Against the Gods

The situation had changed in far too dramatic and violent a manner, so even though Yun Che had managed to cope with the changes, his back was already drenched in sweat.

He knew that he had rejected something that someone else would not even be able to dream of in ten thousand lives, and he also knew that his act of rejection was an action that would be viewed as absolutely inexplicable by everyone else, but… in the end, his desires and thoughts were something that only he himself could know.

After putting away the Dragon God Mark, Yun Che was afraid that another strange incident might occur so he spoke up, “This junior has actually already thought of the skill that he wants to learn. Is it alright if I make it clear right now?”

“Oh? Certainly.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor nodded his head, “However, the king realms possess many profound arts which require unique bloodlines and some of our profound arts are forbidden to ever be divulged to outsiders.”

“This junior understands,” Yun Che said as his gaze swivelled towards where the Star God Realm were seated. “This junior hopes to be fortunate enough to be allowed to learn a divine technique unique to the Star God Realm—Star God’s Broken Shadow!”

“...I see.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor nodded his head, he could scarcely quell the small surge of disappointment in his heart upon knowing that his Eternal Heaven Realm had not been selected, “Star God’s Broken Shadow is indeed a divine technique that is unique to the Star God Realm, and it is not one that requires a particular bloodline nor is it one that is forbidden from being taught to outsiders. Star God Emperor, how do you feel about this?”

“...” The Star God Emperor’s brow faintly twitched as it was eminently clear that he had not expected Yun Che to actually choose his Star God Realm in the first place.

He had rejected the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, he had rejected the Brahma Heaven God Emperor and the Brahma Monarch Goddess, he had rejected the Dragon Monarch, but to think he had actually chosen his Star God Realm...

Even though it was only about choosing the prize for coming in first in the Conferred God Battle, for those few fleeting moments, the Star God Emperor actually bizarrely felt like he was being overwhelmed by the favor being shown him by a superior being.

Just as the Star God Emperor was about to speak, the Moon God Emperor suddenly spoke up, “Ah, now that’s curious. In the eyes of this king, your Snow Song Realm’s ‘Moon Splitting Cascade’ isn’t inferior to Star God’s Broken Shadow. Furthermore, the Star God’s Broken Shadow technique is one that is hard to learn and is hard to master. Furthermore, it is not able to achieve that wondrous ‘invisibility’. Therefore your choice is a truly strange one indeed.”

Indignation spread across the Star God Emperor’s face and it seemed like he was about to erupt in anger.

Yun Che replied, “When Master taught me the Moon Splitting Cascade in the first place, she mentioned that the ultimate profound movement skill in the Eastern Divine Region belonged to the Star God Realm’s Heavenly Slaughter God. Special mention was given to her Star God’s Broken Shadow technique. She said that it was an exquisite and peerless profound movement skill which was among the techniques that stood at the summit of all profound movement skills in the known universe… So even though my sect’s Moon Splitting Cascade is indeed excellent, it definitely can’t be compared to the Star God’s Broken Shadow technique. It was because of this that this junior’s heart became set on this from a long time ago.”

“If I am able to cultivate the Star God’s Broken Shadow technique, even if my talent is sorely lacking and it is hard for me to attain mastery of the skill, just being able to personally witness it myself would fulfill one of my heart’s desires... So I would hope that the Star God Emperor could fulfill my wish.”

The sincerity in Yun Che’s tone also carried some notes of impatience. The Star God Emperor slowly nodded his head, and it was rare to see his face light up with such brilliance in front of the other god emperors. He gave a faint smile as he said, “Star God’s Broken Shadow is indeed one of the ultimate profound movement skills in all of the Eastern Divine Region, but it is also indeed hard to learn and hard to master. If you went by trying to learn the divine art alone, it would perhaps be extremely hard to cultivate...”

But as he paused mid-sentence, his eyes turned towards someone as he spoke, “Eternal Heaven God Emperor, the gathered heaven chosen children are only entering the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm one month from now right?”

“That is correct.”

“Good.” The Star God Emperor gave another nod of his head, “How about this then. Yun Che, you can follow this king back to the Star God Realm and this king will order the Heavenly Slaughter Star God to personally impart to you the Star God’s Broken Shadow technique. Then after a month has passed, I will dispatch people to deliver you back to the Eternal Heaven Realm.

The face of the Heavenly Origin Star God Tumi, who stood beside the Star God Emperor, faintly twitched, but after that, a realization seemed to dawn over him.

The brows of the Eternal Heaven God Emperor faintly sank, but he suddenly heard Yun Che’s extremely moved reply, “This is something that this junior could only dream of. Since that is the case… I deeply thank the Star God Emperor for fulfilling my wish.”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor could only swallow the words that he was about to say. After that, he turned around and announced instead, “I’m afraid we won’t need a month. Moon God Emperor, since all of the heroes of the Eastern Divine Region are present, you should have something to tell us all, correct?”

The Moon God Emperor stepped forward after he heard those words and he gave a soft laugh as he said, "Even though the Profound God Convention has indeed come to a close, all who are gathered here should not be in a hurry to leave. Because just half a month from now, it will be the date of this king’s new marriage. Most of the people present today should have already received the invitation that this king has sent out, so I hope that all of you will grace me with your presences once the time comes.”

“The thousand heaven chosen children that were decided by this Profound God Convention represent the future of the Eastern Divine Region. Since the time to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm will be a month from now, then when the time comes, please come as well.”

After the Moon God Emperor finished speaking, it was natural that countless voices responded to those words.

“We congratulate the Moon God Emperor on his wonderful wedding.”

“The wedding of the Moon God Emperor is a grand occasion for the entire Eastern Divine Region, so how could we miss out on it?”

“To be able to receive the Moon God Emperor’s invitation is great fortune indeed. We will definitely come when the time arrives...”

………………

Who would dare to reject the invitation of the Moon God Emperor? Furthermore, to a vast majority of those who were present, being able to enter the Moon God Realm would be the first and perhaps the only time they would be able to travel to such a place in their entire lives, so there was absolutely no reason for them to not go.

It was just that when one mentioned the Moon God Emperor’s wedding, everyone would unconsciously remember the great “scandal” which happened all those years ago.

That scandal was enough to cause any man to lose all of his dignity and prestige, but just thirty odd years later, the Moon God Emperor actually, once again, announced his impending marriage.

In the vast God Realm, even three hundred years, much less a short thirty odd years, would not be sufficient for people to forget that enormous earth-shaking scandal. Even if the Moon God Emperor had once again found an incomparably admirable girl, he should not have announced his impending marriage yet again, given the exceedingly short span of time that had passed since his last marriage announcement... Because this was no less than exposing one’s own trauma and disgrace.

The Moon God Emperor had not only done so, but he had made the event especially grand and well-known.

The invitations had started to be sent out three years ago, and among those who had the qualifications to receive the invitation to observe the battles between the contestant of the Conferred God Battle, a large number of them had indeed received the invitations sent by the Moon God Realm… Furthermore, even though the marriage between the Moon God Emperor and Yue Wugou had been so extravagant that the entire Realm of the Gods knew of it, only the king realms and the upper star realms had been invited.

This time, however, even the middle star realms and some of the lower star realms had received the invite.

It was very clear that this marriage of the Moon God Emperor was not only as grand and showy as it was before, they obviously also wanted to make it an even grander spectacle than it was before.

“Master, are we also among the invited?” Huo Poyun asked.

“Of course,” Huo Rulie said. “To the best of my knowledge, all of the middle star realms were invited as well. A god emperor sending out wedding invitations to all the middle star realms... This is something that is nearly unheard of.”

“That’s great!” Huo Poyun said excitedly, “If it’s like this, then we can visit the fabled Moon God Realm.”

“Heh heh, the Moon God Realm... I’m afraid that this sort of opportunity won’t come a second time,” Yan Juehai said with an emphatic sigh. As one of the Flame God Three Sect Masters, even he did not have the qualification to take a step into the Moon God Realm.

“The only reason why the Moon God Emperor would make such an arrangement is because he wants to completely wash away the disgrace he suffered all those years ago,” Huo Rulie said. “It looks like the future Moon God Empress is definitely no ordinary person.”

“Yue Wugou, who possessed the Divine Stainless Body, is already a unique existence in this world. For the Moon God Emperor to act in such a way. It must mean that this Moon God Empress must definitely be better than… no, she must be far above Yue Wugou,” Yan Juehai said with furrowed brows but after that he shook his head. “That isn’t something that people like us can imagine.”

“Well, we will know once the time comes,” Hu Rulie replied.

It was at this moment that a voice suddenly rang out at an inopportune time, “Hmph, I heard that the Moon God Emperor had invited all the heroes in the realm to his wedding this time around, and it was as if he wanted everyone in all the myriad worlds to know. But given the scale and grandeur of this event, the Moon God Emperor better be extra careful. Because if even the smallest incident happens yet again, well let’s forget about you because your own honor and dignity has long been thrown away, it would be bad if you dragged the entire Moon God Realm through your mud and made them the laughingstock of the known universe as well.”

After those words were uttered, the entire Conferred God Stage descended into a shocked silence as everyone felt their hearts thumping in their chests.

Shockingly enough, the one who had said those things was the Star God Emperor himself!

The grievance that lay between the Star God Realm and the Moon God Realm had been festering for a long time. The disgrace the Moon God Realm had suffered all those years ago was also seen as something that had been perpetrated by the Star God Realm, so it caused the relationship between the two realms to worsen dramatically.

The words uttered by the Star God Emperor were undoubtedly meant to cruelly jab at the greatest humiliation the Moon God Emperor had ever suffered in his life, in front of all who were present.

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor was also nearly shocked out of his skin... The Star God Emperor and the Moon God Emperor had promised him that they would put aside their grievances and grudges for the duration of his Profound God Convention. But who would have thought that the Star God Emperor would provoke the Moon God Emperor the moment the curtains closed on the Profound God Convention.

He was just about to speak when he discovered that the Moon God Emperor did not seem the least bit agitated. Instead, the Moon God Emperor let out a great roar of laughter, “Hahahaha. Many thanks for the Star God Emperor’s reminder. Half a month from now, I will also insist that the Star God Emperor grace us with his presence. If you don’t come, it will be one of the great regrets of my life.”

The Moon God Emperor’s reaction struck everyone dumb there and then.

The Star God Emperor had clearly not anticipated that the Moon God Emperor would react in such a way. Not only had he not gotten the least bit upset, he had even cheerfully sent an invitation his way. A nameless anger suddenly surged up in his chest at this sudden turn of events, but he had nothing to take it out on. So he merely flung his sleeve aside as he gave a cold snort.

“When the time comes, I’ll also have to trouble the Eternal Heaven God Emperor.” The Moon God Emperor gave the Eternal Heaven God Emperor a small bow, a faint smile playing along his lips. After he had mentioned his wedding, that was to be held in half a month, his mood had clearly become extremely good. As a result, the Star God Emperor’s deliberate provocation felt like nothing more than harmless tickling to him.

This undoubtedly caused everyone to become even more intrigued and speculative about this mysterious “Moon God Empress” whose identity had yet to be revealed.

“Heh heh, to have the opportunity to use my limited power to aid the Moon God Emperor for his big day is truly a fortunate thing indeed,” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor said with a mild laugh. After he said those words, he announced, “This session’s Profound God Convention came into existence because of the ‘crimson crack’. So if the worse case scenario truly does occur in the future, these heaven chosen children can be a strong source of strength and hope for our Eastern Divine Region.”

“However, at present, the Profound God Convention has been drawn to a perfect close. The Moon God Emperor’s joyous occasion is also nearing, so I would beseech everyone to temporarily put aside their worries about the ‘crimson crack’ and stay for a while in my Eternal Heaven Realm. Half a month from now, this king will bring all of you along with me to the Moon God Realm.”

“Yun Che, since the Star God Emperor has already granted you permission, you should follow him to the Star God Realm for this period of time. You just need to return half a month from now. The Moon God Emperor’s wedding is a grand occasion that will last through all the ages, if you miss it, it will truly be regrettable.” The Eternal Heaven God Emperor had deliberately said this to Yun Che… or perhaps, these words were for the Star God Emperor himself.

“...Yes,” Yun Che replied. He had little to no interest in the Moon God Realm and the Moon God Emperor, and if he could fulfill his wish to meet Jasmine in the Star God Realm, he would definitely wish to stay there for a longer period of time. But right now, he was unable to reject this invitation in front of everyone, so he had no choice but to comply for the time being.

In the peaks of the distant clouds above, a red figure soundlessly faded into the distance.

----------------------------

Moon God Realm, God Empress Palace.

A woman was dressed in a long moon-white robe, the robe of her skirt pooling about her feet. The robe was embroidered with luxurious and mysterious jade markings, it glowed with the luster of gems. A head of fine black hair was loosely bound up by moon-white tassels, but apart from these tassels, there was not a single decoration or accessory adorning her body, nor was her face or skin touched by any cosmetics. Yet her slender neck and her jade mien was pale as snow and rosy as rogue in all the right places. Even though one could only see her silhouette, it already seemed like one was looking at a gorgeous woman who was as dreamy as a celestial.

At this moment, an aura approached at a fast yet cautious speed. Very quickly, a girl descended from the sky. She bowed her head as she entered the temple before making a full bow to the back of the woman.

“Jin Yue, have you found out the cause yet?” The woman did not turn around as she softly uttered those words. Even though her tone was inquisitive, it was also exceptionally calm. So it was clear that it was not something that overly bothered her.

“I reply to the God Empress.” In contrast to the indifference of the God Empress, the girl seemed to bubble over with emotion, “The black clouds which previously appeared not only covered the Moon God Realm. In fact, it’s rumoured that the entire Eastern Divine Region was engulfed in those dark clouds. Furthermore, the reason… if I said it perhaps the God Empress would not believe it, but it seems to have happened because one person broke through from the Divine Tribulation Realm.”

“...” The God Empress’ tone finally showed a flicker of change as she spoke, “Thunder clouds of tribulation lightning?”

“Indeed,” the girl replied. “That person drew to himself a nine stage lightning tribulation, something that has been unheard of in history and the thunder clouds themselves were extraordinarily exaggerated. Furthermore, this is no mere rumor, because it happened on the Eternal Heaven Conferred God Stage when the Conferred God Battle was happening. So the Lord God Emperors themselves personally stood witness to these events and the entire Eastern Divine Region was also able to personally witness what happened via the star tablets.

Moon God Empress, “...”

“That person not only drew a nine stage lightning tribulation towards him, he even managed to safely break through to the Divine Spirit Realm after that. He beat Luo Changsheng, the one who was said to be the leader of the Four God Children of the Eastern Region, achieving first place in the Conferred God Battle. These events have already shocked and awed the entire Eastern Divine Region.”

“Nine stage lightning tribulation, this has never happened before even in ancient times. So it looks like this person definitely possesses extraordinary talent,” the God Empress said in a low voice.

“Oh right, that person is the Snow Song disciple that this servant mentioned to the empress before... Yun Che.” As she thought of the reaction the God Empress previously had towards this name, the girl’s voice grew ever so cautious.

“...” The God Empress remained silent for a long period of time.

The girl presented a Profound Imagery Stone with both her hands, “This is the profound image that we recorded from the star tablet, if the God Empress has any interest, you can...”

“There’s no need.”

This was a huge event which had rocked the entire Eastern Divine Region yet the God Empress seemed completely indifferent to it, “Go and fetch today’s medicine for me.”

“Does the empress yet again want to personally deliver it to madam... This servant will go and fetch it.”

The girl retreated with soft steps but she stopped right in front of the palace gates before she said in a clear and loud voice, “Our Lord God Emperor should be back in a few hours time. At that time, he will definitely rush over to see the empress.”

“You may go.” No ripples appeared across the God Empress’ face and her voice was soft and gentle but it possessed a cold detachment which caused everyone to shy away.