Against the Gods

The Eastern Divine Region, the Snow Song Realm.

The God Realm was still trembling in the aftermath of Yun Che's actions. The northern part of the Eastern Divine Region had been one of the first places to have been struck, so the dark smoke of battle still lingered in the air.

Only the Snow Song Realm still remained cold, quiet, and tranquil, the same as it had been ever since ancient times.

Mu Xuanyin slowly stepped into the Ice Phoenix Sacred Region. Nothing had changed but it seemed to her as if an entire lifetime had passed… because her heart no longer solely belonged to this world wreathed in eternal snow.

Snow fluttered wildly in the air as blizzard winds seemed to rush out to greet her. They danced around her like a bunch of ice fairies, swirling around her robes like butterflies around a flower.

As she followed after that most-familiar aura, Mu Xuanyin's feet softly carried her to the Ice Phoenix Sacred Hall… a place she was most familiar with, a place that had once belonged to just her and Yun Che.

"Ah…"

A startled cry rang in the air as Mu Feixue shot to her feet and dumbly stared at the celestial figure who seemed to have stepped out of a dream and appeared in front of the sacred hall. Her icy eyes seemed to mist over as she softly cried out, "Sect… Master…"

Mu Bingyun had been standing in front of that cold pond decorated with Ice Feather Spirit Flowers when she sensed that aura, her body spinning around as quick as lightning.

The gazes of both sisters met, the sight of Mu Xuanyin instantly drowning out everything else in Mu Bingyun's eyes. Even her body seemed to have blurred into a crazily-spreading icy mist.

"Big… Sister…"

With a soft cry, she dove into the arms of Mu Xuanyin, the person she had been longing for day and night. As she dove into her embrace, Mu Bingyun started crying like a child. Icy tears welled up in her frigid voice, as little droplets of ice began to form on their robes.

————

The Western Divine Region, the Dragon God Realm, the Dragon God Domain, the Dragon God Sacred Hall.

In this place which was once the most exalted and sacred place in the God Realm, one could no longer see hide nor hair of the Dragon Sovereigns and Dragon Gods who used to walk freely in this area. The entire vast Dragon God Domain didn't contain the figure of a single dragon. They had all been expelled by the Qilin Realm days ago.

The vast fortune that the Dragon God Realm had accumulated over a million years was mostly hidden beneath the Dragon God Domain. Innumerable barriers were being slowly broken down by the Qilin Realm as they inched their way toward their goal. Furthermore, this enormous fortune certainly wasn't something that could be counted in a short amount of time.

Its vastness far exceeded the average imagination.

"The Dragon God Realm truly lives up to its name. In just a few short days, the amount of resources I've already counted has exceeded the total amount that the three king realms of the north have."

Chi Wuyao picked up a spatial jade in the shape of a pearl as she continued in her slow and unhurried manner. "Just picking a few treasures from this place would allow me to hold a dozen grand coronation ceremonies, ones which would be so lavish and extravagant that they'd echo down through the ages."

"It looks like the number I had previously estimated was far too small. The difference between our Northern Divine Region and the other three divine regions was truly like the difference between heaven and hell."

The poverty of the Northern Divine Region juxtaposed with the wealth and plenty of the three other regions… This incredibly large gap in resources would trigger the wrath of any dark profound practitioner, and Chi Wuyao was no exception.

"Hmph." Qianye Ying'er gave a cold snort as she shot her a glance. "You are about to become the exalted empress of the entire God Realm, someone who possesses unparalleled divine might. Everything in the universe is yours to control and use, so saying such things right now truly is boring and pointless."

Chi Wuyao replied in a soft and graceful voice, "Compared to being empress, I'd rather be an imperial concubine who can serve the Devil Master without any worries or cares, someone who can simply focus on flirting with him and striving for his favor. Who cares if I'd be just a simple concubine?"

She batted her alluring eyes at Qianye Ying'er. "Qianying, if it strikes your fancy, how about I let you be empress instead?"

"Tsk!" Qianye Ying'er turned her jade face away from Chi Wuyao without replying.

"Ahem." Yun Che let out a rather awkward cough before asking, "Devil Queen, you said you made a 'rather interesting discovery'. What was it?"

The fact that Chi Wuyao had been so anxious as to get Hua Jin to send a sound transmission to him meant that this definitely wasn't an ordinary discovery.

Chi Wuyao stretched out both hands before she waved them gracefully in the air.

A cluster of black light appeared before dispersing, revealing a floating ancient tome the color of dark bronze that was about one and a half meters long and wide.

The ancient tome radiated a dense and heavy draconic aura. However, what was shocking about this tome was not the denseness of its draconic aura, it was how ancient it was… It was so ancient that it gave Yun Che the feeling that it shouldn't even exist in this present era.

Qianye Ying'er's eyes flashed as she asked, "Could it be… the Dragon God Secret Tome?"

"No, if it was the Dragon God Secret Tome, how would I dare to summon my lord Devil Master in such a hasty fashion?" Chi Wuyao replied. "This ancient tome has been bound by nine seals and each seal contains the lingering traces of the Dragon Monarch's soul. If he wasn't already dead, there's no way that I would be able to break all of these seals in such a short time."

"Furthermore, what this ancient tome records isn't the history of the Dragon God Realm… It is the history of the ancient Dragon God Tribe."

"What!?" A look of shock appeared on Qianye Ying'er's face and even Yun Che's eyes bulged when she said those words.

An ancient secret record!? And it was something that the ancient Dragon Gods had left behind!?

Chi Wuyao gently pushed the ancient tome toward Yun Che. "I've already flipped through most of it. What is recorded in it is the history of the ancient Dragon God Tribe and many other ancient secrets that should have died with the Era of the Gods."

She looked at Yun Che. "These ancient secrets are nothing but information to other people, but they may be of some particular help to my lord Devil Master, so you might want to peruse it slowly."

He very quickly dispelled the barrier around the book. After that, both Yun Che and Qianye Ying'er used a thread of profound energy that was as gentle as they could muster to slowly open this ancient record left behind by the Dragon Gods, a miraculous existence in and of itself.

The first page of this ancient tome recorded the commandments of the Dragon God Tribe, and the second page recorded the divine titles of each era's Dragon God and the key draconic figures during their era.

Even though they were called the "Dragon God Tribe", every long and vast era of this tribe only had a single "Dragon God".

Among the vast races of the True Gods, the two words "Dragon God" were only less exalted than the names of the four revered Creation Gods. It was a divine title that transcended all the other god clans.

As for the ancient "Dragon God Tribe", this referred to the dragon races directly under the Dragon God's command. It was a title that was crowned with the divine title of the "Dragon God", but it was not one that their entire race adopted.

As a result, the "Dragon Gods" of the current Dragon God Realm were not only disrespectful of the divine title of "Dragon God", it would have been viewed as the worst sort of blasphemy by the ancient Dragon God Tribe.

The lifespan of the Dragon Gods was extremely long. Though it was not as long as the Creation Gods, it definitely far outstripped all other living creatures. As a result, during the long and vast Ancient Era which encapsulated the entirety of the Dragon God Tribe's history, there were only ever six Dragon Gods.

Yun Che's eyes fixed on the records of the very last Dragon God. It was the Primordial Azure Dragon who had bestowed all of these gifts upon him.

His name had been Long Yan.

Even though the Dragon Gods had a very long lifespan, they also had an incredibly hard time reproducing.

This was what was recorded in regards to the Primordial Azure Dragon:

"From the moment the Primordial Azure Dragon became the Dragon God to the time he finally fell in battle during the War of the Gods and Devils, a full thirty millions years had passed. However, he was only able to sire a single daughter."

When he had obtained the Dragon God's blood, Dragon God Soul and Dragon God Marrow back on the Profound Sky Continent, the very last request the Primordial Azure Dragon's soul fragment made of him was to find his daughter who had been sealed into the "Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword".

This intense longing and worry had persisted all the way until the present age, and he had only been able to rest once he had entrusted this task to the Heretic God's successor… As it turned out, this mighty Dragon God actually only had this one daughter during his entire life!

After he gave a sigh heavy with emotion, the corner of Yun Che's brow suddenly twitched.

He only sired a daughter after thirty million years...

Wait a minute!

He had accumulated quite the harem himself over the years, and he had been "sowing his seeds" very diligently, but he only ever had one daughter, Wuxin… On the surface, he looked like he wasn't bothered by such a thing, he had actually been brooding about it all this while.

Could it be that the root of his troubles had been the far-too-pure Dragon God bloodline that he possessed!?

However, this ancient tome had not recorded his daughter's true name. It only addressed her as "Princess". It was recorded that her personality was gentle and retiring, and that she was as beautiful as a heavenly flower. She was admired by the Creation Goddess of Life Li Suo, and she constantly made trips to the Divine Palace of Life to accompany her.

"..." Yun Che's eyes lingered on this short passage concerning the Dragon God's daughter for a very long time. After that, he finally flipped to the third page of the ancient tome.

However, this page did not record anything concerning the Dragon God's history. Instead...

The Four Creation Gods.

[The Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor: Mo E]

[Profound Treasure: The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword]

[He was the head of the four mighty Creation Gods and his divine power was unparalleled. It was above that of all the Creation Gods and Devil Emperors and even though he could not obtain the acknowledgement of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, he could still unleash its might.]

[His personality was unbending and righteous in the extreme. He hated evil like it was a grudge. He never allowed relationships or feelings to bend his principles. He also was extremely repulsed by darkness profound energy and he could not tolerate any god growing close to the devil race.]

[The "Heaven Punishing Crown Prince" [Mo Su] was outstanding in both looks, temperament, and talent. None of the god children in the universe was his equal and the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor loved him deeply. However, Mo Su violated a taboo that must never be violated, so Mo E personally buried him in the Abyss of Nothingness.]

[His ruthless devotion to righteousness shocked the entire universe, but it also earned him universal praise and admiration.]

"..." Yun Che's brow furrowed deeply.

The tragedy of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and the Heretic God had come at the hands of Mo E. Even the War of the Gods and Devils, the event which had destroyed an entire era, was something that he had set the stage for.

His extreme and unbending righteousness and hatred for evil were things that Yun Che had known about for a long time. However, he had never imagined that he was so unbending and principled that he would personally kill his own son for violating a taboo… and this was his most beloved son, whom he had personally made his crown prince, at that!

He was even willing to be this cold-hearted and ruthless to the beloved son he had named as his successor. In comparison, his ruthlessness toward Jie Yuan, Ni Xuan, and Ni Jie was simply far too normal.

[In order to obtain the fragment of the Ancestral Divine Art that was in the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor's possession, the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor lured her to the eastern border of the Primal Chaos. After that, he used the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword to tear a hole in the Wall of Primal Chaos, before he unleashed its might once more to expel the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her Heaven Smiting Devil Clan from the Primal Chaos… From then on, the four mighty Devil Emperors were reduced to three. This momentous event shook the devil race violently and caused strife and unease to spread through the world.]

[After that, the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor engaged in a fierce and terrible battle with the Creation God of the Elements for reasons unknown… When the battle ended, the Creation God of the Elements abandoned his title of Creation God. He titled himself the "Heretic God" and went into seclusion for ever more.]

[The Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor also went into a long seclusion after that battle. The Dragon God visited him but was turned away outside the doors of his divine palace. Later, the princess returned home, but she heard the Creation Goddess of Life's lament first. The Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor's vital energy had been exhausted and he was only left with a mere hundred thousand years left to live.]

[It is suspected that he unleashed the might of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword once again during his battle with the Creation God of the Elements.]

[The head of the True Gods, the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor, went to his rest. His lifespan reached its end and the last divine words he uttered were "Mo Su", his deceased son's name.]

……………...

The rest of the records regarding Mo E were things that Yun Che was familiar with. In fact, in some cases, the information he possessed contained more truth and was even more detailed than what had been recorded in this ancient tome… For example, Mo E's purported purpose for meeting the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, the fragment of the Ancestral Divine Art, had been a complete sham. The truth was that he wanted to completely extinguish all records of the taboo committed by her and the Creation God of the Elements.

"To think that the strongest Creation God of ancient times died so early that he could not even participate in the War of the Gods and Devils," Qianye Ying'er said in a mocking voice. "Did killing his own child shorten his lifespan?"

Yun Che did not reply. Instead, he continued reading the tome.

[Creation God of Order: Xi Ke]

[Profound Treasure: The Eternal Heaven Pearl]

[He was the Creation God that created and maintained the laws of heaven, and preserved the balance of the universe itself]

[His personality was calm and aloof, and he constantly sought to ensure justice and peace among the innumerable god clans. He hated all sorts of conflict and was fond of traveling the universe alone and acting independently.]

[Even though he was a Creation God, he did not build a divine palace, nor did he have any divine armies or divine guards at his command.]

["The one who seeks to order the heavens and the earth must not have any selfish emotions or desires". These were the words that the Creation God of Order once said to the ancestral Dragon God.]

Yun Che's lips screwed up… A Creation God that did not allow himself to have any selfish emotions or desires. "I wouldn't take that job even if it was offered up to me on a silver platter!"

No wonder the Moon Gods, Star Gods, and Brahma Gods whose divine inheritances the king realms of the east inherited all served under Mo E during the Ancient Era. It was actually because one of the mighty Creation Gods had chosen not to set up a divine palace or recruit any divine servants!

He only had that Eternal Heaven Pearl. Even though it had ended up founding the Eternal Heaven God Realm… Yun Che had still destroyed it in the end.

However, the records of the Creation God of Order did not mention his death… so it was clear that he had only died after the Dragon God Tribe had fallen.