Against the Gods

Chapter 1450 - Arrival of the Devil Emperor (1)

The Brahma Heaven God Emperor’s question made a lot of sense to all those who were assembled here.

If the Eternal Heaven God Emperor truly knew the truth so long ago, why hadn’t he revealed it sooner so that they would have time to prepare and discuss countermeasures?

The person in question sighed once before replying, “It is because the truth will cause worldwide panic if even a bit of it is spread.”

This time, his reply caused even the god emperors to change their expressions drastically.

Yun Che withdrew himself from distraction and listened quietly to the speech. Only he and Mu Xuanyin knew the full weight behind the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s words.

“Please do not hold back, Eternal Heaven,” said the Dragon Monarch before sweeping a glance across the room. “Everyone here is the ruler of a realm. No one will here will leak a single word.”

(Yun Che: ???)

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor looked at the sky and started solemnly, “We will have to return to the Era of Gods to understand the truth of the crimson crack. At the time, the Era of Gods was already nearing its end, but it was still a very, very distant past compared to today.”

“Back then, the highest monarch of the god race and the leader of the Creation Gods, the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor had used the Ancestral Divine Art’s fragments to lure one of the four devil emperors of the devil race, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor to the eastmost area of the Primal Chaos. Then, he used the number one divine artifact, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, to cut open the wall of Primal Chaos and push the entire Heaven Smiting Devil Clan and her through the breach, effectively exiling them from the Primal Chaos…”

His words were like a loud gong that reached straight into the heart. The edges of the Conferred God Stage were completely sealed with a sound isolating barrier to prevent any sound from spreading to the outside.

Yun Che’s prediction was correct. Just like when the Ice Phoenix divine being had revealed to him the truth, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had begun his revelation from the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s exile.

After all, it was the true beginning of the terrible war between gods and devils and the root cause behind the crimson calamity!

This part of the history was recorded carefully in many ancient scriptures. There was not one person in this meeting who hadn’t heard about it. Although they didn’t know why the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had brought it up at this point in time, no one interrupted his storytelling.

“It is known that the driving force behind the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor’s action back then was his hatred for all things devilish, and his reluctance to allow a fragment of the Ancestral Divine Art to fall into the devil race’s hands. Although the method he used can potentially be seen as ‘despicable’, he was facing the monarch of the devils as the emperor of the gods. At that level of conflict, there were no methods that were truly unfair. That was why no one in the god race criticized him for his actions, and why the Creation God of the Elements was the only one who challenged him to a fight…”

Up to this point, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s narration still hadn’t escaped the boundaries of familiarity. However, his tone changed all of a sudden, “I’m sure everyone here has heard this piece of history a long time ago. However… it is a lie. Be it in the past or the present, this piece of public history is just a lie to cover up another truth.”

“A truth that only the Creation Gods and the Eternal Heaven Spirit knew during the ancient times.”

Everyone’s hearts were strung as high as a kite as this point.

If what the Eternal Heaven God Emperor was saying was true… then this secret was at such a scale that even most of the primordial gods themselves were lied to!

“The fuse that triggered the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor to employ such a method against the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and the furious challenge of the Creation God of the Elements can actually be traced back to a further point in time. A long time ago, the Creation God of the Elements and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had broken the highest taboo they could possibly break in both races—they had fallen in love with each other and consummated that love.”

Wa——

The revelation stunned everyone present.

“Back in that era, the god race and the devil race were two completely incompatible races no matter the time period. Their differences were so irreconcilable that they’d even fought all the way to the point of self-destruction. Considering that the Creation Gods and the Devil Emperors were the highest existences of their races… how on earth was this even possible?” asked the Blue Dragon Emperor.

She found the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s declaration hard to believe. Everyone else found it hard to believe as well.

“I know exactly how you feel,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor said, “and perhaps it would be even harder to believe back in that era. But it is the undeniable truth; a truth that involves the Creation Gods, and a truth that touches the taboo and rips it in half. This is why the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor made that shocking decision back then… a decision that left behind a number of consequences to this day that even he hadn’t predicted.”

“This is also why the Creation God of the Elements had given up his title of Creation God, called himself the Heretic God and shied away from the world.”

This was a terrible secret even in the ancient times, but right now it was being revealed in the Eternal Heaven General Assembly by the Eternal Heaven God Emperor himself. Even better, the one who told him the truth in the first place was none other than the Eternal Heaven Spirit!

The Eternal Heaven Pearl was the Creation God of Order’s Heavenly Profound Treasure. It was definitely qualified to know that shocking truth even during the ancient times.

“Even if this is all true, what does it have to do with the crimson crack we’re supposed to discuss today?” shouted Cang Shitian.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor shot him a glance before continuing, “Both races had declined massively during the latter stages of the war, and the one who dealt the final blow was ’Myriad Tribulations’, the world-destroying devilish poison unleashed by the unsealed Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.”

Myriad Tribulations was the name of the devilish poison that destroyed both the god race and the devil race. To this day, it was an infamous name that struck fear in everyone’s hearts.

“When Myriad Tribulations was unleashed, both gods and devils were locked down by the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations and prevented from escaping. However, there was one artifact that was free from its influence even in the face of Myriad Tribulations, and that is the Heavenly Profound Treasure, ‘World Piercer’!”

“According to the Eternal Heaven Spirit, the original master of the World Piercer was none other than the Creation God of the Elements… also known as the Heretic God at a later time.”

“However! The Heretic God didn’t manage to escape that world ending calamity. He too was ultimately poisoned and killed.”

“After the Era of Gods, a question had plagued the Eternal Heaven Spirit for the longest time: why did the Heretic God fail to escape Myriad Tribulations even though he possessed the World Piercer?”

“Four years ago, it finally had its answer… and it was the same answer as the reason behind the crimson crack’s appearance.”

The Southern Sea God Emperor’s eyes were tightly narrowed. Even he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “What is it?”

As the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s story grew increasingly stranger, everyone’s hearts became strung higher and higher as well.

Funnily enough, the calmest person among them all was Yun Che, the weakest profound practitioner of the group.

The Ice Phoenix divine being’s prediction was correct. As the crimson crack’s presence grew clearer and clearer, the Eternal Heaven Pearl was able to deduce that it belonged to the World Piercer. That was how it had arrived at that terrifying truth.

However, the Eternal Heaven Pearl didn’t know that the Heretic God had left behind an inheritance to the future. It definitely didn’t know that what happened to the Heretic God and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s daughter, or that “they” were still alive in this day and age, even if it might have caught wind of her existence in the past.

“The crimson crack at the easternmost wall of the Primal Chaos… is a product of the World Piercer’s power!”

Everyone looked confused when the bomb hit the ground. For a time, they weren’t sure how to react.

“The World Piercer is the strongest spatial artifact in the entire world. Its spatial power is far beyond our imagination. It is so powerful that the Eternal Heaven Spirit told me that the World Piercer might just be powerful enough to create a safe space outside the Primal Chaos—a safe space that could accommodate a number of living beings for an extended period of time.”

Finally, the realization was starting to sink into some people as their expressions abruptly changed drastically. Eyebrows curled into deep lines of shock, the Moon God Emperor rose to her feet and said, “Could it be… that…”

“Whew…” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor exhaled deeply before continuing, “The fact that the Heretic God failed to escape that world ending calamity mostly likely means that the World Piercer wasn’t on his person at the time.”

“The World Piercer is the Heavenly Profound Treasure with the strongest spatial divine power in the world. In a sense, it is also the world’s strongest talisman. Now, if the Heretic God wished to give away such an artifact, it could only be to the person he loved the most... Who could that possibly be?”

The answer immediately sprung into everyone’s mind like a devilish curse.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor continued, “Even now, the World Piercer’s aura is leaking in from the crimson crack… from outside of the Primal Chaos!”

“Why is the World Piercer outside of the Primal Chaos? Who brought it outside of the Primal Chaos?”

“Everything matches up with a terrible name. I only wish that it wasn’t the case.”

He paused for a moment before revealing the terrible answer, “The World Piercer… is with the Heaven… Smiting… Devil… Emperor!”

The air in the Conferred God Stage froze in an instant. Then, it started shaking to the point of collapsing.

“It can’t be… the person beyond the crimson crack… is the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor!?”

The exclamation of surprise came from the Brahma Heaven God Emperor himself! As the number one god emperor of the Eastern Divine Region, he actually almost choked on his own words.

It was as if he himself couldn’t believe what he was saying.

No one answered his question. Everyone was staring at the Eternal Heaven God Emperor in shock and waiting for his answer.

“The World Piercer’s power is incredibly rare even in the Primordial Era, and we are definitely lacking clear records in this day and age. However, the Eternal Heaven Spirit clearly told me that the World Piercer’s divine dimensional powers are as red as blood when fully activated!”

“Four years ago, the Eternal Heaven Spirit was still hoping for the best when it first observed the appearance of the crimson crack. But the World Piercer’s aura only grew clearer each day, leaving less and less room for optimism. For the past few years, profound beast riots have been happening without warning all across the Eastern Divine Region. Moreover, the disturbance has only been expanding and affecting stronger profound beasts every day. This influence isn’t a power that should exist in the current world at all!”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor swept a glance across every expert in the room. They were all rulers who dominated a corner of the world, but their eyes were painted with deep shock all the same… the same shock that he had felt when he heard the truth for the first time.

Unfortunately, he no longer had the choice not to unveil that terrible and cruel truth completely. “Back when the Heretic God was still the Creation God of the Elements, he gifted the World Piercer to the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor. Although the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her clan were exiled from the Primal Chaos, they managed to survive thanks to the World Piercer’s battle. Not only that, their exile was a blessing in disguise because they ultimately managed to avoid the war and the Myriad Tribulation calamity.”

“The only artifacts in the entire world that could break apart the Wall of Primal Chaos are the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. However, there is one other divine artifact that can interfere with the Wall of Primal Chaos, and that is the divine artifact with the strongest divine dimensional power in existence, the World Piercer!”

“After several million years, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her devil gods… are finally returning using the divine dimensional power of the World Piercer!”

Millions of years weren’t too long a period to True Gods and True Devils.

Everyone’s expressions had changed by this point. No one could say a word until a long time later.

Frankly speaking, the monarch and the two emperors of the Western Divine Region and the two god emperors of the Southern Divine Region didn’t really care about the crimson crack too much up to this point. After all, it was only happening in the Eastern Divine Region, and before today they thought that there was a chance that its influence might not spread to their territories. Right now though, everyone’s faces were shockingly heavy.

This was undoubtedly the worst news they had ever heard in their lives.

The worst part was that this truth had come from the Eastern Divine Region—no, from the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, the most moralistic and truthful person in the entire God Realm!

Silence. Terrible silence.

For a while, the only sounds that filled the grand meeting between Divine Masters were rapid heartbeats and deep breaths.

The Guardians beside the Eternal Heaven God Emperor looked just as shocked as everyone. It was because the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had kept this a secret even from them until today.

Everyone understood why the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had kept this secret to himself until the last minute.

If even they were panicking after hearing this truth, then… the chaos it would cause throughout the world was literally unimaginable.

The Dragon Monarch rose to his feet and asked solemnly, “How sure are you of your words today, Eternal Heaven?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor answered, “As the bearer of the will of Eternal Heaven, this old man he hasn’t dared to lie or embellish anything even once his life, much less about something this big. This old man… doesn’t think there is any room left for optimism.”

This time, the silence was even more terrible than before.

If everything was true, if an ancient devil emperor really was about to return to the world, then…

“Do we… have a countermeasure at the ready?” asked the Dragon Monarch.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor let out a long sigh as his eyes darkened unusually. Even his voice seemed to sink deeper, “If our enemy is a calamity like the Evil Infant, we could outsmart it even if we couldn’t beat it with the combined might of the entire world. Just the same, even natural disasters can be dealt with in some ways… but if a primordial devil emperor were to appear in the Primal Chaos, then there’s literally nothing in the world that can go up against it. Our tricks and schemes would be like child’s play in front of a devil emperor and true devils.”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s statement was only more cruel than the last. Everyone present understood what the power of True Gods meant… it was a mythical level that mortals like them couldn’t even touch, much less attain. That was how they knew that the Eternal Heaven God Emperor wasn’t exaggerating at all.

“The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her people were ambushed and exiled from the Primal Chaos for several million years. Even if they were kept safe by the World Piercer, the world they lived in must be a poor, deficient, and cruel one. When they return, they will be returning with several million years worth of hatred and grudges, without even considering their brutal and violent nature…”

“When the crimson crack collapses completely, when the devil gods return to the Primal Chaos, what awaits us… is the end of the world.”

Sorrow and despair… The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s words spread these emotions to everyone’s soul like a terrible plague.

Everyone who became Divine Masters had gradually forgotten what it meant to feel fear or despair. It was because they stood at the top of the food chain, and their power ruled the world and all the living things in it… that was the meaning behind the title “Divine Masters”.

So when they learned that a power that could easily annihilate them all was soon to arrive in this world, one might say that their shock and fear were even greater than a mortal’s.

The Moon God Emperor had been paying partial attention to Yun Che all this time. Surprisingly, his reaction was quite mild even though divine masters and god emperors were falling apart all around him. After a moment’s thought, she got up and asked, “Eternal Heaven God Emperor, you had been gathering the power of the Eastern Divine Region to build a grand transdimensional formation that leads to the eastmost area of the Primal Chaos. Today, you’ve gathered all of us here… you must have a plan in mind, don’t you?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor shook his head bitterly before answering, “What I’m doing is just the only struggle we can make, a gamble… on an infinitesimally small hope.”

“What hope are you speaking of?”

“My first hope,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor said, “is for the devil emperor and her devil gods to lose so much power after being forced to survive outside of the Primal Chaos for millions of years that we are just barely able to resist and stop them from destroying the world.”

This chances of this hope becoming true were so small that it shouldn’t even be mentioned in the first place.

“My second hope…” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s dark eyes finally lightened up a little. “Is for us to gather all of our power to seal off the crimson crack by force!”