Against the Gods

He Ling appeared beside Yun Che and stared at the realm beneath her feet blankly… this was the first time she hadn’t spoken to him since making an appearance.

She clasped her hands in front of her chest as a dot of blue light emerged from the center of her palm. It was the Sky Poison Pearl.

Unlike twenty years ago when Yun Che first awoke in Floating Cloud City, there was a brilliant, emerald glow in the Sky Poison Pearl... a glow that might terrify any ancient god of the past had they still existed today.

He Ling’s long, emerald hair started floating, and the Sky Poison Pearl glowed brighter and brighter. Her eyes were also starting to glow the same color as the Sky Poison Pearl as well.

Her usual delicateness disappeared completely in that moment. It was instead replaced by a soundless, intimidating pressure.

The pressure came from the origin of the Sky Poison Pearl. It was a divine aura that exceeded all that existed in the Primal Chaos right now. Like an ancient goddess who descended upon the earth to lay judgment upon the sinful, she evoked a kind of uncontrollable fear and iciness that would paralyze any living being except Yun Che.

When the Sky Poison Pearl’s light reached its peak, He Ling finally released her palms and set free the shapeless, odorless and colorless sky poison.

The name of this poison was Heaven Wounding Thought Severing!

Back then, the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison was a name that frightened even the ancient gods and devils.

Although it was far weaker compared to “Myriad Tribulations”, it was still deadly enough to kill a god.

Since the death of the original Sky Poison Pearl Poison Spirit, the only poison Yun Che had been able to cultivate was the lowest of low, a mortal poison. And that was after he found its poison origin on the Azure Cloud Continent.

After He Ling sacrificed herself and became reborn as the perfect poison spirit, the Sky Poison Pearl finally started regenerating its origin poison, Heaven Wounding Thought Severing once more.

This was especially true after he began dual cultivating with He Ling. Although it didn’t help his Laws of Nothingness at all, it did improve He Ling’s poison recovery speed by leaps and bounds.

In this sense, he could call himself He Ling’s “incubator”.

Although this was still nothing compared to when the Primal Chaos was still at its peak… it was still the Profound Heavenly Treasure which had a poison that could kill a god!

Even if the poison was a hundred times less toxic than it used to be, even if it was so miniscule that it was almost invisible, it still transcended common sense and the limits of endurance of any living being in the current world.

The Brahma Monarch Capital’s barrier failed to impede Heaven Wounding Thought Severing in the slightest. It landed right at the center of the capital before spreading outward.

The Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison was shapeless, colorless, odorless, and even “auraless” in a sense. It was the highest form of poison since the Era of Gods, and not even a god emperor could detect its invasion.

The pinnacle of the profound way in the Eastern Divine Region, the Brahma Monarch Capital looked as peaceful as ever. Not a single person had noticed the spreading poison.

Gradually, the entire capital was trapped inside its deadly embrace.

Yun Che only watched silently as He Ling continued her work. He hadn’t forgotten the pain and despair that nearly overwhelmed her when she heard of the death of her brother and her people. It was a pain he had gone through himself. That was why she had to be the one to do this.

He would never forget the look in her eyes when she turned herself into the Sky Poison Poison Spirit for revenge either.

Suddenly… he raised his eyebrows a little.

The light of the Sky Poison Pearl had become much dimmer, but He Ling’s eyes were as cool as ever.

Her complexion turned paler and paler, and her hands began to shake a little. But not only did she not show any signs of stopping at all, the poison continued to spread toward the rest of the realm after covering the whole capital.

“He Ling?” Yun Che asked. “You can stop now. It is done.”

“...” But He Ling still didn’t stop. Doing everything in her power to maintain the divine light in her eyes, she whispered very, very softly, “I wonder… if the people who killed father and mother… are beyond the capital?...”

Shaken, Yun Che quickly grabbed He Ling’s trembling hands and said urgently, “You can think about that later, now stop! You’re exhausting your poison energy and your spirit energy!”

Four years ago, Yun Che asked an enslaved Qianye Ying’er: Who was the one who had hunted down the Wood Spirit Royal Family?

Qianye Ying’er’s answer to him was “I don’t know”. She even deduced that that person must be pretty low level, or they would never have given He Ling and He Lin’s parents the chance to detonate their Wood Spirit Orbs.

Clearly, He Ling still remembered those words to this day.

“Low level”. Does that mean those people are outside the capital?...

Slowly, her memories started replaying themselves in her mind. The memory of her father and mother detonating their own Wood Spirit Orbs… the memory of her clansmen being massacred… the memory of her younger brother letting out a heartbreaking scream… the memory of the bad news that extinguished even her last hope…

Her pupils started swimming erratically, but she still didn’t stop releasing the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison. She was normally an obedient girl who only knew how to say yes in front of Yun Che, but for the first time she disobeyed his order and kept spreading the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison further and further away...

I… finally have the power to take revenge…

The day… has finally arrived!

For my parents, and for my clan…

They must die…

They all must die!

Her pupils and her hands started shaking more and more violently. Her face was rapidly losing all color. Slowly, even her emerald pupils...

…were starting to turn black, the kind of black that should never appear in a Wood Spirit’s eyes, much less a Royal Wood Spirit.

The Sky Poison Pearl’s light started growing weak and erratic. The shapeless form of the sky poison was also starting to turn unnaturally green as well.

“He Ling… He Ling!!”

When Yun Che shouted loudly inside He Ling’s mind still to no avail, he finally wrestled the control over the Sky Poison Pearl away from He Ling and forced its power back into its body.

When the Sky Poison Pearl darkened completely, the emerald light in He Ling’s pupils ceased as well. She slowly fell on her back as she stared ahead.

Yun Che extended his arm and caught her gently… a long time later, He Ling’s eyes finally regained their usual focus and color.

“Master…” she murmured as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. “I… became really scary just now, didn’t I…”

Yun Che shook his head and hugged her gently.

“I… I actually disobeyed you and tried to kill everyone… everyone…” Tears started forming in her eyes as she buried her head into his chest. Her shoulders shook slightly as she sobbed, “Father, mother, Lin’er… would they hate and fear me if they saw me like that…?”

“Of course not,” Yun Che said in the gentlest voice he ever used since he returned to the Eastern Divine Region. Stroking her shaking, delicate shoulders, he continued, “You didn’t disappoint anyone. It is the world who disappointed your race.”

She had succumbed to complete despair and darkness. Infinite hatred and the desire for revenge were the reasons she became the Sky Poison Poison Spirit in the first place. But even then… her kind nature hadn’t extinguished completely. It was the one thing that shackled her vengeful thoughts and filled her with guilt far beyond her ability to handle.

“You have accomplished the most impressive feat the wood spirit race has ever accomplished since its inception.” Yun Che hugged her even tighter. “They would only be proud of you.”

“Thanks to you, no harm will ever come to the wood spirit race again,” he declared with ironclad certainty.

“...” Cheeks stained with tears, He Ling smiled and tried to say something back. However, her consciousness started blurring against her will due to deep exhaustion.

Finally relaxing, she fell deeply asleep in Yun Che’s embrace.

After sending He Ling back into the Sky Poison Pearl, he pointed into the air and left behind a weak sound recording profound formation.

He shot one last glance at the realm beneath his feet before sneering and departing.

Even now, the denizens of the Brahma Monarch God Realm still had no idea that Yun Che had graced them with his presence, much less the fact that the entire capital was engulfed in the deadly “Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison”.

Two hours later, an arrogant voice broke above the sky of the Brahma Monarch Capital. “Qianye Fantian, do enjoy my gift to you, hahahaha!”

Several figures immediately took to the air and arrived at the location Yun Che had been. Their expressions were ugly when they stared at the sound recording profound formation no one had detected until it started playing.

How could they not be? No one had noticed Yun Che or his handiwork until he was long gone!

Yun Che’s voice continued to boom from the profound formation. “However, this Devil Master can grant you one chance to live and submit to me. Remember, you only have one chance!”

“You have seven days!”

“Seven days later, you either serve me for eternity… or die without a grave to remember you!”

Buzz!

The profound formation crumbled on its own, and all the Brahma Kings exchanged deep frowns with each other.

At the same time, Qianye Fantian joined them with a dark expression.

“My lord,” the fifth Brahma King asked, “should we search for Yun Che immediately? He may still be hiding nearby.”

“It’s fine,” Qianye Fantian said in a low tone. His expression was as dark as the abyss. Yun Che’s recorded words were entangling around his soul like a devilish curse.

“Are you worried about his threat, my lord?” The second Brahma King withdrew his consciousness and said, “I’ve already checked the entire capital, and nothing seems to be amiss at all. He may just be trying to frighten us with an empty threat.”

An empty threat? Forget Qianye Fantian, not even most of the Brahma Kings could bring themselves to believe that… after all, no one had forgotten the tragedy that had just engulfed the Eternal Heaven God Realm and the Moon God Realm.

One realm was slaughtered to the last, and the other was annihilated in a single breath. No one had believed that it could happen until it did.

“It’s also possible that he is trying to incite the Southern Sea God Emperor to action,” the first Brahma King said. “Nan Wansheng hadn’t gone far away, but he wouldn’t move carelessly unless he was given no choice. This seven-day time limit could be what drives him to desperate actions.”

The logical deduction caused all the Brahma Kings to nod in agreement.

It was at this moment the tenth Brahma King, Qianye Zixiao, flew up to join them. Although his injuries were fine now, he wasn’t at full health yet. He said immediately once he reached them, “My lord, we cannot overlook this. This may be Yun Che’s revenge for what happened at Snow Song Realm!”

Qianye Fantian frowned for a long time before saying, “We are no Eternal Heaven, but you are right. We cannot delay our action any longer.”

“Nan Wansheng should understand how terrifying the devil people truly are after hearing of the demise of the Moon God Realm. This is not the time to fight among ourselves right now.”

Qianye Fantian swept his gaze across everyone’s faces. “It is time to meet the Southern Sea God Emperor.”

Yes, it was time to tempt the Southern Divine Region into launching a decisive counter attack against the devil people.

Suddenly, he stared intently at Qianye Zixiao’s face. When a memory broke through the surface of his consciousness, his pupils immediately shrank into needles.

“My lord?” Not understanding the sudden attention from his God Emperor, Qianye Zixiao asked in a confused tone. He had no idea… that his eyes were glowing a dark, sinister green.