Against the Gods

The profound ship of the Boundless Kingdom of God left the Pure Land. Of the six Kingdoms of God, they were the first to make a return journey. Such was their hurry that they had abandoned even the priceless opportunity to enter the Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods. That was how angry the Boundless Divine Regent was.

The atmosphere was the exact opposite of what it had been on their journey to the Pure Land. All that liveliness and excitement had been replaced by oppressive silence. Everyone was keeping silent and holding their breaths for fear of triggering the furious Boundless Divine Regent.

They could not forget the gazes they received when Yun Che and Hua Caili’s affair was revealed... and they definitely could not forget how those gazes had changed after Yun Che withstood twice the punishment of devouring rage with impossible willpower. These people should be ridiculing and reviling Dreamweaver and Heaven Breaker for their actions. Still, no one could muster such a sentiment after witnessing Yun Che’s willpower and Hua Caili’s oath with their own eyes. Their love for each other was so genuine and pure that no one was immune to its touch. Many even began to believe that Yun Che and Hua Caili were meant for each other and prayed that they would overcome all the obstacles standing in the way of their fairy-tale love.

On the other hand, the Boundless Kingdom of God, who was let down and betrayed, was...

For a long, long time, Dian Rahu simply stood at the bow of the profound ship, unmoving. Only his long beard was fluttering in the wind. His aura was so intimidating that every living being on the ship felt like they were carrying ten thousand mountains on their backs, barely able to breathe.

Despite the intimidating aura, Dian Jiuzhi did not attempt to lighten his footsteps. He walked right up to his Father’s back. Much further away, Dian Sansi approached the duo up to a point before coming to a stop. Eyes timid like a startled cub, he did not dare to take another step forward despite struggling long and hard against his own emotions.

“Father,” Dian Jiuzhi spoke up. “The point of no return is behind us, so please quell your anger for the moment. This child has no right to criticize the Heart Painter Divine Regent and Dreamless Divine Regent, but you’ve been close friends with them for countless years. You of all people must know their temperaments. Once you’ve calmed down, I’m sure you’ll accurately deduce whether or not they have intentionally betrayed and injured you.”

Dian Rahu did not turn around. His voice sounded as cold as ice as he asked, “What is ‘Jiuzhi’?”

Dian Jiuzhi answered calmly, “‘Know self,’ ‘know others,’ ‘know life,’ ‘know gratitude,’ ‘know shame,’ ‘know good’—”

“You ‘know shame’?!”

Dian Rahu spun around and viciously interrupted Dian Jiuzhi’s reply with a heavy, violent voice that sounded like a thunderclap. “If you truly know ‘shame’, then why on earth are you trying to defend the people who shamed you like nothing else?! Have you fed your dignity as a Boundless Divine Son to the dogs!”

Dian Jiuzhi’s response toward Dian Rahu’s furious glare was to whisper, “Those who know shame... are just as easily trapped by shame itself.”

Dian Rahu’s eyes narrowed, and his already suffocating aura grew even darker and scarier. “Who... Who taught you that?!”

It was a given, but Dian Jiuzhi wasn’t feeling nearly as calm as he appeared to be. In fact, he regretted his impulsive answer as soon as the phrase tumbled out of his mouth.

Despite this, despite Dian Rahu’s glare, he did not become nervous or apprehensive. He answered frankly, “It was Yun Che.”

Dian Rahu’s pupils contracted. Then, his facial features started quivering, and his rage turned his complexion as red as hot iron.

“You... shameful thing!!”

Bang!!

Dian Rahu abruptly punched Dian Jiuzhi in the face, breaking his nose and sending him flying far, far away. The Boundless Divine Son hit the floor hard while thick globs of blood spilled out of his mouth and nose.

Dian Rahu pointed at Dian Jiuzhi, finger shaking from how much rage was coursing through his body, “I have tutored you for several thousand years, and you’re telling me one delusional nonsense from that boy is all it took to overturn it?! You... What a good son you are!!!”

“Cough... cough cough... cough cough cough cough...”

Dian Rahu had not punched Dian Jiuzhi lightly. Right now, the Boundless Divine Son was curled up like a prawn and even coughing up dark red pieces of his internal organs.

Despite this, Dian Jiuzhi pushed himself up with his hands. Head bowed, he replied raspily, “Back then, I was even more confused than you are now, Father. I, too, cannot believe why a few remarks from Yun Che are enough to unseat my understanding of the word ‘Jiuzhi’, and the code I have guarded zealously for several thousand years.”

“However, I soon figured out the answer. It was because his words resonated with my actual understanding of those words; an understanding that has existed inside me all this time.”

The rage in Dian Rahu’s pupils immediately blazed like an inferno. “What... did you say?!”

Dian Jiuzhi lifted his head. His broken nose was dripping with glaringly red blood, but his gaze did not contain a sliver of fear or regret. “Have you seen the true nature of humans, Father?”

“...?” Dian Rahu frowned even deeper.

Dian Jiuzhi asked another question, “Do you remember my original name, Father?”

“...”

Dian Rahu did not answer. He couldn’t. It was because he did not remember Dian Jiuzhi’s original name, nor did he care to.

“You don’t. No one does.”

Dian Jiuzhi’s voice was so calm it felt like a pool of dead water. “But everyone remembers that I used to be called ‘Bighead Dian’.”

A bit of self-derision entered his bloodstained lips. “I was born with an unnaturally large head because of my slumbering Divine Vein of Great Rage. So, I became an ugly creature in everyone’s eyes. Because of my big head, everyone scorned me, harassed me, and called me ‘Bighead Dian’. My own birth mother loathed me and feared me, refusing to let me approach her. She even told me to die again and again because my very existence brought shame to her.”

“Since I was young, I was careful to a fault. I did not dare to make a single mistake, much less disturb others. I can only grab inferior resources that others found beneath them to plunder, curl up in the humblest corners of the world, and cultivate alone.”

“Despite this, the ridicule and harassment never ended. We are all from the same clan, are we not? Some of them are even my half-siblings... I never did them any wrong, and I tried so hard to curry favor with them, and yet still they laughed at my appearance, stole my resources, and beat me blue and black. Not satisfied yet, they arranged me into the ugliest and most humiliating appearance they could think of to derive pleasure from.”

“Even the visitors from other Kingdoms of God... forget grievances, we don’t even know each other. But the moment they heard the name ‘Bighead Dian’, they would laugh derisively and look down on me like I was nothing more than a pathetic and filthy toy.”

“From that moment on, I knew that humans do not need a reason to be malicious. I deserve to be ridiculed and harassed simply because I look ugly, and my nickname is Bighead Dian! I do not need to commit any sin or wrong to deserve such treatment!”

Dian Rahu’s mouth moved, but he said nothing. Of course, he knew what Dian Jiuzhi was talking about.

“But the moment my Divine Vein of Great Rage awakened, the moment I transformed from ‘Bighead Dian’ to Dian Jiuzhi, the Boundless Divine Son...”

He scoffed without trying to conceal even a wisp of his derision or sorrow. “All of that ridicule and harassment disappeared overnight. Everyone’s gaze became so passionate, so flattering, so full of admiration and respect... It’s almost as if every evil person in this world had disappeared overnight. Everyone became so gentle; so kind.”

“Of their own accord, the people who once ridiculed me and harassed me knelt in front of me and begged for my forgiveness. They wept as if their souls had been cleansed in a single night. The birth mother who used to avoid me like a venomous creature suddenly turned into a kind mother who wept, saying that I am her pride and joy; that all the indifference and barbed words she showered me with in the past are just her way of tempering me... hehe... hehehehe...”

“What are you trying to say here?”

Dian Rahu asked with a furrowed brow. “Are you confessing your past humility? Or are you accusing the entire Boundless Kingdom of God of wronging you?”

“You are fifty-two sexagenary years old. Don’t tell me you haven’t realized yet that this is the law of the world! The strong can tower over anyone and anything and never worry about being oppressed by anyone, while the weak must be oppressed for eternity! It is the same no matter the Kingdom of God or even plane of existence! With your past, you should understand this better than anyone!”

“No.”

Dian Jiuzhi shook his head and rejected his Father’s teaching to his face once more. “There was one person who taught me that those in high positions need not disdain the humble; that even the weak can receive dignity and respect!”

“That person... is Caili.”

The name belonged to a person whose destiny with him had run its course, and yet the mention of it still softened his voice and demeanor like a beautiful dream.

“The first day I met Caili, I was being stomped inside a pool of mud. I was hurt all over and a sorry sight. She was the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter who looked like a divine phoenix from the nine heavens. The gap between us was as big as the difference between the mud on the ground and the clouds in the sky.”

“However, she repelled my harassers for me and comforted me. Her eyes harbored not condescension or charity, but genuine compassion and concern. She initially thought ‘Bighead Dian’ was my real name and addressed me by that name. However, there isn’t even a hint of ridicule in her voice.”

“On that day, for the first time in my life, I did not feel humiliated when I heard the name ‘Bighead’. Instead, I felt soothed like a rainbow had shone into my heart; warmed like I’m floating inside a dream...”

“That was the day I abandoned the suicidal thoughts that had been accumulating inside me since heaven-knows-when and cultivated with all my might. All I wanted was to glimpse her from a distance once more. More than that... Even if my body was ugly, even if all my power amounts to nothing more than a feather, I still wished to gather enough strength to help her.”

Dian Rahu stared at him for a long time. He was so angry that he could not help but laugh. “Is that why you acted how you’re acting? Even if she’s the one who betrayed you and one-sidedly broke off the engagement? Even if she’s the one who crushed your pride and turned you from the number one Divine Son to the biggest joke of the century? Even now, you’re still going to defend her as you did before?”

“Yes!” Dian Jiuzhi replied firmly and without hesitation.

Dian Rahu’s mane swelled, and his chest heaved up and down mightily. He raised his hand once more, but... when he saw the never-before-seen light of determination residing in Dian Jiuzhi’s pupils, he ultimately did not slap him a second time. Still, his voice was quivering a little from how furious he was, “Dian Jiuzhi, do you understand that your life, your dignity, your everything... no longer belongs to just you from the moment you are given the name ‘Jiuzhi’? That it is bound with the title ‘Boundless Divine Son’, and by association, the fate and dignity of the entire Kingdom of God?!”

“Look at you right now!! Even a dog with a broken spine at least knows to bark its defiance, but you are still defending the very person who broke yours! You... You truly are my best son! Even a dog is better than you right now!”

Dian Rahu thought that his vicious rebukes—especially one involving the dignity of the Kingdom of God—would at least elicit some regret and shame from Dian Jiuzhi, but... there was none. There was barely a ripple in Dian Jiuzhi’s gaze when he reached the end of his rebuke.

“Father, you are a natural Godbearer with ninety percent divine essence. You are the Boundless Divine Son from the moment you were born. The word ‘honor’ has accompanied you your whole life, and everyone in the world knows how fierce and outspoken you are. But... if there is a choice, who wouldn’t crave swift justice? Who wouldn’t yearn to vent their feelings to their heart’s content? However, not everyone shares your fate, Father.”

Dian Jiuzhi’s voice was remarkably calm. He seemed more serene than even Dian Rahu, the Boundless Divine Regent. “The world I see and perceive differs from that of yours, Father.”

“Caili saved my life. My fate was changed by her as well. To me, she represents redemption and salvation. The light of humanity she bestowed me back then is simply too dazzling and precious to me.”

“It is because of Caili that I never took vengeance against those who oppressed me after I became the Boundless Divine Son. It is because of Caili that I never treated anyone with malice unless I had no choice. It is because of Caili that I never stopped tempering myself and marching forward.”

“I am ultimately not you, Father. I cannot carry the entire Boundless Kingdom of God on my back like you. I have my own things that I cherish deeply, and... I will never, ever extinguish the humanity I cherish so much—not even if I’m a Divine Son, not even if I’m a Divine Regent.”

Dian Rahu clenched his fists so tight that they popped audibly. The son he thought he knew so well suddenly seemed like a complete stranger today. It was only now that he realized he had never truly understood his own son.

Dian Jiuzhi’s infatuation with Hua Caili was literally renowned throughout the world. As his father, he knew it even better than the masses. He could pay any price to obtain an object of Hua Caili’s desire. Despite being the Boundless Divine Son, he did not allow a single woman to approach him, going so far as to maintain a strictly male retinue. More than once, he had mentioned that Hua Caili was the one and only person for him, and this would not change even after he had become a Divine Regent.

Dian Rahu was astonished at first. Then, he half-jokingly rebuked his son. After that, he slowly caved and accepted his son’s obsession... because he believed that his feelings, as strong as they were, were just the infatuation and delusion of youth. As Dian Jiuzhi’s status grew and his horizons broadened, he believed that his son would naturally make the choice most beneficial to the succession and future of a Kingdom of God.

It was only now that he realized that Dian Jiuzhi’s feelings for Hua Caili were so pure that they could not tolerate even a speck of dust; so pure that they truly surpassed everything.

“You are practically hopeless! You... have thoroughly disappointed me!”

Dian Rahu abruptly waved his arm and left in anger, refusing to look at his son for even a second longer.

“Cough... cough cough!!”

Meanwhile, Dian Jiuzhi was still clutching his solar plexus. Blood was still streaming down his mouth and nostrils as well.

Dian Sansi had walked up to him before he knew it. Shakily, the young man crouched down and tried to lift Dian Jiuzhi to his feet.

“Big brother Jiuzhi, are you... are you alright?”

His voice was quivering, and he did not dare to look Dian Jiuzhi in the eye. Dian Jiuzhi gave him a look before pushing himself up and slapping Dian Sansi hard across the face.

Slap!

Dian Sansi fell on his butt and stayed there. He bowed his head deeply and wept at the top of his lungs, “I’m sorry... big brother Jiuzhi, I’m sorry. I... I don’t know what happened to me... It’s like a demon had barged into my head... all I could think of at the time was to vent my feelings and ruin Yun Che... I’m sorry... I’m sorry...”

Dian Jiuzhi’s gaze went blank for a moment. He shakily reached out to touch the reddened spot where he had slapped Dian Sansi... before slapping himself viciously across the face.

“Big brother Jiuzhi!”

Dian Sansi panicked and hurriedly caught Dian Jiuzhi’s wrist. Dian Jiuzhi let out a horrid laugh and said bleakly, “You’re just an innocent victim who was unwittingly dragged into this, and still I took out my anger on you... I truly am hopeless, aren’t I?”

“No, no!”

Dian Sansi shook his head strongly. “It’s all my fault. I’m the one who is childish and useless. Not only did I ignore your teachings, but I also lost control of my own emotions. That is why this disaster happened. I... I...”

Dian Jiuzhi raised his hand and gently wiped away the tearstains on Dian Sansi’s face. Then, he cracked a small smile and said, “You’re an iron-blooded man of Boundless. How can you cry like a young child? The future of Boundless rests on your shoulders, you know?”

Dian Sansi was furiously wiping his tears. He was just about to say something when suddenly, something about Dian Jiuzhi’s response stopped him dead. He asked blankly, “Big brother Jiuzhi, what... What did you just say? What future of Boundless?”

Dian Jiuzhi looked at him calmly. “Do you still remember why I work tirelessly to improve myself and aim to become a Divine Regent?”

Dian Sansi opened his mouth and answered a bit powerlessly, “To... to be deserving of the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter.”

“Correct. So...”

He smiled again and looked up at the clouded sky. “That reason no longer exists.”

“Besides... you should have heard my dialogue with Father. That light of humanity completely fills up my chest. I neither possess the ambition nor the resolve to devote myself to Boundless, much less bear the future of Boundless on my shoulders. On the other hand, you are better suited than I am. That is why you need to work harder than before, starting today.”

“No! No!”

Dian Sansi shook his head. “Big brother Jiuzhi, I cannot possibly compare to you! You are the only owner of the Divine Vein of Great Rage in the world, while I... I am ruined after everything that has happened today. How can I possibly deserve to—”

“Remember this, Sansi.”

Dian Jiuzhi said seriously, “The thing that matters least in this world is another person’s look and judgment. Why? Because all that will change when you have gained sufficient strength and climbed to a high enough position. Everyone who once looked down on you will start looking up to you, and all that ridicule and scorn will turn into respect and fear instead.”

No one could have said these words and made them sound more convincing than Dian Jiuzhi himself. After giving Dian Sansi a heavy slap on the shoulder, Dian Jiuzhi climbed to his feet with some difficulty and hobbled away.

It was at this moment that a shout suddenly came from behind his back. “Big Brother Jiuzhi, you do have a reason! Don’t you want to keep protecting the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter?!”

Dian Jiuzhi did not look back, but his footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

Dian Sansi sucked in a deep breath before pleading sincerely, “I know that Yun Che endured twice the punishment of devouring rage for the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter today. I’m sure you think that Yun Che would treat her like you treat her, never betraying her feelings for even an instant. But... But...”

“I know that you probably won’t believe my opinion on Yun Che after everything that happened today. I know that you would probably think it’s just malicious slander and venting. But Brother Jiuzhi... the Yun Che I saw really is completely different from the one you know!!”

“When we were alone, the face he showed me was unspeakably treacherous, and his words were vile beyond imagination. It is completely different from the one you know, almost as if he carries many different masks on his person!”

“Now that I have the time to think and digest, I’m starting to think that he’s planning to anger me from the very beginning. He even told me himself that what he did in front of Ling Xian’s divine abode... was intentional! He did it only because he sensed our presence!”

“...”

Dian Jiuzhi wobbled a little.

“I know what I said sounds unbelievably hard to believe, but please, I beg you to try. If... What if... Yun Che truly is not what he appears to be? What if Yun Che were to betray or injure the Heaven Breaker Divine Daughter in the future? Should such a time ever come, don’t you want to have the power and status to protect her then?”

A long, long silence later, Dian Jiuzhi finally started walking once more. He gradually disappeared into the shadows of the profound ship.

He did not give him a response.