwang. What are you going to do when the time comes?”

Pan Buwang slowly raised his head and declared confidently, “I will crush Pan Buzhuo, make Father regret his choice, and take back my title in the most unquestionable fashion!”

“Is that all?” The Fog Monarch asked, “Even if you retake your title, when will you finally gain the power necessary to claim vengeance?”

Pan Buwang bowed his head deeply. “Please teach me, master.”

The Fog Monarch lifted his hand. The world immediately plunged into lightless darkness.

“This monarch wants you to temporarily set aside your disappointment and hatred toward your father. Instead, you will be fighting for the honor of the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God. You will show the entire world that you, Pan Buwang, are more worthy of becoming the Owl Butterfly Divine Son than Pan Buzhuo. You will astound the entire world by showing them that you are a living dark miracle of the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God!”

“Remember, Buwang, the most convenient emotion to exploit in this world isn’t regret, but guilt and shame!”

“The bigger the guilt and shame you can inflict in your father, the more you’ll be able to master your own fate, and sooner you’ll be able to thrust your spear of vengeance at Shenwu Yanye!”

The Fog Monarch was no longer just a master to Pan Buwang. He hadn’t been since a long time ago. No, he was a god who surpassed even the Abyssal Monarch Himself.

So, Pan Buwang engraved every word onto his heart and said, “I have memorized every word you speak, master!”

“Very good,” Fog Monarch praised in a cold voice. “You are a smart man. I’m sure you’ll know what to do.”

“For the next seven days, you will halt your cultivation and focus solely on recovering. Seven days from now, you will leave the Endless Fog and enter the Pure Land. However, you are not to enter the Pure Land through the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God. As for how, you are going to do this…”

He paused for a moment, and Pan Buwang replied resolutely, “Don’t worry, master. If I can’t even accomplish such a small task, then how can I call myself your disciple?”

“No,” The Fog Monarch said slowly, “I want you to enter the Pure Land through the Star and Moon Kingdom of God—one way or another!”

Pan Buwang was caught off guard, but he didn’t ask unnecessary questions. He simply replied resolutely, “As you command!”

The Fog Monarch raised his hand and dropped a couple shiny mutated abyssal crystals in front of Pan Buwang. They were all glowing with a dark light.

“Darkness erodes the heart. Not even your Father is completely immune to them. How you will exploit these resources depends solely on you.”

The Fog Monarch’s voice faded. It wasn’t long before it disappeared completely into darkness.

Pan Buwang reached out and carefully picked up the mutated abyssal crystals. Then, his hands clenched into fists.

Wuqing… wait for me…

Whether you’re still alive or in the afterlife, wait for me…

Even if all my efforts amounted to no more than an instance of tragedy, I still will not allow our lives to be dyed only by helplessness and dismay…

As for what price I have to pay to see this done…

It no longer mattered from the moment I heard of your death!