Against the Gods

The Devil Master’s command stunned everyone in the Eternal Heaven God Realm… In fact, it even stunned all of his devils as well.

After that, Yan Three let out a shrill, practically soul-shredding wail. He dove down as he slashed the air with both of his claws. In the next instant, he had ripped open gashes in space that were miles wide, extinguishing the lives of countless shocked Eternal Heaven disciples.

As a Yama Ancestor, an exalted existence that even the number one god emperor in the Northern Divine Region had to kneel to and address as ancestor, exchanging blows with any profound practitioners below the Divine Master Realm was practically an insult. To him, slaughtering the remnants of the Eternal Heaven God Realm was no different from chopping up some vegetables.

However, to the current Three Yama Ancestors, Yun Che’s words were like an absolute heavenly decree, so what was their dignity even worth?

RUUUUMMMMBLE...

Countless dark storms immediately erupted in the world which had just turned calm again.

Blood mist, wails of misery, the sound of combat, tearful sobs… rang in the air as the Eternal Heaven God Realm, which thought that they had finally gotten a break, was mercilessly pushed into an even deeper abyss of destruction.

The aid they were desperately hoping for had not come yet. The Guardians and Eternal Heaven elders who had been protecting them had all died and there were very few Adjudicators and Divine Sovereigns left. All light had vanished from the Eternal Heaven God Realm, and as the terrifying darkness descended upon them, even escape had become an extravagant luxury that they could not dream of.

Meanwhile the Burning Moon Realm had lost some of their Burning Moon Divine Envoys and Burning Moon Guards, but the core of their strength, the Moon Eaters… had basically come out unscathed thanks to the enhancement of “Calamity and Misfortune” and the support of the Three Yama Ancestors. Only Li Daopian had suffered any serious injuries and the rest of Moon Eaters barely even had a scratch on them.

Even as the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit clearly sensed half of the consciousness space within the Eternal Heaven Pearl get occupied, she also witnessed the Eternal Heaven God Realm get transformed into a purgatory once more. It was as if her image had gotten caught up in a violent storm as she shook with incredible intensity.

“Yun Che, you!!”

“Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

What answered her was Yun Che’s wild laughter. Yun Che’s eyes did not contain a single shred of guilt even though he had gone back on his word. Instead, they were filled with baleful joy and contempt. “What about me!?”

“I am the Devil Master of the North, the ruler of all the devils in the universe! In your eyes, I’m nothing more than a lowly and wicked devil who is devoid of all humanity! Yet you actually so easily believed the promise of a devil like me!?

“Here I was, thinking that the spirit of the Eternal Heaven Pearl should be quite intelligent. But it turns out, you were no different from that old dog Eternal Heaven. You’re both dumbasses with shit for brains, hahahahaha!”

The image’s shaking started to grow more and more violent. Perhaps she had never imagined that she would still feel such intense emotions once she had become the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit.

She had never felt such anger before, even when she had still “been alive”.

“Yun Che.” Her voice was no longer faint and indistinct, it had now become as deep and heavy as stagnant water. “You still had a way out at first. But now, you have not only drenched your hands in sin and blood, you have even gone back on your word in front of everyone in the Eastern Divine Region. You… Do you truly want to sink so far into depravity that even the heavens and earth will not tolerate you!?”

“Hmmm?” Yun Che glanced to the side as the corners of his lips curved up slightly. “This is quite strange. I’m only treating you in the same manner that the Eternal Heaven God Realm treated me. What are you so angry about?”

“This is enough to make it so that even the heavens and earth cannot tolerate me?”

The circulation of the pale white mist became frenzied and disordered. In the end, this image was only a projection, but it was clear that the “true body” within the Eternal Heaven Pearl had already reached the peak of its rage.

“Yun Che.” Her voice turned even deeper and heavier, and it contained a tinge of sorrowful lament now. “This noble one trusted you because I believed that your true nature underneath all of that darkness was still that… of the ‘God Child’ you were before.”

He did not know whether it was intentional or not, but the spirit had omitted the word “Messiah” from his previous title.

Back then, the title “God Child Messiah” had been conferred upon Yun Che by Zhou Xuzi. He was also the one who used it the most, the one who was the most fervent about it.

But now...

“Has all of the compassion and kindness in your heart truly been ground to dust after only a few short years have passed!?”

“Kindness and compassion?” Yun Che looked like he had heard a colossal joke, his grin was so wide that it nearly split his face. “Do you really have any right to say those two words to me? Is anyone in your Eternal Heaven fit to talk about those two words with me!?”

The Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit: “...”

“I had too much of the things known as kindness and compassion back then. So much that it was ridiculous,” Yun Che said with a deep and cold laugh. “But it was you lot, who waved the banner of righteousness, who slowly yanked these things out of my body in the most despicable and cruel manner, who completely killed them in my heart!”

“Now that all of you have forced me to become a devil, you actually dare to ask me where my kindness and compassion has gone?” Yun Che’s dark and gloomy eyes widened as he stared at the pearl. “I also want to know the answer to that question! Where have they gone? WHERE HAVE THEY GONE!?”

“...I see that further talk is futile! But you’ve celebrated far too early!”

The image of the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit slowly grew faint as hints of mockery crept into her voice. “Did you truly think that this noble one would believe everything that you said?”

“If you had left after you said those words, this noble one would have honored her promise. However, your conscience is dead and your words cannot be trusted, so don’t blame this noble one… for being heartless!”

The moment she finished speaking, she immediately retracted her consciousness back into the pearl. The white mist within the Eternal Heaven Pearl immediately started to swirl… The Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit’s consciousness suddenly transformed into an incredibly fearsome soul storm as she rushed toward the soul that had just occupied half of her consciousness.

The Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, so even when he had sworn an oath in front of the entire Eastern Divine Region, how could she really put its full faith in Yun Che and not have a trump card up her sleeve—and this also concerned an artifact as important as the Eternal Heaven Pearl.

The main reason she had acquiesced so quickly was because Yun Che’s “condition” was precisely what she had been aiming for!

Because the Eternal Heaven Pearl was her “home ground” and she had already dwelled inside the pearl for hundreds of thousands of years.

Even if half of its consciousness space was occupied, given her powerful soul strength and the pact she had formed with the Eternal Heaven Pearl over the last few years, she had absolute confidence that she would be able to forcefully expel or destroy any will that entered the pearl’s consciousness space from the outside.

She could even use this to invade the other person’s mind… so she would use this method to severely injure or even completely destroy Yun Che’s soul.

However, once her will fiercely surged toward the consciousness occupying the other half of the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness space, she suddenly discovered that it was not Yun Che’s soul.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar soul that shone with purity. It was so unfathomably pure that the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit could not even sense a speck of filth from it.

When her will had left the Eternal Heaven Pearl and “materialized” in front of Yun Che, she was able to sense that half of its consciousness space had been occupied by another soul. However, when her consciousness left the pearl, she was unable to sense what kind of soul was inside the pearl. But she had not felt any need to check either.

Because the only person who had approached the Eternal Heaven Pearl was Yun Che. Furthermore, he definitely wanted to possess a transcendent divine artifact like the Eternal Heaven Pearl, so how could he try to fake it out by inserting another person’s soul?

However, what followed that instant of surprise was an even deeper shock.

This soul had clearly just entered the part of the consciousness space that the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit had just cleared up, yet it had completely fused with the consciousness space of the pearl, forming a… soul space that was so stable she could scarcely believe it.

Because she had never achieved such compatibility or stability with the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness space despite dwelling inside it for hundreds of thousands of years.

“The soul of a Wood Spirit…” However, an alarmed cry immediately followed her initial soft whisper. “A Royal Wood Spirit!?”

Her extensive knowledge allowed her to immediately recognize that the soul that occupied the other half of the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness belonged to a Royal Wood Spirit, a race that should have gone extinct long ago!

In the historical annals, this race had been said to be exceedingly few in number. They had inherited Creation Goddess of Life Li Suo’s life and soul aura, and they were pure and simple souls which loved all life.

When her soul smacked into this frighteningly solid consciousness space, she was unable to penetrate even a single inch, no matter how fierce her soul attacks were.

In that instant, she suddenly realized that she had made the most stupid decision in its life.

She had actually lured the soul of a Royal Wood Spirit into the consciousness of the Eternal Heaven Pearl!

She suddenly recalled that Yun Che’s hand had flashed with a strange light when it had touched the Eternal Heaven Pearl.

She had thought that she could use Yun Che’s greed to ensnare him. But it turned out that there was an even deeper scheme within his seeming greed.

He Ling’s counterattack started now!

Her soul had directly entered the other half of the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness space. If it was based on the strength of their souls alone, she was naturally far weaker than the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit. However, she did not even need to engage in a clash of souls with the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit. She simply extended her consciousness toward the other half of the consciousness space like it was made up of millions of tiny streams of flowing water.

When compared to the purity of her own soul, the Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit’s soul seemed absolutely filthy. Thus, the moment the Eternal Heaven Pearl consciousness space came into contact with He Ling’s soul, it immediately reacted like a parched tree. It abandoned the soul that had originally occupied it with nary a thought as it greedily formed a pact with He Ling’s soul.

He Ling’s intuition had been right on the money! The current spirit inside the Eternal Heaven Pearl was not its origin spirit!

Yet she just so happened to have lured in a soul which had nearly perfect compatibility with the Eternal Heaven Pearl… A soul that could be said to be the only perfectly compatible soul in this current era.

The consciousness space inside the pearl was gradually being conquered. It was a slow but irresistible process.

Her soul was slowly being abandoned, squeezed, and rejected… Finally, her voice started roaring loudly within the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness space. “Who are you!? As a pure Royal Wood Spirit, why are… you actually helping the vile and wicked devils!?”

He Ling did not respond to her cries. Within the short span of a hundred breaths, her soul had already occupied seventy percent of the Eternal Heaven Pearl’s consciousness space.

When the remaining thirty percent sensed He Ling’s soul drawing near, it started to throb instinctively.

Its origin spirit had been destroyed but if it could acquire a complete and perfect soul, it could achieve true rebirth and swiftly recover its original powers.

As a god among artifacts, this desire was undoubtedly its strongest instinct.

“As a Royal Wood Spirit, the successor of the Creation Goddess of Life, why are you helping those devil people… Why are you helping the devils!?” she shouted in a bewildered voice as she repeated its question sorrowfully.

Eighty percent… Ninety percent...

He Ling finally spoke with her soul, “I’ve long since lost all faith in this world. Even if it ends up being destroyed, even if it undergoes rebirth… As long as it is my master’s will, I will help him accomplish it!”

The voice of her soul reverberated within the consciousness space of the Eternal Heaven Pearl. As for the original Eternal Heaven Pearl Spirit… her soul had already been completely expelled from the Eternal Heaven Pearl.

The entire process had only taken a short fifteen minutes.

Yun Che stretched out a hand and the Eternal Heaven Pearl flew toward him of its own accord before gently landing in the palm of his hand.

A white mist slowly spread out from the pearl before coalescing into He Ling’s figure. Her face was stained red with excitement as she said, “Master, I… I succeeded.”

“Very good.” Yun Che gave her a small smile as he slowly raised his hand. He showed all of the despairing Eternal Heaven disciples, announcing to all of the profound practitioners of the Eastern Divine Region, that the Eternal Heaven Pearl had become his, Yun Che’s, possession.

It had belonged to the Eternal Heaven God Realm for hundreds of thousands of years, but it had only taken a short fifteen minutes for Yun Che to become its new master.

There was a saying, “a despair that lies within despair”... Those Eternal Heaven disciples that were still struggling against the devil people finally fully understood what those words meant as they stared at Yun Che’s hand with lifeless eyes.

Now that the Eternal Heaven God Realm had lost the Eternal Heaven Pearl, the two words “Eternal Heaven”, which had always evoked such great pride in their hearts, had instantly become a ridiculous joke.

“Watch out!” At this moment, Qianye Ying’er’s body suddenly flashed as she arrived at Yun Che’s side.

BOOOM————

An explosion that was so loud and cacophonous that it seemed to herald the end of the world suddenly resounded in the sky.

The fifteen thousand kilometer long Eternal Heaven Tower shuddered and swayed, and the entire sky seemed to be violently shuddering with it.

All of a sudden, a crack split open from the base of the tower. It started to spread as swift as lightning and soon covered the entire Eternal Heaven Tower in the blink of an eye.

After that, another earth-shaking explosion shook the air and the Eternal Heaven Tower, the tallest tower in the God Realm, started to break in half. Both sides collapsed to the ground, but as they fell, they broke into shattered fragments which filled the sky.

A pillar of white light rushed out from the center of the ruined tower. Within that white light, an ancient white-robed figure with flowing white hair could be seen, a strange divine light radiating from her body.

Even though her face was extremely ancient, everyone could still tell that this was a woman.

Once the Eternal Heaven disciples and the realm kings of the Eastern Divine Region, could discern her features under that white glow, all of them were stunned senseless.

This figure, this face, was deeply engraved into the annals of the Eternal Heaven God Realm, as well as countless other historical records found within the God Realm.

As they stared at her, the words that had been engraved in those historical records rang in their minds, each word reverberating with a formless might that gave everyone the urge to bow down and worship her.

The Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor!