Against the Gods

The Seven Star Realm, a star realm that was located near the southern border of the Southern Divine Region. It got this name from the seven stars that surrounded it.

The vast God Realm had forty thousand star realms, but thirty thousand of those star realms were lower star realms. As one of these lower star realms, the star region the Seven Star Realm was located in was very small. In fact, its profound energy aura was weaker than most of the other lower star realms.

It was very clear that it wasn’t a star realm that was focused on the profound way. Such star realms were very rare in the God Realm, and most of them had their own unique qualities.

“We’re here! This is the Seven Star Realm! Let’s go down and take a look!”

The capital of most star realms was where the sect of their realm king was located, but the Seven Star Realm was different. Its capital was called the Seven Star Trading Region.

When they arrived in the skies above the Seven Star Trading Region, they instantly felt the hustle and bustle of the city below them. Shui Meiyin tightly grasped Yun Che’s hand. She could hardly wait to visit the city.

The Seven Star Trading Region was several thousand kilometers long and there were countless shops of different sizes located within. There were small stalls laid out at every corner of the city, and they sold all sorts of things.

Weapons, profound artifacts, strange stones, mysterious plants and flowers, ancient jade, formation plates, decorations, food, clothes, profound arks, profound beasts, news… and many other items.

There were some items that were so strange that they even stunned someone like Yun Che.

“Wah! Wah!” Shui Meiyin cried out happily. Her starry eyes eagerly drank in her surroundings, but there was simply too much to take in. “It’s so lively! And there are so many strange things! This is exactly how Ninety-ninth Brother described it… Wah!”

It was the ambience of a busy marketplace… It hadn’t been too long since Yun Che had last experienced this, but it made him feel as if he had been transported to another time in his life. It was almost as if he had fallen into an illusion of sorts.

The Snow Song Realm, the various king realms, and god emperors, his ascension to Devil Master… Ever since he had entered the God Realm, he had moved too fast and climbed too high. As such, the paths he had walked and the positions he had ascended made him feel as if what he was seeing now was from another life.

As someone who had both been born in a place like the Glazed Light Realm and been extremely sheltered from birth, this was the first time Shui Meiyin had ever been to such a world.

“There is a similar star realm in the Eastern Divine Region. Even though it’s a bit smaller than this one, it’s also as rowdy and boisterous as this one,” Yun Che said.

When they landed, Shui Meiyin and Yun Che used their profound energy to change their appearances. After that, they withdrew all of their profound energy and aura into their bodies. They did this because the entire God Realm knew the Devil Master’s face, and the Seven Star Realm would instantly be thrown into huge disarray if he simply strolled in without any warning.

After she heard those words, Shui Meiyin immediately turned toward Yun Che and asked, “Really?”

“It’s a star realm called the Darkya Realm,” Yun Che replied. “That should be the lower star realm with the most merchant guilds in the Eastern Divine Region. However, the one thing that’s different from this place is that the Darkya Realm also pursues the profound way very seriously.”

Back when he had visited the Darkya Realm, a rather strong sect known as the Black Soul Divine Sect reigned in that place. However, Yun Che’s spiritual sense had not picked up any sect that was on the same level of the Black Soul Divine Sect in the Seven Star Realm. All the sects that were scattered around the place were only of middling power.

“The Darkya Realm… I think my grandfather mentioned that star realm to me before.” An inquisitive expression suddenly appeared on Shui Meiyin’s face. “Big Brother Yun Che, I remember that you joined the Snow Song Realm’s Divine Ice Phoenix Sect the moment you entered the God Realm, so why do you know about the Darkya Realm? It also sounds like… you’ve actually been there before.”

As a wave of memories assaulted him, Yun Che closed his eyes and said, “I committed a huge mistake soon after I arrived in the God Realm by offending Master. I was so terrified that I chose the coward’s path by running away and the star realm that I fled to happened to be the Darkya Realm.”

It was also there that he met He Lin, and it was only through this chance meeting that Shen Xi had allowed him to stay in the Forbidden Realm of Samsara. It was also the reason for his connection with He Ling.

This just went to show that what a person thought as failures and disappointing acts could sometimes end up greatly influencing their destiny in a positive fashion.

“Ah?” Curiosity gleamed in Shui Meiyin’s eyes. “Big Brother Yun Che… actually ran away before? Did you really do something that offensive to your master?”

“...” Yun Che shook his head and quickly changed the subject. “Where is the place that your ninety-ninth brother mentioned? It must be something special if he kept recommending it to you.”

“It’s just around the corner! In fact, we should be reaching there very soon.”

Shui Meiyin chose not to probe Yun Che any further. She shouted in an excited voice, “That place is called the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams. Ninety-ninth Brother said that if I ever came to the Southern Divine Region to play, I definitely needed to go there and try their Rippling Heart Jade Soup.”

“...” Yun Che chuckled as he gently squeezed her hand. “We crossed over such a vast star region just for a bowl of soup?”

“Hey, this is no ordinary soup, you know,” Shui Meiyin retorted as her long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. “Ninety-ninth Brother said that it is one of the greatest delicacies you can ever find in this entire universe. He said that it’s so delicious that it will make you feel as if your soul is leaving your body, that just a taste would make you forget all your worries and cares.”

“Even though that description sounds kind of crazy, Ninety-ninth Brother has never lied to me before. However, this Heart Rippling Jade Soup needs to be consumed almost immediately after it’s made. Its delicious flavor will take a huge hit if you let it sit for even fifteen minutes. So the only way to get a true taste of it is to come here and eat it yourself.”

Once a profound practitioner reached the divine way, they no longer needed to consume food or water to survive. Things like food and wine were consumed purely for enjoyment.

Traveling over vast star regions just to taste a delicacy might very well be a normal thing for divine profound practitioners.

As she followed the memory fragment that Shui Yinghen gave her, Shui Meiyin scanned her surroundings. “It should be somewhere around here. Let me ask around.”

“Grandfather, do you know where the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams is?”

The “grandfather” in question was a white-haired old man with a face full of wrinkles. His cultivation had just entered the Emperor Profound Realm and he was definitely no older than five hundred years of age. There were a bunch of strange rocks laid out in front of him, and it looked like he was a regular vendor over here.

Even though Shui Meiyin had concealed her appearance and never used her Stainless Divine Soul in her interaction with others, she always seemed to be able to charm other people without so much as batting her eyes. In fact, most people were completely unguarded in front of her.

This “grandfather” was no exception. Upon hearing Shui Meiyin’s question, his cold and aloof expression instantly turned gentle and he replied with a hearty chuckle, “Little lady, you have the worst timing. The Pavilion of Delightful Dreams just closed shop seven days ago and the previous owners no longer reside in the Seven Star Realm.”

“It closed?” Shui Meiyin asked in a stunned voice. After that, she said, “Why did it close? It was so popular, business couldn’t have become that bad, right?”

“This had nothing to do with its popularity,” the old man replied as his bright expression turned grim. He gave a long sigh and said, “The devils of the Northern Divine Region have invaded our Southern Divine Region and the Southern Sea God Realm was destroyed just like that. And when I think of the other three king realms, I feel even… Sigh!”

“Even though everything seems peaceful now, you never know when those devils will flip our divine region upside down. When that time comes, we’ll be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.”

Yun Che, “...”

“This isn’t only happening in the Seven Star Realm. Every well-to-do family in this star region has fled as far away as they can. Of course, most of them fled to the Western Divine Region, because the Dragon God Realm is there, but it isn’t a place that most ordinary people can go to. So there are even more of us normal folk who chose to hide in the lower realm, even though the aura there is turbid and muddy.”

The old man shook his head and continued, “As for people like me? We can only wait here and see what the heavens have in store for us. If the Dragon God Realm manages to destroy those devils, all will be well. But if they can’t… Sigh, I daren’t even think about that.”

Shui Meiyin’s expression also grew sad and somber as she asked, “Then… does Grandfather know where the owners of the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams fled to?”

“I don’t know, but if you really want to find out, you should try asking Master Ke, who sells beef right next to where they used to be.”

“...Mmm, thank you, Grandfather.”

When she arrived back at Yun Che’s side, Shui Meiyin’s delicate head drooped a little and a smile could no longer be found on her face.

“It looks like we came here in vain, huh,” Yun Che said as he glanced at her face from the side.

She pouted for just a single instant, but when she turned to look at him, she wore a bright and dazzling smile on her face. “No way! As long as I’m together with Big Brother Yun Che, I’m the happiest girl alive! No matter where we go or what we do!”

“...” Yun Che gave her a deep and meaningful look. “Now that we can’t go to this Pavilion of Delightful Dreams, where should we head to next? Shall we return to the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm?”

“I don’t want to,” Shui Meiyin said as she tightly grasped his hand. She didn’t care if people from the crowd gawked at them as she pressed her slender body into his side. “Right now, Big Brother Yun Che is mine and mine alone. There’s no way that I’m gonna go back this early! Furthermore, even if the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams isn’t here anymore, this place is bustling with so much activity that I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a lot of delicious things to eat and fun things to do. Let’s go over there and take a look!”

Shui Meiyin simply tossed all thoughts of the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams to the side as she dragged him even deeper into this merchant city.

They strolled through the Seven Star Trading Region for a full two hours and Shui Meiyin had bought a whole bunch of strange and wondrous things.

The days were very short in this realm, so it had turned to evening before they even realized it. Shui Meiyin was currently pulling Yun Che through the outskirts of the Seven Star Trading Region with seemingly boundless energy. As she strolled through the streets, she happily munched on a rainbow candy stick that could be found in any small city in the lower realms.

As they laughed and talked, they walked into a copse of trees far away from the cities. The sound of birds chirping occasionally rang out in the silence and very few people could be seen around them.

It was at this moment that four people darted out. One of them let out a chilling laugh as he said, “Heh, stop right there.”

Two of them were in the late stage of the Divine Origin Realm while the other two were in the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm. As four auras started to press down on the two seemingly helpless victims and suppressed their auras, the eyes of the men started to roam up and down over Yun Che and Shui Meiyin’s bodies.

“Oh you poor things, did you come from the Seven Star Trading Region?” The leader of the robbers grinned wickedly, his teeth flashing with a cold light. “If you want to live, then obediently leave all of the profound crystals you have…”

Yun Che could scarcely bear to listen to a second more of this drivel. He didn’t even bother twitching a finger as black light flashed through his eyes. The four unfortunate robbers instantly turned into black powder that scattered into the wind.

To think that they would actually try to rob the Devil Master himself. Would these hapless robbers be considered too lucky or too unlucky, because the chance of this happening to them in the first place was a trillion to one.

Shui Meiyin stopped nibbling on her candy as she said in a sad voice, “As a star realm that mainly focuses on trading, the Seven Star Realm is visited by countless people from other star realms every day. As a result, it is protected by the laws of many star realms that are more powerful than it. For example, big profound arks are not allowed to be parked in the skies above the trading region and you’re not allowed to release too strong of an aura while you’re in the city.”

“It is also a very serious crime to use your strength to bully others into submission or rob them of their things in this star realm. If anyone gets caught committing these crimes, they will be very heavily punished.”

“But robbers like these are actually starting to appear in a place like this and they were radiating a very heavy stench of blood. This meant they were cold-blooded killers as well.”

“...” Yun Che didn’t say anything. He quietly listened to Shui Meiyin.

“Those who possess lower power levels don’t have the qualifications to join a war between the higher powers. They don’t even have the ability to cause the smallest of ripples in such a battlefield. Therefore, it seems like these battles wouldn’t affect them either. However, the truth is that they’re probably the ones who are the most affected.”

“To think that even a huge trade hub like this has become this lawless and chaotic. It’s hard to imagine what it’s like on the other star realms of this level…”

As she stared into the distance, Shui Meiyin gave a very soft and sad sigh. “When a storm uproots a giant tree, perhaps the ones who suffer the most are the innocent plants and insects around it.”

Yun Che stopped and stared at the young girl’s profile before saying, “Is this what you’re trying to tell me today?”

“Huh?” Shui Meiyin looked as if she had just been startled awake and she immediately turned to look at Yun Che. She blinked a few times and said, “I’m not. I was just a little overcome by sudden emotion.”

Yun Che hunched over slightly as he firmly grasped Shui Meiyin by the shoulders and turned her toward him. He stared straight into those starry eyes as a small helpless smile appeared on his face. “You’re still not telling me the truth.”

“So you made me travel such a long distance during such a critical period of time just for a bowl of Heart Rippling Jade Soup? Do you really think that I’m a little piglet who’s just three months old?”

“Heh!”

When she heard the dreadful and malevolent Devil Master utter those childish words in such a sarcastic way, Shui Meiyin couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“You’re normally very clever, but you used such a cheap, simple, and rigid method to bring me to this place, heh. It looks like you very anxiously want to tell me or show me something, correct?”

“...” Shui Meiyin opened her mouth to say something, but she immediately bit down on her lower lip to stop the words from coming out. She muttered in a very soft voice, “I didn’t use some cheap trick. I just know that Big Brother Yun Che wouldn’t be able to reject me, no matter how wilful my request was, so I just said it.”

The starlight in her eyes started to waver and it looked like she was struggling over something right now.

“Let me guess,” Yun Che said with a soft chuckle. “You hope that I’ll do my very best to not hurt the innocent during this vicious war with the Dragon God Realm. You also… hope that I’ll restore order to the universe once I replace Long Bai as its ruler and treat the world with kindness and compassion, right?”

Shui Meiyin’s eyes continued to tremble. She didn’t nod or shake her head… She simply stared at Yun Che for a very long time before she finally opened her mouth to speak. “When Qianye Ying’er sent me that sound transmission, I heard a very deep worry in her voice. Big Brother Yun Che is so anxious to destroy the Dragon God Realm that I… that I feel very afraid… that your haste will be accompanied by a huge danger to yourself.”

“Just like how you didn’t hesitate to gamble on whether your powers would work on a super-dangerous weapon like the Titanic Sea God Cannon when you set your mind to destroying the Southern Sea God Realm.”

“So… So…”

“...?” Yun Che stared at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

It looked like he had been completely wrong about what Shui Meiyin wanted to say to him.

“After I received that news, my very first reaction was that I needed to tell you about ‘that thing’. But… but I’ve always been hesitant and worried about it. Even up till now… I still don’t know if I should tell you or not.”

“I… I really don’t know if now is the right time to tell you.”

Yun Che’s eyebrows started to knit together...

Something that would make someone like Shui Meiyin so hesitant and flustered couldn’t be any ordinary thing.

He couldn’t bear to continue watching this young girl’s painful struggle, so he gently patted her on the shoulder and said, “It’s alright. It doesn’t matter what this is about, it doesn’t even matter if it’s good or bad news. If you want to tell me about it, just say it. If you don’t want to, it’s fine al…”

Yun Che’s voice suddenly broke off as his head jerked towards the southwest. His eyes instantly grew dark and cold.

It was at this moment that Shui Meiyin sensed something as well. As she stared in the same direction as Yun Che, the very first thing that flitted through her eyes was a look of flustered panic.

“Hmph, what a strange and wonderful fate this is,” Yun Che barked out in an ugly voice. After that, he lifted Shui Meiyin’s jade hand and said, “Meiyin, listen to your own heart. No one will force you to say anything, not even me. No one will blame you either. But before you decide, let’s go catch some fish which have slipped the net.”

After he finished speaking, he flew into the air with Shui Meiyin before releasing his profound energy and shooting off southwest.