Against the Gods

Despite shaking non-stop, Zhou Qingchen gritted his teeth and was able to gather a shred of courage somehow. He looked straight into Yun Che’s eyes and declared, “Everyone in the God Realm views the lower realms like ants or grass. The Eternal Heaven God Realm and my father are the only ones who never took the life of an innocent lower realm being! In fact, we even do our utmost to protect them if we happened on them by chance.”

“Your homeworld… the Moon God Emperor was the one who destroyed that lower realm planet called Blue Pole Star, not my father. My father’s target has always only been you!”

If Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er had been other people, they might have felt real admiration toward his impassioned speech and the look in his eyes.

If there was a spectator, they also would’ve felt sorry and indignant on his behalf. The grudge between Yun Che and the Eternal Heaven God Realm might run deep, but Zhou Qingchen was completely innocent. He hadn’t committed any atrocities or participated in any of his father’s decisions. All he was was Zhou Xuzi’s son.

So he was nothing more than an innocent and sorrowful man caught in a terrible situation… just like Yun Che’s own family!

“Well said, well said.” Yun Che raised his hand and patted Zhou Qingchen on the head. “This speech, this ‘altruism’, you really are that old dog’s son. They were the qualities that won my respect back then, especially his ‘kindness’ and ‘oath’. Once, I even thought that they were the most sacred and unbreakable qualities of the Eastern Divine Region. Tsk tsk…”

“Yun Che!” Qianye Ying’er suddenly interrupted him in an unkind tone. “If you want to act, then act quickly. Don’t waste time on a piece of trash!”

“...” Zhou Qingchen’s pupils suddenly trembled violently when he heard this. He strained his neck and turned around, barely catching a glimpse of the woman’s figure with the corner of his eyes before saying, “Lady Goddess, you…”

“Trash? But he’s the Eternal Heaven Crown Prince,” Yun Che replied while beaming at Zhou Qingchen. Zhou Qingchen had been able to talk back to Yun Che despite being under the pressure of his hateful eyes, but one line from Qianye Ying’er shattered almost all of the light in his eyes.

“Hmph!” Qianye Ying’er never even looked at Zhou Qingchen. “And what else does he have besides his status? He is even lower than that Moon God Crown Prince who died a horrible death in the Moon God Realm. Yue Xuange at least had ambition and skills, but this one… the son of that old dog is nothing more than a naive and stupid puppy who deluded himself into thinking that he’s noble and virtuous.”

“...” Zhou Qingchen shuddered and turned deathly white in an instant. His searching eyes became murky and dark, and his heart clenched like it was about to burst into pieces.

“You’re a man who swore to turn the God Realm into hell, and you’re wasting your breath on someone like him?” Qianye Ying’er sneered. “Is this really the peak of your character?”

Yun Che shot her a look before replying, “Will you die if you stop insulting me for a day!?”

“You’re the one who gave me the chance.” Qianye Ying’er pressed her eyebrows together slightly before continuing. “There’s no way Zhu Liu and Tai Yin’s deaths escaped the Eternal Heaven God Realm’s notice, so we don’t have much time left. Deal with him already!”

“...” The light in Zhou Qingchen’s eyes and soul broke apart like glass as their conversation—Qianye Ying’er’s words—entered his ears. His pupils were without color and his muscles were refusing to respond to his thoughts. He was unable to speak at all.

It was at this moment that Yun Che pressed a hand to Zhou Qingchen’s head and said slowly, “Brother Qingchen, you said that a person who transformed into a devil person is a sinful heretic who should be purged from in this world even if they never did anything wrong, am I right? Remember what you said. Never forget it for the rest of your life!”

Bang!

A boom happened in Zhou Qingchen’s head, and he completely lost consciousness.

“What do you plan to do to him?” Qianye Ying’er asked idly.

Instead of answering her question, Yun Che stretched his fingers out and gathered a ball of infinite darkness at the center of his palm. The world immediately turned dark as if nighttime was about to fall.

The Eternal Calamity of Darkness? Qianye Ying’er turned to look at Yun Che… why did he need the Eternal Calamity of Darkness to torture a small fry like Zhou Qingchen?

In fact, the longer Yun Che circulated the power, the heavier the pressure on her shoulders became. It was clear that he was using almost all his power to do whatever he was planning to do.

A couple of breaths later, the darkness had engulfed Yun Che and the light within a radius of several dozen kilometers vanished completely.

Finally, Yun Che put his palm over Zhou Qingchen’s chest. The eternal darkness that seemed capable of devouring even the world instantly engulfed its victim.

A bit of puzzlement flashed across Qianye Ying’er’s mind. At Yun Che’s current level, he had a million ways to annihilate Zhou Qingchen down to atoms. If all he wanted was to destroy Zhou Qingchen with darkness, there was no reason for him to go to such great lengths to achieve his goal.

However, she quickly realized that Zhou Qingchen’s physical body was unharmed despite being bathed in enough darkness to destroy even an early stage Divine Master. His power was left intact as well.

Countless streams of darkness started flowing into Zhou Qingchen’s body. The darkness power Yun Che inherited from the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor slowly became fused into the crown prince’s skin, flesh, bones, nerves, profound veins, organs, soul...

Zhou Qingchen subconsciously tried to resist the transformation, but he was far weaker than Yun Che and unconscious, not to mention that the Eternal Calamity of Darkness was the devil art of a Devil Emperor. His struggle was insignificant and pathetic, and it only took the blink of an eye for the darkness to overwhelm his physical and mental resistance completely.

Could he...

Is he… trying to transform Zhou Qingchen into a devil person!?

Shock flashed across Qianye Ying’er’s face.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible for a profound practitioner to transform into a devil person. If the profound practitioner was influenced by terribly negative emotions or subsumed by an extremely pure bloodline of darkness, it was entirely possible for them to transform into a devil. However, the former case happened very rarely, and the latter case… Forget the fact that the amount of ancient devil bloodlines in the Northern Divine Region could be counted on one hand, the people of the God Realm hated devil people so much that no one in their right mind would willingly transform themselves into one.

Besides that, Qianye Ying’er had never heard of a way that one could transform a normal person into a devil person by force.

The reason she herself was able to transform into a devil person was because she had refined a drop of the Devil Emperor’s blood. Moreover, the transformation was successful only because she willed so. It wouldn’t have worked otherwise.

But right now, Zhou Qingchen was clearly being transformed into a devil person against his will!

To think that the Eternal Calamity of Darkness had such a terrifying ability!

She called Zhou Qingchen weak, but that was only relatively speaking. He was a middle stage Divine Sovereign after all. It was no easy task to convert a middle stage Divine Sovereign into a devil person with Yun Che’s current mastery of the power, but his widening pupils and his trembling fingers made it clear that he was enjoying every moment of it.

Buzz— 

Seven and a half minutes later, the darkness dissipated without warning and allowed light to reach the ground once more.

The only thing left that was still glowing faintly with darkness… was Zhou Qingchen himself.

However, the darkness was no external attachment. It was a glow that originated from his body, his profound veins… and even his soul!

It was because Yun Che had converted all of his profound energy into darkness profound energy!

Just like the Heretic God Art, the Eternal Calamity of Darkness was an impossible power that shouldn’t exist in this world. So far, all the abilities it displayed absolutely defied common sense.

Qianye Ying’er had witnessed the terror that was the Eternal Calamity of Darkness many times already, so her shock only lasted for a moment. After staring at Yun Che for a moment, the corner of her lips curled into an enigmatic smile. “What wonderful malice. You deserve praise this time.”

She was correct. It was pure malice.

After all… he had just transformed the Eternal Heaven Crown Prince, Zhou Qingchen into a devil person!

Even she couldn’t imagine a more malicious way to attack the Eternal Heaven God Emperor and the Eternal Heaven Realm!

She couldn’t even imagine how the Eternal Heaven God Emperor would react upon realizing his most beloved son—the only son he had ever had with his main wife—had turned into a devil person. 

Yun Che grabbed the unconscious Zhou Qingchen and threw him into the profound ark Qu Hui had released earlier.

“Brother Qingchen, I’m sure your new life will be an enjoyable one,” Yun Che said with a smile before pushing the profound ark with his palm. The vessel instantly took off into the distance after it was forcibly started.

Earlier, Qu Hui had engraved a destination into the profound ark. If nothing were to happen to the vessel on the way, it should leave the God Realm of Absolute Beginning and return back to the Eternal Heaven God Realm on its own.

Yun Che wished from the bottom of his heart that Zhou Qingchen would return to his home safe and sound.

“Enjoy my first gift to you to your heart’s content, old dog Eternal Heaven!”

Yun Che muttered to himself slowly after the profound ark vanished from sight, “Everything has only just begun.”

Qianye Ying’er walked up to his side and asked, “Are we staying here, or are we going back to the Northern Divine Region?”

He and Qianye Ying’er wouldn’t have exposed themselves if it wasn’t for the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning. The divine fruit was now in their possession, but as a result they couldn’t stay in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning any longer.

Undoubtedly, the Eternal Heaven God Realm would unite their worlds and scour every inch of the God Realm of Absolute Beginning for a very long time to come.

But if they returned to the Northern Divine Region now, they would have to face down the Soul Stealing Realm and the Burning Moon Realm.

“We return to the Northern Divine Region,” Yun Che said with almost no hesitation whatsoever. “We left earlier because the time wasn’t right, but now… it is time!”

“Oh?” The ghost of a smile passed through Qianye Ying’er’s lips. “Is it because of the Untamed World Pellet?”

The legendary “Untamed World Pellet” was made from two ingredients, and they were the Untamed Divine Marrow and the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning. Now, they had both ingredients.

The “Untamed World Pellet” was originally mentioned in a record from the Era of Gods. At the time, everyone thought that it was a thing of the past.

However, the Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor did the impossible and used it to climb to the peak of power, turning the Eternal Heaven Realm into a mighty king realm. Since then, the Untamed World Pellet became a miracle that every profound practitioner desired, but only really entertained in their dreams.

It was because the Untamed Divine Marrow and the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning were impossibly rare. It would be a miracle to obtain even one of them, much less two.

If the Untamed World Pellet really was as miraculous as legend says, then...

“What else?” Yun Che countered expressionlessly.

“It looks like you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Qianye Ying’er said. “I’m the one who has the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning right now, but you don’t look worried in the slightest. Are you that sure that I’ll return this to you?”

Yun Che glanced at her and replied, “I was going to share half of the Untamed World Pellet with you. This is unsightly of you.”

“...” Qianye Ying’er abruptly turned to stare at him with wide eyes. A moment later, she said, “You want to give me half the pellet? Do you know how miraculous the Untamed World Pellet is!? Or do you think I’m as naive and stupid as that Zhou Qingchen!?”

“There are records of the Untamed World Pellet in the Wood Spirit Royal Family’s memory,” Yun Che replied expressionlessly. “Shen Xi also brought this up to me specifically. That is why I’m sure that my knowledge of the Untamed World Pellet far surpasses yours.”

Qianye Ying’er, “...”

“My Sky Poison Spirit knows the complete method to refine the Untamed World Pellet, not to mention that it will be refined using the Sky Poison Orb. I’m sure that even half of the pellet will surpass the one mentioned in the God Realm’s history by far!”

“So what?” Qianye Ying’er narrowed her eyes slightly. “No one can resist the temptation that is the Untamed World Pellet, especially you who seek to take revenge even in your dreams. I don’t believe that you’ll give me half of it at all!”

“As my tool, you have no right to question me!” A chill entered Yun Che’s voice. “Also, you seemed to have forgotten one thing.”

“I may be as strong as a Divine Master, but my profound veins are still at Divine Sovereign Realm. There’s no way they can withstand the power of the Untamed World Pellet right now… But you can.” 

“I plan to seek out that legendary ‘Devil Queen’ directly and cooperate with her after we return.” A glint flashed across Yun Che’s eyes. “The best and only way to ensure the best level of safety and ‘bargaining chip’ for ourselves is to increase your cultivation with the Untamed World Pellet… what do you think?”

Qianye Ying’er stared at Yun Che for a while. Slowly, she said, “The reason you purposely suppressed my recovery earlier was because you were worried that I would escape your control. Aren’t you afraid that I will kill you after my cultivation level surpasses yours!?”

“That was then, this is now.” Yun Che lifted a hand idly and summoned a black flash. Black mist immediately started pouring out of Qianye Ying’er’s body as her aura became disrupted. “You are the incubator I used to refine my devil blood and cultivate the Eternal Calamity of Darkness... Do you really think you can escape my control with my current mastery?”

“Heh.” Qianye Ying’er let out a chuckle before replying, “I thought you would get angry at least… what a boring and disappointing spar this turned out to be. You’re right, and it doesn’t look like I have a choice or the grounds to fight anyway.”

She flipped over her palm, and the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning appeared between her fingers. It was still glowing like a star.

However, she didn’t throw the fruit back to Yun Che. She held it in her palm and frowned deeply in puzzlement. “The Untamed Divine Marrow is one thing, but this divine fruit… don’t you think that it fell into our grasp a bit too easily?”