Against the Gods

The God Realm was unsuitable for Xia Yuanba right now, not to mention that the devil gods were soon to return. There were simply too many unpredictable factors in the current situation that prevented it from being a good idea.

He supposed that two years… was a passable promise for now.

Not long after Xia Yuanba had left, another person called out to him from afar while running towards him, “Long time no see, Brother Yun! It’s so hard to arrange a meeting with you these days.”

The person who came was a smart-looking, handsome, and steadfast young man. He was none other than the young patriarch of the Su Family, Su Zhizhan.

Back in the days when he was fighting Duke Hai’s forces, Su Zhizhan had fought alongside Yun Che. He was one of Yun Che’s best friends among the younger generation of the Twelve Guardian Families.

“Brother Zhizhan, even you came?” Yun Che wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at the situation.

“Haha.” Su Zhizhan dropped down from the sky with a loud laugh before saying, “There wouldn’t be you without Senior Xiao, Big Brother Yun. This also means that Senior Xiao is a benefactor to the entire Illusory Demon Realm. How can I not attend his birthday as a guardian of the royal family?”

Yun Che looked him up and down once before saying, “It looks like you’re here for more than just congratulating my grandfather, am I right?”

“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you, Brother Yun,” Su Zhizhan said before his smile turned somewhat reserved, “I heard that your daughter is turning fifteen in just a few months’ time, and reaching the marriageable age in just a dozen or so months.”

Yun Che, “...”

“My son, Hanlou has just reached eighteen, and his talent is unrivaled in the entire Illusory Demon Realm. He’s destined to become the patriarch of the Su Family, so the family is extremely concerned about his future marriage. So far, no one besides your daughter has caught the eye of my grandfather and father, so…”

“The Su Family wishes to marry my daughter and join the Yun Family?” Yun Che said calmly. His face was completely expressionless.

“That is exactly right.” Su Zhizhan nodded. He and Yun Che were congenial buddies, and the Yun Family and the Su Family were on the same side and well-matched in terms of social status. While another person might not have the confidence to propose a marriage to Yun Che, the Su Family didn’t have such problems.

“Mm…” Yun Che nodded once before pointing a finger behind Su Zhizhan. Then, he enunciated slowly, “Get… out!!”

“I…” Su Zhizhan had thought that Yun Che would turn him down gently, but he never imagined that he would react this fiercely. He was just about to say something when he sensed a chilly killing intent from Yun Che!

Yun Che’s killing intent was unlike any other. It caused the fearless Su Zhizhan to shrink a little as he said tremblingly, “In… in that case, we can speak about this again in the future.”

“Speak your ass, get out of my sight right now!!” Yun Che growled.

“...I’ll go see Senior Xiao then.”

Su Zhizhan took a step backwards while cold sweat covered him.

“Wait.” Yun Che suddenly called out to him. At first, Su Zhizhan thought that Yun Che had suddenly changed his mind, but then the latter said slowly, “Please tell everyone in Demon Imperial City that I will personally break the leg of anyone who dares to propose marriage to my daughter again!”

“~！@#￥%…” Su Zhizhan ran like the wind after hearing that.

“Pff…”

There was a giggle before Xiao Lingxi walked up to Yun Che and said, “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little? You and Young Master Su are good friends after all.”

“Hmph! If it wasn’t for our friendship I would’ve broken his leg already. How dare he set his eyes on my daughter,” Yun Che uttered through gritted teeth as if someone had touched his reverse scale.

“Technically, the Su Family and the Yun Family are the most well-matched in terms of social status in Demon Imperial City,” said Xiao Lingxi, which was true. On the Blue Pole Star, the Su Family was one of the very few families that was worthy of Yun Wuxin.

“Well deserved my ass! He thinks his little brat is deserving of my daughter? Dream on!” Yun Che harrumphed coldly.

Wuxin had just returned to his side for a couple of years, and someone wanted to take her away from him? Although nothing of the sort was happening at all, the mere thought lit a nameless fire in his stomach.

Xiao Lingxi covered her mouth again when she saw Yun Che fuming with rage.

“It’s not just me. I’m sure Yuechan and my parents wouldn’t agree to it either,” said Yun Che unhappily. He looked at Xiao Lingxi, and suddenly his eyes grew focused. Then, he glanced to the side and sent a sound transmission, “Slave Ying, you will move two hundred and fifty kilometers away from here, and you’re forbidden from probing within the Xiao Clan’s vicinity.”

Qianye Ying’er immediately obeyed his order and went away.

“Lingxi, let me show you something.”

He grabbed Xiao Lingxi’s hand and brought her into a room. After putting down an isolation barrier, he took out the stone tablet he acquired from Qianye Ying’er.

It was the stone tablet imprinted with the World-Defying Heaven Manual!

The moment the stone tablet emerged, it started glowing silver before Yun Che had even injected any profound energy into it.

In fact, it was glowing several times brighter and fiercer than the time Qianye Ying’er had injected it with her own profound energy.

Yun Che was slightly caught off guard by the unexpected reaction. The silver glow surrounding the stone tablet floated up into the air before spreading out into a passage of strange-looking words.

“...” For a long time, Yun Che couldn’t say anything. He was barely able to rein in his emotions.

Back then, he hadn’t been able to incite any reaction from the mysterious black jade he had acquired from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. However, it had reacted intensely when Xiao Lingxi was near, glowed and manifested a passage of strange-looking words in the air.

This stone tablet was the same too!

What on earth was going on here!?

Since Xiao Lingxi’s gaze was attracted by the strange-looking words, she didn’t notice Yun Che’s reaction. Her lips parted as she whispered, “It’s that strange text again… Little Che, do you know what they are now?”

“Mn.” Yun Che nodded. “This text is called the Divine Text of Absolute Beginning. Does the name mean anything to you?”

“Divine Text of Absolute Beginning?” Xiao Lingxi shook her head and replied very confidently, “No, I’ve never heard of it before. But it sounds like a very ancient text.”

She looked at Yun Che and asked expectantly, “Little Che, you must know why I recognize these words if you know its name, right?”

“It’s very simple.” Yun Che smiled and said, “Just like what I told you before, this text has a mind of its own because it’s known as a ‘divine text’. This means that the text only reveals its content to the people it chooses, which happens to be you in this case.”

“I see,” Xiao Lingxi muttered to herself as the doubt in her mind was washed away. Yun Che had gone to the God Realm and seen the wider world with his own two eyes, so it was only natural that he would be privy to a lot of things that she didn’t know or understand. Although his explanation was a little abstruse and hard to believe, she didn’t doubt Yun Che’s words in the slightest.

Yun Che wore a bright smile and a pair of calm eyes when he gave his explanation, but on the inside his heartbeat was actually off the charts.

The Ancestral Divine Art “World-Defying Heaven Manual” inscribed using the Divine Text of Absolute Beginning was only legible to the four great Creation Gods and the four great Devil Emperors. This was a fact spoken by Jie Yuan herself, not a mere record in the God Realm.

Even a peak existence like Qianye Ying’er with the Brahma Monarch God Realm at her behest wasn’t able to decipher the stone tablet in the slightest.

So why… was Xiao Lingxi able to recognize the Divine Text of Absolute Beginning!?

Was she the reincarnation of a Creation God or Devil Emperor!?

However, the ancient records of the God Realm clearly stated that both the god race and the devil race had perished utterly both in body and soul. That was why it was impossible for them to have entered the cycle of reincarnation, which was supported by the fact that no such stories had ever been circulated in the God Realm.

Jie Yuan herself had never tried to seek out the reincarnation of the Heretic God. This meant that such a thing simply didn’t exist to her knowledge.

Besides, even if reincarnation did exist, there was still no way they would be able to retain their former minds.

Yun Che’s explanation to Xiao Lingxi was meant to wash away any unnecessary doubt and worry in her mind… and his own.

Maybe Lingxi really is just chosen by the Divine Text of Absolute Beginning… That has to be it...

“Little Che, do you want me to read it to you?” Xiao Lingxi’s voice suddenly cut through the haze of confusion in Yun Che.

“Ah… sure.” Yun Che nodded.

He would be lying if he claimed that he was not interested in the Ancestral Divine Art, an art that not even the Creation Gods or the Devil Emperors had ever come into contact with.

Moreover, he had never truly forgotten that one time he suddenly entered the realm of nothingness after he was reborn as a cripple.

Xiao Lingxi let out a cry of agreement before looking above her. Then, she started reading, “Earth doesn’t slow, Heaven births life; the weight of the will, the distress of emotions; dream isn’t a dream, dream is a dream; not all that is hazy is real…”

Yun Che listened quietly as Xiao Lingxi read out the words. He didn’t recognize the text floating in the air at all, and he didn’t understand a single word of what Xiao Lingxi was reading to him. Just like last time, it meant absolutely nothing to him.

However, as time passed Xiao Lingxi’s voice grew more and more further away from him. The words grew longer and more fleeting…

He subconsciously closed his eyes. He still couldn’t understand a single word of the words beside his ears, but before he knew it a new, strange world had opened up around him soundlessly.

There was absolutely nothing in this world. No sound, no light, no aura...

He couldn’t even detect his own presence.

Paradoxically, it was the most realistic “void” he had ever felt in his life.

This wasn’t the first time he entered this strange world of nothingness. His mind had once sunk into this world while he was still powerless… It was a kind of bizarre enlightenment that he somehow entered despite having no profound energy whatsoever, and yet he didn’t actually obtain anything from it at all. Neither his mental nor his physical state had changed after he had exited the state of enlightenment.

That was how he felt at least.

An ephemeral figure suddenly appeared in the world.

It was a woman who looked as transient as a dream, and it was the same person who had shown up in this world last time. She seemed to be looking at Yun Che as her voice resounded inside his mental world:

“You are here. This means that you’ve connected with the laws of nothingness at an even deeper level.”

“...” Yun Che couldn’t make any sound at all.

“What is real, what is imaginary.”

“Sometimes, the imaginary is imaginary, and the real is real. But sometimes, the imaginary is real, and the real is imaginary.”

“You may be able to see more that is ‘real’ now that you’ve touched the laws of nothingness.”

“Unfortunately…”

The voice suddenly vanished, and the empty world suddenly dissipated into nothing.

“...” When Yun Che opened his eyes again, they were filled with confusion.

“Ah?” Xiao Lingxi’s exclamation of surprise suddenly rang from somewhere. She ran toward him and said, “You’ve finally awakened, Little Che.”

“Uh.” Yun Che immediately came back to himself and explained, “It looks like I entered a state of enlightenment just now.”

The moment he said this, he suddenly noticed another person beside him. He turned around and saw Su Ling’er staring at him with a smile on her face. Once his surprise had passed, he asked, “How long have you been here, Ling’er?”

“Heehee, as usual, Sister Lingxi is worried about you. That’s why she’s dragged me over to look after you all this time.” Su Ling’er walked over and asked casually, “What did you manage to learn this time?”

Yun Che frowned a little before shaking his head. “Nothing.”

The state of enlightenment was something that only happened by chance. Every time a profound practitioner enters a state of enlightenment, their profound energy or their understanding of the profound arts was guaranteed to improve.

However, Yun Che didn’t feel like he had learned anything at all despite having entered a state of enlightenment twice already… He only remembered that empty world and that woman’s ephemeral voice vaguely.

That voice said that I’ve improved further in the “laws of nothingness”.

But why can’t I sense anything at all?

I don’t even know what the laws of nothingness are.

The laws of nothingness can’t be nothing itself, can they?

Suddenly, Yun Che noticed another thing.

He had put down an isolation barrier before he told Xiao Lingxi to read the World-Defying Heaven Manual.

There was no one on the entire planet who could break his barrier, and it was impossible for Qianye Ying’er to disrupt his barrier of her own accord.

But Su Ling’er was here.

This could only happen if the barrier had disappeared on its own seven days later.

Yun Che shivered abruptly before asking, “How long have I been like this?”

“You’ve been like this for over half a month now,” said Su Ling’er.

“What!?” Yun Che jumped on his feet.

It was quite normal for a profound practitioner to fall into a state of enlightenment for several years straight. In fact, those in the God Realm could fall into a state of enlightenment for decades or even centuries.

Although it was difficult to predict the flow of time accurately in this state, the profound practitioner involved normally had a vague idea how long they had been stuck inside it.

But he thought that less than ten breaths had passed while he was stuck in the “world of nothingness”!

The last time he saw Jie Yuan, she had told him to seek her out a month later for her answer.

He had stayed on the Blue Pole Star for about half a month’s time, and this unexpected enlightenment had taken up another half a month or more. This meant that he was almost past the time limit Jie Yuan had set already!

Forget that this was a promise with Jie Yuan, her answer literally decided the fate of the Primal Chaos. He simply couldn’t afford to be late!

Feeling as if a fire was burning beneath his backside, Yun Che said hurriedly, “I need to return to the Azure Cloud Continent immediately. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but I may not be able to return in a short time… tell Grandfather and Wuxin I said hello, okay?”

He immediately took off and vanished into the distance after saying that.

“Ah, Little Che!” Xiao Lingxi cried out to Yun Che, but he was just a speck in the air by then.

“It does look like some frantic business,” Su Ling’er said. “I’ll go notify our sisters.”

But Xiao Lingxi didn’t give her a reply. When Su Ling’er turned around to look at her, she noticed that the woman was staring blankly at the direction Yun Che had flown off in.

The world before her had suddenly turned into darkness.

It was a pure, borderless, deep and terrifying span of darkness.

To call it a world of darkness would be an understatement. It looked more like a bottomless abyss.

As Yun Che flew towards darkness, he looked like he was falling into the abyss. Deeper and deeper he went… until his entire person was devoured by darkness.

“Sister Lingxi!?”

“Ah?” The shout finally brought Xiao Lingxi back to earth.

“...Is there something wrong?” Su Ling’er asked in concern while staring at her.

Her vision had returned to normal, and the abyss of darkness from earlier felt like a temporary hallucination. Xiao Lingxi shook her head and smiled. “It’s nothing. It’s just my eyes turning blurry for a moment.”

“Heehee, oh you.” Su Ling’er laughed. “Every time Big Brother Yun Che leaves, you act like your soul has departed your body. You may as well cling onto Big Brother Yun Che forever if you’re this worried.”

“...” Xiao Lingxi looked down and tried to purse her lips. However, she failed to force a smile onto her face… She didn’t know why, but for some reason her heartbeat had suddenly turned erratic, and an inexplicable anxiety was running wild throughout her entire body.