Against the Gods

Now that there was a dead person and an “example”, everyone behind them knew exactly what their choice was going to be.

Furthermore, once all of them witnessed a peer surrender all of his dignity and fully submit himself to the darkness, they subconsciously found the act much easier to accept.

The rest of the Eastern Divine Region were witnessing these higher realm kings, who had millions of people at their beck and call, and were like heavenly deities to the rest of the world, shuffling forward like criminals awaiting their sentence. They all kneeled in front of Yun Che, one after the other…. They kneeled in front of the darkness they had once hated and despised. They kowtowed, broke their own teeth, and were marked with that dark mark, and they even had to thank Yun Che profusely for it.

The profound practitioners in the Eastern Divine Region were so shocked and horrified by what they saw that their bodies went numb. They weren't quite sure whether the emotion which currently filled their hearts was self-mockery or sorrow.

The strong ate the weak and the winner wrote the history books. That was the way of the world, but it had never been done in such a naked and cruel manner before.

Yun Che watched as each and every one of these higher realm kings kneeled before him and broke their own teeth. His face was cold and impassive and not a single trace of pity or unwillingness could be seen on his face… However, no traces of joy could be seen either.

It was the same group of people, but now their attitudes and expressions were completely different.

Kindness? Righteousness? Conscience? Honor? Dignity?

In this world, a cruel world where only the strong survived, all of these things were bullshit.

Only overwhelming strength could define what true kindness, righteousness, conscience, honor, and dignity were… It would allow you to define any laws as you pleased!

In the distant Holy Eaves Realm.

A lifeless atmosphere pervaded the Holy Eaves Realm.

After the violent confrontation between Luo Shangchen and Luo Guxie, nearly everyone in the sect had found out that Luo Changsheng had actually been a “bastard”. The good thing was that the entire sect went into lockdown as quickly as possible, so the news did not spread. Otherwise, the number one star realm in the Eastern Divine Region would have become the biggest laughingstock of the Eastern Divine Region.

The Holy Eaves Great Elder walked into the hall with a somber expression on his face. He said, “Sect Master, we can no longer afford to let Yun Che wait any longer. Even if we have to sacrifice all of our dignity and honor, we can, at the very least… preserve the foundations that our forebears laid down for us.”

The four great king realms had fallen one after the other, so what room did their Holy Eaves Realm have to be proud and aloof?

What’s more, they had just been rocked by such a huge change.

The Holy Eaves Realm King Luo Shangchen slowly raised his head to look at the Great Elder. In just the short span of a few days, he seemed to have aged several millennia. “Have we found… that bastard?”

The Holy Eaves Great Elder shook his head. He did not speak. In fact, he could not bring himself to say anything.

After the events of that day, Luo Changsheng had rushed out of the Holy Eaves Realm and all communication with him had been lost. Luo Guxie injured a whole bunch of Holy Eaves disciples and rushed after him and her whereabouts were also unknown.

In a matter of mere moments, the Holy Eaves Realm had lost two late stage Divine Masters. Even worse than that, they had lost their successor, whose light had been so brilliant that it illuminated the world. As for Luo Shangchen, how could this be the only thing that had affected him?

Retribution? He could not accept that. In fact, he didn’t even think that he had done anything wrong back then. After all, he had only killed a peasant from a lower star realm!

As he slowly got to his feet, a small shudder went through his entire body before he even managed to stand up straight.

“Let’s go,” he said with a sigh as he stared at the sky.

That’s right, we don’t have any other choice… Just like we didn’t have a choice back at the borders of the Primal Chaos all those years ago.

“Sect Master.” The Holy Eaves Great Elder hesitated for a moment before he decided to say what was on his mind. “Pardon this question. If we find Changsheng, how is Sect Master… going to deal with him?”

Luo Shangchen’s face was impassive as he said, “We will cripple him and lock him up inside a prison forever.”

The Holy Eaves Great Elder was shocked by those words. “But…”

“Or do you think that I should let a bastard like him inherit the Holy Eaves Realm!?” Luo Shangchen grew agitated, his aura flaring up in a terrifyingly chaotic manner. “If we leave him be, he’ll certainly take my seat in the future. No one in his generation can compare to him in terms of cultivation or fame…”

He stretched a quivering finger toward the Holy Eaves Great Elder. “Even you cannot bear to harm him! So when the time comes, who will be able to stop him!?”

“Please calm your anger Sect Master. I have no such intentions,” the Holy Eaves Great Elder said. As he looked at Luo Shangchen’s appearance, he gave a very heavy sigh in his heart.

Can’t bear to? Who is the one who truly couldn’t bear to...

The bonds of blood may be fake, but their relationship as father and son had been real.

Furthermore, all of the joy, pride, warmth, anger, and hope he had felt over the last few years… had nearly all been because of Luo Changsheng.

_____________

Southern Divine Region, Southern Sea God Realm.

This was currently the most vexing and stressful period of Nan Wansheng’s life.

A simple trip to the Eastern Divine Region had actually cost him two Sea Kings. This was nothing less than an unimaginable nightmare for both him and the Southern Sea God Realm.

The Northern Hell Sea King Nan Feihong arrived, and before he even opened his mouth, Nan Wansheng spoke in a somber voice, “What’s going on with the Dragon God Realm?”

Nan Feihong replied, “The Dragon God Realm has consistently said that the Dragon Monarch is in seclusion and that he won’t be coming out of it anytime soon. However, now that the Eternal Heaven God Realm, Moon God Realm, and Brahma Monarch God Realm have been defeated one after the other, there’s no way that the Dragon God Realm can afford to ignore the situation any longer. Even if the Dragon Monarch really can’t come out, they will surely take action soon.”

“Other than that, we also just obtained another piece of news. Zhou Xuzi has fled from the Eastgern Divine Region and entered the Dragon God Realm, and he brought six Guardians with him.”

Nan Wansheng muttered something under his breath before saying, “We definitely can’t let the news of Southern Hell and Western Hell’s deaths leak out!”

“I understand.” Nan Feihong gave a heavy nod of his head.

Nan Wansheng slowly closed his eyes before he suddenly spoke in a deep voice. “It’s really strange. Given the attitude the Dragon Monarch showed back then, he clearly hates Yun Che for some reason unknown to us. But now that Yun Che has invaded the Eastern Divine Region with the Northern Divine Region, it just so happens to be when the Dragon Monarch entered into ‘seclusion’? Surely this is too ‘coincidental’.”

When he realized that he had also received news of the “Primordial Seal of Life and Death” at a most uncanny time, his eyebrows started to sink lower and lower.

“Could it be that the Dragon Monarch… has been lured away from his own territory?” he muttered to himself.

After all, this was the Dragon Monarch, the monarch who reigned above the five god emperors of the Western Divine Region, the absolute ruler of the Dragon God Realm.

If they had been invaded, the Dragon Monarch would naturally retaliate with all of their might. But if they had to make a decision… Who among them would dare to act so presumptuously about such an important matter in the Dragon Monarch’s absence?

If the Dragon God Realm did not make a move, then how could anyone from the Western Divine Region take action before them?

“It should be a coincidence,” Nan Feihong replied. “Given the Dragon Monarch’s honor, who in the world could really ‘lure’ him away?”

Nan Wansheng fell into heavy thought.

In this world, the number of temptations that he truly could not resist could be counted on one hand. “Eternal life” was undoubtedly one of those irresistible temptations, and that was also the reason he had chosen to be a shield for someone else as he forced his way into the Brahma Monarch God Realm.

As for the Dragon Monarch… What in the world could cause someone as powerful as him to “disappear” for such a long time?

He simply could not think of anything that could.

This undoubtedly showed how terrifying the Northern Divine Region was… in both strength and cunning.

This rang especially true for him as he had personally witnessed the grand Brahma Monarch God Realm, the Eastern Divine Region’s strongest king realm that could be mentioned in the same breath as his Southern Sea King Realm, get transformed into a living hell within the span of a single day.

If anyone had seen what he had seen, there was no doubt that it would leave an incomparably deep shadow in the depths of their hearts and souls. This was the same for him, the number one god emperor in the Southern Region.

“I have no choice but to worry about this now,” Nan Wansheng said grimly. “It is very likely that the Northern Divine Region will come for the Southern Divine Region next.”

“This…” Nan Feihong was shocked by those words but he quickly recovered. “I don’t think they will. The reason why the Eastern Divine Region was trampled by the Northern Divine Region was because they made light of their enemy at first and later started falling to sneak attacks. The same thing won’t happen in our Southern Divine Region.”

“Furthermore, they must have lost a lot of people in this invasion of the Eastern Divine Region, and their strength has been sapped. Even if they really do plan to attack our Southern Divine Region, they will have to rest and recuperate for a long time before that. Besides, Yun Che possesses a deep and abiding hatred for the Eastern Divine Region, but he hasn’t really had many entanglements with our Southern Divine Region…”

“Heh!” Nan Wansheng interrupted him with a cold chuckle. “Could it be that you’re forgetting who exactly drove the Heavenly Slaughter Star God into a dead end all those years ago?”

Nan Feihong’s gaze grew sharp.

“Yun Che has already become a complete and utter maniac! A maniac who only lives for revenge!” Nan Wansheng said in a dark voice. “Power and hegemony? The status of an emperor? He doesn’t give a whit about those things, so why would he weigh the pros and cons of a battle between divine regions!? Everything that has happened has been part of his insane vengeance!”

“Behind this lunatic lies the schemes and cunning of the Devil Queen herself! She’s the real brains of the operation and she’s been helping Yun Che gobble up the Eastern Divine Region bit by bit. So this invasion of theirs isn’t just for them to vent their hatred and anger, they’ve also managed to make up for most of their losses.”

“In addition to this… the Dragon Monarch’s absence has created a window of time that is extremely precious to them, why would they waste even a second of it!?”

Every word that Nan Wansheng spoke caused his heart to grow heavier. “It’s very likely that they won’t cease their invasion after they have conquered the Eastern Divine Region. They won’t bother to rest and reorganize either… In fact, they might even come knocking on our doorstep sooner than I had expected!”

The Northern Hell King pinched his eyebrows together. “Could the Northern Divine Region really think that it can swallow up our Southern Divine Region in the same way it swallowed up the Eastern Divine Region?”

“Hmph, would you have believed that Yun Che could take command of the Northern Divine Region and wash the Eastern Divine Region in a sea of blood four years ago?” Nan Wansheng coldly asked.

The Northern Hell Sea King was instantly rendered speechless.

“Yun Che definitely isn’t someone you can use logic to explain. This was also the biggest reason why everyone desperately wanted to kill him back then. The consequences of failing to kill him… Well, they’re now plain for you to see, aren’t they?”

Nan Wansheng’s hands were slowly tightening into fists.

The Northern Hell Sea King lapsed into thought before saying, “My king’s thoughts make lots of sense, however I still feel that the Northern Divine Region will not so easily move against our Southern Divine Region in the near future, even if they truly do have such ambitions. At the very least, the methods they used to defeat the Moon God Realm and the Brahma Monarch God Realm should not be available to them anymore. Otherwise, there is no reason for them to not have used the same methods to destroy the Eternal Heaven God Realm and reduce their losses.”

“Since that’s the case, why don’t we try to take the initiative?” A strange light flashed in his eyes. “More than a decade has passed and Qianqiu has nearly finished perfectly merging with his divine power. Since his appointment as crown prince is only a matter of time, why not do it now?”

Nan Wansheng raised his head and said, “You mean...?”

“Hold a ceremony to confer the title of crown prince next month and use this as a reason to invite all the realms. This includes Yun Che and the king realms led by the Dragon God Realm. At that time, we will be able to directly discern Yun Che’s attitude toward the Southern Divine Region.”

“If he is willing to face us openly and honestly, that will mean that he has no intention of provoking our Southern Divine Region in the near future. If that’s the case, we can afford to wait for the Dragon Monarch to return. If he chooses to marshal the entire Western Divine Region to attack Yun Che and his forces, the Northern Divine Region will surely crumble. If that happens, our Southern Divine Region won’t even need to risk a single strand of hair on our heads.”

“If he behaves arrogantly or rejects our invitation,” the Northern Hell Sea King said as a cold light flashed in his eyes, “then we will have no choice but to be the first to strike. The grand ceremony will change and become an opportunity for our Southern Divine Region to discuss the suppression of these devils with the Western Divine Region!”

Nan Wansheng started to pace around slowly. After several breaths, he said in a deep voice, “Then it won’t be next month. It’ll be ten days from now!”

The Northern Hell Sea King’s heart violently thumped in his chest.

The urgency with which he treated this matter showed how deep his fear of Yun Che was.

“Issue an order to immediately begin preparing for the grand ceremony to appoint a new crown prince. Immediately dispatch people to the Eastern Divine Region at full speed and invite Yun Che first. After we observe his reaction, we will prepare the rest accordingly.”

The Northern Hell Sea King had received his orders and was just about to leave when he sensed an aura approaching them at extreme speed.

This was the aura belonging to one of their Court Envoys. They would not be in such a rush if nothing big had happened.

Nan Wansheng waved a hand and the barrier instantly opened. The Court Envoy arrived in the next instant and he immediately knelt on the ground.

“Dispense with the formalities. What’s the matter?” Nan Wansheng asked grimly. The past two days had also been the period where his mind was most sensitive.

“My lord, we have just received news that the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm’s Myriad Change Sea God and Aquatic Heaven Sea God… have fallen.”

Both Nan Wansheng and the Northern Hell Sea King were taken aback by this news.

“How did they die?” Nan Wansheng asked in a somber voice. “Were they killed by people from the Northern Divine Region?”

“No,” the Court Envoy replied. “The two great Sea Gods were assassinated by someone and there wasn’t even a trace of a fierce battle when we found their bodies.”

“What!?”

The expressions of the two people who had remained calm when they had heard of the death of two great Sea Gods instantly changed when they heard those words.

Two Sea Gods… had been assassinated?

“That’s impossible,” the Northern Hell Sea King blurted out. Given the strength of the Sea Gods, it was hard for them to even die, so how could someone have assassinated them without leaving a single trace behind?

“Who assassinated them?” Nan Wangsheng asked.

“We don’t know,” the Court Envoy replied. “Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm had already sealed up their borders after they discovered the Myriad Change Sea God’s death. However, the same fate had befallen the Aquatic Heaven Sea God, who had gone out to investigate, less than twenty hours later, so the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm had no choice but to release the information and thoroughly investigate the matter.”

Nan Wangsheng and the Northern Sea Hell King exchanged looks as undisguisable shock appeared on their faces.