Against the Gods

The wind of Eden’s Crown was still growing colder and colder. It was starting to chill the bones at this point. So much blood was shed that it transformed into a stream and poured down Yun Che’s lips without end.

No one knew... or dared to imagine that the pain wracking Yun Che’s soul was even worse than his body’s. It felt as if an endless ocean of violent, hateful spirits of fury were howling and rampaging inside his soul sea right now. While screaming, they were cruelly ripping into his soul with their claws and scorching his willpower and conviction with their flames of hatred.

This soul torture could have utterly crushed an ordinary Divine Master in just one breath... not to mention the physical pain Yun Che was enduring, not to say that he had to endure both forms of torture for two hundred breaths.

“Gather your heart and listen to my voice, Yun Che! You must protect your clarity of mind no matter what! Yun Che!!” Li Suo sounded more urgent and worried than she had ever been. Just like Meng Kongchan, she was calling out to him again and again. She was using the only way she knew to anchor Yun Che’s soul and keep it steady against the raging sea that was the punishment of devouring rage.

However, a twisted, hoarse roar responded to her panicked screams, “Shut up! Do you think... I am not... nearly as frail and weak... as you think I am!”

Li Suo’s cries gradually came to a stop.

Although his soul sea was raging hard enough to fall apart at any moment, Yun Che’s voice echoed loud and clear, “What is this pain compared to the all-consuming despair and sorrow I felt when Blue Pole Star was destroyed?”

“What is this pain compared to the disaster that threatens to upend my homeworld and bury countless lives?”

“What is this pain compared to the weight of fate bearing down on my shoulders?”

“I... am Emperor Yun of the God Realm! I have come to destroy the Abyss bearing the weight and safety of countless lives in my homeworld! Do you think... that a mere punishment of devouring rage... that a little bit of physical and soul pain... is enough to crush me? Is enough to make me succumb!?”

“Who... are... you... kidding!!!”

A long, long time later, Li Suo finally spoke up once more. However, the terrible panic and urgency that dyed her voice earlier were nowhere to be found. No, it was the same tone she used when speaking to Yun Che, but gentler and softer than usual. “Okay. I won’t disturb you. I’ll watch over you quietly as you safely overcome... this tiny obstacle in your abyssal journey.”

Fifty breaths... sixty breaths... seventy breaths...

The passage of time had never felt so slow. Everyone’s heart was beating so loudly that they could clearly hear their own heartbeats. However... they could not hear even a single scream from Yun Che. Not even one.

All ten of Yun Che’s fingers were deboned at this point. His palms were riddled with deep, self-inflicted holes of blood. Even the fog of sweat shrouding him initially had transformed into a horrifying fog of blood.

According to the records, the punishment of devouring rage was an extreme form of torture that began from one’s “existence”. So long as the victim’s body and soul still existed, the punishment would inflict upon them the cruelest devouring rage down to the very last cell. His muscles were undulating and wriggling like crazy, and his veins were bulging like dragons in their death struggle... but despite this, his tightly pursed lips never let slip a single noise of submission, nor did his spine bend even once, no matter how much his body writhed in suffering. He looked like a winter pine tree that could never be broken or burned completely, no matter how hard the inferno of purgatory burned.

Eighty breaths... ninety breaths... Meng Kongchan had stopped shouting at this point. He was staring blankly at Yun Che while the tears of a Divine Regent welled inside his eye sockets again and again. What willpower, what pride... This is my son!

A shadow flitted across Hua Qingying’s vision, and she subconsciously caught it with one hand. When she looked... she saw that it was a strand of her own blue hair she had snapped without realizing.

Hua Caili’s body had not stopped trembling for even a moment, and her heart had not stopped growing cracks since the punishment began... As if he could hear her sobs, amidst everyone’s befuddled gazes, Yun Che slowly opened his eyes and met Hua Caili’s without a sound.

Right now, the whites of his eyes were covered entirely in terrifying red threads, his blue veins were bulging wildly across his forehead, and every single one of his facial features was spasming and warping like crazy. Right here and now, he looked scarier than even a violent, malicious ghoul from hell.

But to Hua Caili? There was no man in the entire world who looked more attractive than Yun Che right now.

“Cai... Li...”

His lips trembled, and an indescribably hoarse but clear voice somehow came out of his mouth.

“Don’t... be... scared...”

“This... doesn’t... hurt... at... all...”

He smiled. He actually smiled. The corners of his lips were stained with the blood spilled from broken teeth. Blood mixed with saliva was constantly streaming down his chin. He looked beyond savage and terrifying right now, and yet his eyes contained a kind of gentleness that shook Hua Caili to her very core.

Meeting his gaze head-on, Hua Caili responded with a gentle smile of her own... even though tears instantly cascaded down her cheeks like waterfalls.

“Big Brother Yun, look at me... and listen to my voice...”

Staring into Yun Che’s bloodshot eyes, Hua Caili’s tear-soaked voice echoed across Eden’s Crown and into everyone’s ears and souls. “Today’s pain is something you selfishly bore for me... so... I will practice hard... I will become someone as powerful as Aunt and Father as soon as possible... from today onward... all of the difficulties... obstacles... and pain... will be borne by me!”

These were not the sweet, private words between a young woman and her lover. This was a declaration she had made in the highest land of the Abyss. This was an oath she swore in front of Yun Che, the Abyssal Monarch, and the six Kingdoms of God. Heaven and earth were her witnesses, and all of the world would soon learn of her oath. It went without saying that it was an absolute oath she planned to keep no matter what.

Yun Che, who was being tortured alone, and Hua Caili, who was softly reciting her vows... Right here and now, there wasn’t a single soul who wasn’t moved by this sight.

They should be laughing at Yun Che and Hua Caili for not realizing how high the sky was and how deep the earth ran. They should be scornful of them for betraying their engagement and shamelessly “falling in love” with another. They should also be lamenting the loss of an impossible talent who insisted on committing suicide... But right here and now, they could not help but wonder if the betrothal bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch Himself... was a mistake that should not have happened.

One of them was a Divine Master who could defeat a Divine Extinction Realm on his own. To say that his talent was universally shocking would still be an understatement. The other was a swordswoman possessing such stunning talent in the way of the sword that even the Abyssal Monarch had to offer His praise.

They were both the only two perfect God Bearers in this universe, the first ever pair of stars in the history of the Abyss, and the descendants of a Divine Regent... Anything and everything suggested that they were made to be together.

The Abyssal Monarch kept watch silently. He hadn’t spoken a word since the punishment began, and the gentle divine glow enveloping him seemed to have frozen even time itself. No one knew that his vision was heavily blurred right now.

One hundred and ten breaths... one hundred and twenty breaths... on the Boundless Kingdom of God’s side, Dian Rahu was wearing a deep frown on his face. It had been a long time since he said a single word, and... despite the circumstances, he had never once laughed, yelled, or ridiculed Yun Che from the start until the end. There was only deep, heavy gravity in his expression.

Dian Jiuzhi’s expression was changing all this time. Appalled, shocked, dazed... and now, when he heard Hua Caili’s soulful whisper, the corners of his lips actually twitched... and curled into a small smile.

Someone is willing to go so far for you... And there is someone you are willing to go so far for... Congratulations on finding the best one for you, Caili. From the bottom of my heart... I am happy for you... and myself.

You no longer need my presence or my protection for the rest of your life. The only thing I can do now is to gradually extinguish Father’s anger and shield you from the storms that will stand in the way of your happiness.

Beside him, Dian Sansi was standing with a blank expression. His earlier madness and exhilaration had long disappeared. All that was left behind was ever-growing bewilderment.

Far, far away in the distant horizon, a red figure was standing in the sky and overlooking everything that was happening in Eden’s Crown since heaven-knows-when. She had long, snow white hair. She was wearing a long dress that gave her a flaming appearance. A powerful, profound practitioner like her should not fear the erosion of time, but the passage of time seemed positively merciless on her. Her face was wrinkled like rotten bark, her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and those pupils that once won the hearts of countless when they were young only contained gray murkiness now.

“To think that such a willpower and man of devotion existed... Cough... Cough cough!” She started coughing violently. She would not recover until a long time later.

Standing quietly beside her, Su Shang gently patted the old woman on her back while saying, “Master, your ailment hasn’t receded yet. You should return now that you’ve seen what you’ve come to see.”

“Okay.” She did not reject Su Shang’s advice. She looked at Eden’s Crown and rested her gaze on the Abyssal Monarch for a very, very long time.

“He... must be deeply affected by this scene.”

The woman in red leaned on Su Shang and disappeared together with her after that. It was as if they had never shown up.

Right now, it was bizarrely silent throughout Eden’s Crown. Only the sounds of Yun Che’s blood and sweat dripping against the floor could be heard. Everyone was looking at him, silently counting the passage of time in their heart.

One hundred and sixty breaths... one hundred and seventy breaths...

“To have a son like that... What else can anyone ask for?” The Pray Eternal Divine Regent murmured.

Beside him, Pan Buzhuo’s earlier scorn and disdain were nowhere to be found. When he cast his gaze at Yun Che, the feedback he received... was a sense of inferiority he had never felt in his life. All of his malicious words and thoughts from before, all of his jealousy... all of it only made him feel meek and laughable.

One hundred and eighty breaths... one hundred and ninety breaths!

Suddenly, a shrill, horrible scream cut through the air.

“Ludicrous! Ludicrous!! Men are the most hypocritical and despicable creatures in the entire world! There is no way a man could go this far for a woman... it’s all fake... it’s just a filthy pretense, a hypocritical lie! It’s all fake... it’s all fake[1]!!!”

The Lightless Divine Regent, who was silent all this time, suddenly screamed like she had suddenly gone mad. Her out-of-control voice and profound energy ripped apart the pitch black palanquin, sending shredded pieces of black ribbons everywhere. Bloodcurdling screams filled the air as most of the women surrounding the palanquin were knocked to the ground. They were all clutching their ears in pain.

“No... a man like this cannot possibly exist in this world! Impossible... impossible! It’s all a hypocritical lie... hypocrite... lies... lies! Ahahahahahaha!![2]”

Bang!

The broken palanquin suddenly flew into the air and carried Shenwu Yanye away from Eden’s Crown. No one knew where the woman who suddenly suffered a mental collapse was headed.

“Divine Regent!” Shenwu Youluan let out a cry of shock before grabbing Shenwu Yi’s wrist and chasing after her Divine Regent. Every other member of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God was giving chase as well.

Right as she leaped off of Ede’s Crown, Shenwu Yi looked back for some reason... and found her gaze being drawn toward the man named Yun Che for an instant. A hint of something complex and inexplicable flashed in her eyes, and she disappeared behind the clouds right after that.

Two hundred breaths!

The Chief Priest abruptly withdrew his palm, and countless needles of withered yellow profound light left Yun Che’s body at once... However, his divine eyes remained glued to Yun Che’s person, and a tidal wave of emotions he had not experienced even once for the past million years churned inside his heart.

He asked himself if he could endure two hundred breaths of the punishment of devouring rage without uttering a single sound like Yun Che. The answer was no.

Just what kind of willpower and conviction...

“Yuan’er!!”

“Brother Yuan!”

“Divine Son Yuan!!!”

“Big Brother Yun!”

... The pain receded like tidal water, and all he could hear was a cacophony of screams. Each one was only more worried and scared than the last. Yun Che’s spirit relaxed, and the back that had remained standing throughout the punishment of great rage finally lost all senses and fell backward powerlessly... into the crook of a warm, gentle arm.

Meng Kongchan’s clothes were instantly drenched in blood as he gently held Yun Che... He was the Dreamless Divine Regent who had led the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God for over ten thousand years, and yet he had never felt more panicked and lost than he was now. His arms possessed the strength to rip heaven and earth like nothing, and yet he didn’t even dare to muster an ounce of strength. He could only half-crouch on the ground and do nothing for a long time, afraid to move even a muscle.

The shouts kept coming, and Yun Che opened his eyes. It took him an unbelievably long time before some blurry images finally peeked out of the blurry haze that was his vision.

The corners of his mouth split open. He seemed to be wearing a cocky grin as he declared, “See... told you... the punishment of devouring rage... is nothing...”

Hua Caili was burying her face against his chest and weeping like a baby. She clenched and released her fists repeatedly like she wanted to punch him hard, but she ultimately could not bear to do it.

Hua Qingying turned around and gave Hua Fuchen a look. “So? What do you think? The man Caili chose is countless times better than the one you chose for her, no?”

Hua Fuchen smiled. “Well... If only he was less of a troublemaker.”

That was what he said, but the small smile on his face did not fade.

No one knew that the seemingly calm and unperturbed Abyssal Monarch had only just recovered his senses.

He turned his back on the scene and said indifferently, “Since the punishment has been carried out, the engagement between Hua Caili and Dian Jiuzhi shall be annulled.”

With great difficulty, Yun Che turned to face the Abyssal Monarch and said, “Thank... you... for... granting... wish... Your... Majes... ty...”

Having said that, Yun Che finally could not cling to his consciousness any longer and succumbed to complete darkness.

Dian Rahu suddenly turned away and roared, “We’re leaving!”

No one in the Boundless Kingdom of God’s formation said a word. They simply fell in line behind Dian Rahu and followed him out of Eden’s Crown. Hua Fuchen abruptly looked up and acted to chase after the man, but Hua Qingying stopped him immediately.

“He is at his angriest right now. There is nothing you can say that will make it through to him... leave it for another time.”

Hua Fuchen fell silent for a long time. In the end, he withdrew his foot and let out a deep sigh.

1. You are, in fact, totally correct. ☜

2. You are, in fact, the most correct woman in the entire Abyss right now. ☜