Against the Gods

"It isn't possible for five such people to exist in this world right now! It would be impossible even for the Dragon God Realm!"

Qianey Ying'er's golden brows knitted tightly together. Even after she heard Chi Wuyao's words and saw the five robed beings stand in front of the Crimson Destruction Dragon God, she was still unable to bring herself to believe what she was seeing.

To be more accurate, she simply could not accept it.

If this was really true, then the Dragon God Realm's true strength was so dreadful that it was enough to send them into despair.

She swiftly focused and sent out a sound transmission. Two white figures swiftly flew over as Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu appeared before them.

"We received the god emperor's urgent summons. What instructions do you have for us?" Qianye Bingzhu asked.

"Those five figures shrouded in robes, do you have any impression of them?" Qianye Ying'er pointed at the grey figures in the image.

Before Qianye Ying'er had even asked the question, the two ancestors of the Brahma Monarch had already focused their gazes on the five people standing behind the Dragon Monarch.

Even if it was only an image, these two old men, who had ostensibly seen and experienced everything there was to see and experience in this world, still felt an incredible amount of pressure radiating from those five figures.

"I do not recognize them," Qianye Wugu said with a shake of his head.

"And not recognizing them is the most terrifying thing of all," Qianye Bingzhu said.

"Even though I am only looking at them through an image, I cannot measure the depth… of those five hooded figures," Qianye Wugu said with a deep sigh. "Our ancestor said this, 'The Dragon God Realm is far more frightening than they appear to be'. The truth of these words is ringing loudly in my ears right now."

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu's words had undoubtedly shattered Qianye Ying'er's final hopes.

Five monsters that were comparable to the Crimson Destruction Dragon God… Just these five people alone were enough to destroy most of the king realms in existence.

The Crimson Destruction Dragon God was the person who had nearly become the next Dragon Monarch, and now the Dragon God Realm had suddenly produced five other people who had the power and qualifications to contend for the rulership of the Dragon God Realm!

Qianye Ying'er's heart had been thrown into complete disarray and Chi Wuyao wasn't faring much better.

This sudden change in the circumstances meant that the Dragon God Realm now possessed the power to utterly crush them! And that was before they counted the power of the five king realms of the west!

Chi Wuyao's eyes narrowed before she spoke in a slow and unhurried manner. "It's good that we managed to discover the existence of these five old monsters far in advance. If not, meeting them in battle without any forewarning would have been unimaginably disastrous."

"Do we retreat?" Qianye Ying'er asked.

They had the option to flee back to the Northern Divine Region, a perfect refuge that even ten Dragon God Realms would not be able to force their way into.

Chi Wuyao pondered that question for a moment before she replied, "We should let the Devil Master decide whether we should retreat or fight. Currently, the biggest variable on our side is him. We'll need to see what sort of surprise he gives us after he emerges from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm."

"If this surprise doesn't exceed the surprise that the Dragon God Realm has already given us, we will have no choice but to retreat."

"Hmph! Do you think he will be willing to?" Qianye Ying'er said with a soft snort.

"He wouldn't in the past. But now…" As she thought of Yun Che's sudden change, even the somber Chi Wuyao couldn't help but chuckle. "He might very well listen."

"Such a huge assembly of forces will need at least four days to travel from the Dragon God Realm to this place, even if they have the fastest profound ships traveling at maximum speed," Qianye Ying'er said as she started to regain her composure. "Yun Che will probably come out in two days, so even though the timeline is a little tight, we will still have just enough time to retreat if we have to."

"However, we should give the order to prepare to retreat first, so that we can deal with any other variables we have not forseen."

Chi Wuyao fell into a deep and contemplative silence before she gave a curt nod of her head.

Long Bai's early return to the Dragon God Realm and his unimaginably forceful and ruthless command had already given Chi Wuyao a lot of pressure… but it had not been enough for her to consider retreating.

However, the sudden appearance of these five old monsters had instantly eradicated all of their hopes and beliefs.

Even the most exquisite plans and strategies were nothing more than bad jokes in the face of absolute power.

"Hua Jin, send a sound transmission to the Heavenly Wolf Star God, Yan Tianxiao, Fen Daoqi, all the assembled higher realm kings… and Cang Shitian. Give them orders to immediately…"

RUMBLEEEE...

A huge rumbling noise rang out, a sound that was reminiscent of a huge landmass cracking apart… Violent tremors immediately shook Zhou Xuzi's soul, and both Chi Wuyao and Qianye Ying'er turned back to look at the broadcast image in shock.

A gigantic shadow had slowly started to rise up from the ground, and it was only after they changed the angle from which Zhou Xuzi was looking at the shadow that they could clearly see what that gigantic silhouette was.

It was actually a huge floating island that stretched nearly two hundred kilometers long!

No! To be more exact, it was a floating city!

A faint grayish-white light seemed to emanate from the buildings that milled on top of it. Every brick, roof tile, and piece of profound jade was also radiating an extremely dense and ancient aura… An aura so ancient that Zhou Xuzi, an old man himself, could not find any trace of it even in the memories of his founding ancestor.

"What… is that?" Qianye Wugu breathed.

It was an existence that even he was unaware of.

The two previous Brahma Heaven God Emperors once again recognized how shallow their knowledge of the Dragon God Realm truly was.

"Could it be… a special kind of profound ship?" Chi Wuyao's devilish eyes grew sharp and focused as she said those words in a low voice.

"A profound ship!?" Qianye Ying'er was just about to disagree with her, but she immediately understood why Chi Wuyao had made such a guess. Given the fact that he had gathered the forces of all the king realms together, it was most likely that this was a profound ship, no matter how little it resembled one.

"Dragon Monarch, who are… these seniors?" Zhou Xuzi was finally unable to suppress the shock in his heart, so he voiced the question that everyone was dying to ask.

Long Bai didn't even glance at him as he replied, "These are the five venerable guardians of my race. They are also this dragon's predecessors. Please do not ask anything else."

The predecessors of… the Dragon Monarch!?

Those few words had caused the shock in everyone's heart to explosively multiply. The more they thought about it, the more shocked and frightened they grew.

"..." Zhou Xuzi made a simple bow. "The Eternal Heaven's unfilial son Zhou Xuzi greets the Senior Dragon Gods. With the five venerable ones leading us, the devil race will be like a candle that can be easily snuffed."

The silent Venerable Withered Dragons finally showed a reaction when they heard the words "Eternal Heaven". Their gazes swept across Zhou Xuzi before Long Yi gave a soft sigh and said, "The lass who created the Eternal Heaven God Realm was such a breathtaking talent. To think that her descendants would fall so far."

"...!?" Zhou Xuzi's head jerked up and shock rippled in his eyes.

He had actually called the Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor… a lass!?

These words had not only shocked Zhou Xuzi, they had also shocked Chi Wuyao and Qianye Ying'er who were spying on them from the south.

"This regal bearing, tone, and those words," Qianye Wugu said. "These people might very well be the Dragon Monarchs or Dragon Gods of old."

"To think that the dragon god race was holding such an ace up their sleeve. Terrifying, terrifying," Qianye Bingzhu said.

"Given their enormous strength, it really doesn't matter what status they used to hold." Chi Wuyao's eyes remained fixed on the gigantic floating city in the image. "What I am most concerned about is this strange city… What exactly is it!?"

The moment this floating city appeared, the violent unease in her heart instantly multiplied… It far exceeded the unease she felt when those five dreadful old ones had first appeared.

She could not even concentrate on continuing the orders that she was about to give Hua Jin.

Long Bai calmly surveyed the forces assembled before him as his voice shook the air. "I thank the gathered god emperors for sparing no effort in rushing over here. The disaster from the north has engulfed both the eastern and southern regions, and it is something even the heavens and earth cannot tolerate. Hence, I will have to trouble all of you to war alongside me in order to remove this threat."

The Qilin Emperor bowed slightly as he said, "How could we dare disobey the command of the Dragon Monarch?"

The Chi Dragon Emperor took a big step forward, and his voice was even louder than the Qilin Emperor's. "Exterminating the devil race is the solemn duty of our race. My Emperor Chi Realm has long been prepared for it, we were merely awaiting the Dragon Monarch's return and command! Even if I die after this, I will not have a single regret!"

"That's right!" the Hui Dragon Emperor yelled. "My Hui Dragon Realm has also been preparing for this day! Once we received the Dragon Monarch's command, all of the Divine Masters in the Hui Dragon Realm were raring to go! Every single one of us has assembled here today without question! With the Dragon Monarch leading the charge, we will definitely wash that cursed devil race in a sea of their own blood!"

The attitudes and sentiments of the five king realms of the Western Divine Region had clearly changed.

The Ash Dragon God's death and the Crimson Destruction Dragon God's pathetic defeat had caused the five king realms to question the invincible aura of the Dragon God Realm. As a result, they would handle any given task with trepidation while working to preserve their strength in secret.

However, no one had guessed that the Dragon Monarch would give such an unprecedentedly tyrannical command on his return, one that quashed all thoughts of self-preservation.

As such they had all arrived in the Dragon God Domain with hearts filled with apprehension, but when they saw the full array of the Dragon God Realm's forces assembled before them, all of their previous fears of the devil race and their previous thoughts questioning the invincibility of the Dragon God Realm vanished like smoke.

The Dragon Monarch was personally taking charge of this battle and all of the Dragon Gods, Dragon Sovereigns, and Master Dragons had been fully mobilized… Furthermore, he had even produced five of the most dreadful old monsters in existence to aid them.

This was before even accounting for the core Divine Masters of their five king realms.

With such a grand array of forces, what did they have to fear from the devils of the north?

Some of them felt like this wouldn't even result in a terrible battle. They would sweep in and smash them to bits like a wave smashing apart a sandcastle.

On the other hand, the only wild card that the devils had was the Devil Master Yun Che, a being who had always defied the bounds of logic and reason.

However, the five hidden monsters of the Dragon God Realm were just as big of a trump card!

Their attitudes naturally went through an adjustment due to this new factor.

The Dragon Monarch raised a hand to quiet the god emperors before he continued, "This dragon is greatly comforted by your ardent fervor to rid the world of the devil race. As all of you are Divine Masters who stand at the peak of the known universe, there is no need for this dragon to waste any more time speaking. Since everyone is present, please move into the World Dragon City. After that, we will travel straight to the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm, the place where the devil race has gathered all of their forces.

"The World… Dragon City?" the Qilin Emperor mumbled. He seemed to recognize the name from somewhere, but he simply couldn't recall it at the moment.

"This is?" The Blue Dragon Emperor stared at the floating city. The Dragon Monarch had just told them to "move into the World Dragon City". Could this floating city truly be some sort of special profound ship?

The Dragon Monarch calmly said, "This is the divine ship that the Dragon Gods' ancient ancestors left to us. We can use this ship to travel straight to the Southern Region's Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm! And we will only need two hours to get there!"

RUMBLE————

After that, the image violently shook and collapsed.

"This is impossible!" Qianye Ying'er said as her pupils shrunk to dots. She strongly voiced her disbelief. "The fastest profound ship in the Western Divine Region is the Blue Dragon Realm's 'Tranquil Heart Temple' and its maximum speed is about the same as the fastest profound ship in the Eastern Divine Region, the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace."

"Whether it is the Tranquil Heart Temple or the Vanishing Celestial Palace, they will still need at least three days to get here from the Dragon God Realm, even at their fastest speed. Furthermore, there is no way that this huge profound ship can keep up with those profound arks which were built for extreme speed! Two hours… that is simply preposterous!"

"No." Chi Wuyao breathed a long sigh as she spoke in an unhurried but lifeless manner. "Now that he is addressing all of the forces of the king realms of the west, there is no way that the Dragon Monarch would lie."

"Furthermore… the name 'World Dragon City' does exist in the fragments of memory contained within the devil soul I inherited."

If not for that, she wouldn't have become so flustered that she would be unable to maintain that image.

"...!?" QIanye Ying'er stared at her. "What is that… thing?"

Chi Wuyao replied, "The Spirit World of Heaven and Earth and the World Dragon City, those are the names of two special profound ships that existed since the ancient Era of the Gods. They were both also imbued with the power of the World Piercer. In fact… you've already seen the Spirit World of Heaven and Earth before."

Qianye Ying'er's brow furrowed before she exclaimed, "Could it be… Yun Che's Primordial Profound Ark!?"

"That's right," Chi Wuyao said with a nod of her head. "Even though it consumes a ridiculous amount of energy, you've personally witnessed the might of the Spirit World of Heaven and Earth. We relied on its very power to easily slip into the heart of the Eternal Heaven God Realm and launch our assault."

"Meanwhile this World Dragon City… In the memories of my devil soul it did indeed belong to the dragon god race, but who would have thought that it was not destroyed in that terrible battle all those years ago and had actually survived to the present."

Chi Wuyao's tone grew more somber with each word. "It is a profound ship on the same level as the Primordial Profound Ark. So even if you told me that it would only take an instant to reach here if it had enough resources, I would still believe you. Much less the two hours that the Dragon Monarch had just proclaimed."

Qianye Ying'er's golden pupils shrank even further.

Two hours… The Western Divine Region would be able to launch their attack in two hours!?

Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu had been quietly soaking up everything on the sidelines. The moment they heard that, both of them immediately said, "Let's retreat."

The core of their forces, the Devil Master, wasn't around, and the other side had not only gathered all of their core forces, they had even produced five old monsters out of thin air.

The devils had absolutely no chance of winning this battle.

To make matters worse, they only had two hours to retreat!

It was very clear that the Dragon Monarch had assembled the greatest possible force he could muster so that he could ruthlessly cut off all of the devil race's escape routes… He was determined to exterminate them!

If Chi Wuyao hadn't been able to secretly hijack Zhou Xuzi's soul in the first place, they wouldn't even have had these two hours!

The people of the world would only perceive the extreme lengths that Long Bai had taken to be his ruthlessness in dealing with the devil race. No one would ever believe that this had really originated from his personal hatred of Yun Che.

He wanted to drive Yun Che into ultimate despair, and the most terrible of endings!

"No, we can't!" Qianye Ying'er said in a dark and cold voice as her brow dramatically sank. "If we retreat, what's going to happen to Yun Che!?"

The Eternal Heaven Pearl was currently in the midst of maintaining the opened Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, it could not be carelessly moved around! If the devil race were to retreat… then would they simply leave the Eternal Heaven Pearl, and Yun Che and Shui Meiyin along with it, in the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm?

"If we retreat, we will still have life and hope. If we defend…" Chi Wuyao paused for a long time before she whispered, "How long can we truly defend for?"

Given the timeline that Yun Che had given them, he would need about two more days to emerge from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm.

However, the full might of the Western Divine Region would descend upon them in two hours.

If they retreated… they could indeed preserve their lives and future. Retreating in a spread-out manner would mean that they would preserve a good part of their forces even if the Western Divine Region gave chase. Furthermore, once they escaped back to the Northern Divine Region, nothing would be able to threaten them any further.

But this choice was equivalent to abandoning Yun Che.

However, choosing to stubbornly defend this position… Unless a miracle occurred, the best case scenario would be the decimation of their forces and the worst case scenario would be complete annihilation. Moreover, it didn't seem possible for them to buy enough time for Yun Che until he could emerge from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm.

Qianye Ying'er's hand suddenly shot out to grab Chi Wuyao's shoulder, her fingers forcefully tightening.

"Chi Wuyao." This was the first time Qianye Ying'er had ever spoken to Chi Wuyao in such a darkly vicious voice and her eyes were also gleaming with a shockingly dark malice. "I don't care what you are thinking about right now, but you had better understand my position first!"

"Yun Che has to survive! Even if all your people from the Northern Divine Region have to die to ensure that!"

Her trembling fingers tightened their grip even further. "You're someone who is most adept at stirring up the hearts and minds of the people, so I believe that you can definitely think of a way to get everyone to sell their lives for Yun Che even in this desperate situation… You must!"

"Do not talk to me about logic or rationality right now! And do not make me hate you!"

Chi Wuyao turned to give Qianye Ying'er a deep look, but she did not shake off the fingers that violently gripped her shoulder.

"I'm not as capable as you make me out to be. Furthermore, I won't need to stir up anyone's hearts and minds regarding this matter."

In the end, she was still the Devil Queen and she had already fully regained her composure by now. As she stared at Qianye Ying'er, her pitch-black eyes had once more transformed into bottomless, soul-devouring abysses which could swallow up everything.

"If you want to choose to stay and defend this position, advocate leaving first," she whispered.

"..." Qianye Ying'er's golden eyes rippled and the hand which had fiercely grabbed Chi Wuyao's shoulder started to relax its grip.