Against the Gods

The border of the Northern Divine Region.

Even though he had not been gone for long, Yun Che’s strength had undergone an earth-shattering change upon his return to the Northern Divine Region. Another very big difference was that there was also a Qianye Ying’er at his side this time.

When he had lost everything back then, with nothing to bind him and nothing for him to hold onto, the only thing he desired was vengeance. His thirst for power became so strong that it bordered on obsession, unwittingly causing him to continuously unearth his own personal talents. 

The progress he made with the Eternal Calamity of Darkness was so eye-popping that even the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor would be shocked.

The law of nothingness, the principle he had not understood at all before, was now constantly displaying its might, a power that was growing more and more terrifying.

Qianye Ying’er was a cultivation incubator of the highest degree. Adding the law of nothingness to Ying’er resulted in Yun Che’s strength growing at such a ridiculous rate that it would shatter the knowledge of everyone in the entire history of the God Realm… In fact, his growth in under three years had even shattered the basic principles governing the profound way, laws that had been set in stone.

Qianye Ying’er had witnessed everything… She really wanted to be there to personally witness what sort of face the Eternal Heaven God Emperor would make when he discovered that Honorable Tai Yin had been killed by Yun Che.

It was obvious that Yun Che did not feel a hint of satisfaction toward his current progress. On the contrary… in the period of time that was to come, thanks to the fortuitous encounters they had in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, his power, and Qianye Ying’er’s power, would once again grow tremendously.

“I was able to refine two Untamed World Pellets using the Untamed Divine Marrow and the Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning.”

A pinprick of silvery-scarlet shone in Yun Che’s hand.

Qianye Ying’er’s gaze momentarily froze when it came into contact with Yun Che’s palm, but she was unable to clearly see the shape of the Untamed World Pellet. This was because her eyes were unable to pierce that light even though they were very powerful. The light itself was not very glaring yet it was extremely deep.

“Even though it’s only half a pellet, its medicinal strength definitely far exceeds the one that the Eternal Heaven Ancestor obtained back then,” Yun Che said in an unhurried manner. “You have the blood of a Devil Emperor as your foundation, so half a year should be enough time for you to completely refine it.”

Qianye Ying’er stretched out a hand and simply snatched up that Untamed World Pellet between her fingers. As she felt that divine spiritual aura which instantly pervaded her body, the corners of her lips curled up and she said, “Back then, before the Eternal Heaven Great Ancestor had been fully recognized by the Eternal Heaven Pearl as its master, before she had completely inherited the Eternal Heaven divine power, a single Untamed World Pellet had allowed her to jump from the fifth level of the Divine Master Realm to the seventh level of the Divine Master Realm in a single step. All in the span of one short year.”

“Jumping two small realms in the Divine Master Realm within the short span of a year; this is a feat that no one could replicate in her era. A feat that no one could replicate even in the eras after her. The entire universe was shaken by her accomplishment and ever since then, the Untamed World Pellet became known as a ‘divine miracle’ of the profound way.”

“Though I don’t know what sort of divine miracle it will cause in my body… Hmph, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Qianye Ying’er slowly closed her hand. When she was still the Brahma Monarch Goddess, her goal was to break through the limits of the profound way. In order to obtain an even stronger power, no matter how slim the possibilities were, there was nothing she would not do.

However, even during that period, she had never once truly wished that she could obtain an Untamed World Pellet. It was simply too hard to obtain a Divine Fruit of Absolute Beginning. The Eternal Heaven God Realm possessed the Eternal Heaven Pearl, which could sense its aura, and extremely strong spatial powers, so they still had a chance of obtaining it. For the other strong king realms, obtaining just a single fruit was as hard as scaling the heavens.

As for the Untamed Divine Marrow… Even in the distant past, rumors about the disappearance of the Untamed Divine Marrow from the universe had been circulating in the Primal Chaos.

But today, although she was holding an Untamed World Pellet in her hand, Qianye Ying’er did not feel too emotional or excited.

Perhaps, it was because obtaining this Untamed World Pellet had simply been far too easy. Or perhaps it was because her heart, goals, and destiny had become completely different from what they had been back then.

“So are you going to refine the other half when you reach the middle stages of the Divine Master Realm in the future?” Qianye Ying’er asked in a seemingly casual manner.

“No,” Yun Che replied indifferently. “I only need to wait until I enter the Divine Master Realm.”

As the highest grade medicine to ever appear in the history of the God Realm, even though its medicinal strength was considered a divine miracle, it required one to be at least at the middle stages of the Divine Master Realm before it could be consumed and refined. 

However, Yun Che was clearly an exception to this rule.

He was absolutely sure that he could directly refine the other Untamed World Pellet in his possession the moment he stepped into the Divine Master Realm.

They were currently inside the world of the Primordial Profound Ark. The world contained within the Primordial Profound Ark was vast and boundless but the level of its aura was very low. It was barely superior to the aura found in the Blue Pole Star, so it was a place that was extremely unsuitable for cultivation.

But upon returning to the Northern Divine Region, this was undoubtedly the safest place for them.

Furthermore, during the upcoming period of time, Yuin Che and Qianye Ying’er would not be cultivating. Qianye Ying’er would refine her Untamed World Pellet while Yun Che would use the law of nothingness to completely absorb those wild beast profound cores that Caizhi had given him… each of these profound cores had come from a vicious beast that was more terrifying than the last.

When the Star God Realm had been flourishing at its peak, if one counted both the Star Gods and the elders, they had fifty-one Divine Masters. When Caizhi had thrown those wild beast profound pellets at him, thirty of those radiated the aura of a Divine Master. This meant that she had hunted more than thirty wild beasts of the Absolute Beginning which were at the Divine Master Realm.

The number of such profound pellets was more than half the Divine Masters that the Star God Realm had at its peak.

It was hard for Yun Che to imagine exactly how she had accomplished such a feat… It was even harder for him to imagine just what sort of cultivation purgatory that small and delicate body, which was so colorful and lithe, had to go through in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning for him.

Qianye Ying’er had already swallowed the Untamed World Pellet somewhere inside the Primordial Profound Ark. Following that, starlight and spiritual energy engulfed a fifty kilometer radius around her, but she had already begun to focus on refining the Untamed World Pellet.

Yun Che also released one Divine Master Profound Core.

It was much harder for him to increase his cultivation compared to other profound practitioners of the same level. However, by borrowing the power of the law of nothingness, these wild beast profound cores were definitely enough to give him a significant boost in profound strength.

Three small realms… The seventh level of the Divine Sovereign Realm. They would definitely be enough!

If he could climb to the seventh level of the Divine Sovereign Realm, this coupled with the power Qianye Ying’er would obtain after refining the Untamed World Pellet would be enough to allow them to stand at the highest peak of the Northern Divine Region.

It could also… be the first real step toward his goal!

    ……

What exactly is the law of nothingness?

In the world of his consciousness, the origin energy within the wild beast profound cores was gradually being dissolved into “nothingness”, and this “nothingness” was gradually producing power that belonged to him within his profound veins.

There was no way to explain it with the common principles that governed the profound way. In fact, it did not even fit any of the logic and laws which governed the universe at large.

All creation returns to nothing, but is also birthed from nothing.

So does nothingness actually exist?

If it doesn't exist, how did it birth all of creation? If it does exist, why is it called “nothingness”?

If everything in the world can return to nothing, then besides the things one could see, what about things like space? Things like time? What about things like thoughts and even destiny...

Destiny?

Why did I think of destiny?

    ……

When a person was immersed in the world of their consciousness, it was nearly impossible to sense the passage of time. At some undetermined point in time, his consciousness suddenly blurred and he sank into an illusory dreamscape.

Blue Pole Star, Blue Wind Nation, Floating Cloud City, Xiao Clan.

“Grandfather, how did Father die? Grandfather previously said that you would tell me once I turned ten.”

Xiao Che, who had already turned ten, was sitting on Xiao Lie’s lap. Beside him was Xiao Lingxi, who had just turned nine and always stuck close to him. She was playing with a lotus leaf she had just plucked when Xiao Che spoke. Upon hearing those words, her starry eyes swiveled toward them. She stared unblinkingly at Xiao Lie as she waited for his reply.

“Hoho.” Xiao Lie shook his head in a rather helpless manner. Even though he had let out a very gentle laugh, there was a wounded grief in his eyes that stared into the distance. A wounded grief that he did not want these two children to see. “Even though I’ve never told either of you, over the last few years, both of you should have heard several rumors regarding this. After all, Che’er’s father, Ling’er’s older brother, my son… He was the brightest and most dazzling star in our Floating Cloud City back then.”

“I know,” Xiao Che said as he nodded his head. “Yuanba also said the same thing to me. He said that Father was the most outstanding person in Floating Cloud City… and he said this was something that Uncle Xia told him. Was he really killed by bad people?”

“I heard that he only died because he tried to save the city lord’s daughter…” Xiao Lingxi said in a very soft voice.

“Mn.” Xiao Lie gave a small nod of his head. “Back then, not long after Che’er had been born, Governor Situ’s daughter was born. However, due to the illness of the governor’s wife, when the child was born, she was very weak and on the brink of death.”

“If her life was to be saved, they needed someone who was at least at the Spirit Profound Realm to even have a chance. One could count the number of people who had reached the Spirit Profound Realm in Floating Cloud City with their fingers, and every single one of these people possessed extraordinary status. In order to save her, they would definitely harm their own foundations. As a result, nearly every one of them was unmoved despite the governor’s desperate begging.”

“The only exception was Ying’er. He risked serious harm to himself and nearly exhausted all of his profound strength to stabilize that child’s vitality. As a result, she was able to survive.”

When he said those words, Xiao Lie looked at Xiao Che and gave him a small smile as he said, “Che’er, that was how the destined wedding between you and the governor’s daughter happened. At that time, Governor Situ was so grateful to Ying’er for saving his daughter’s life that he became sworn brothers with Ying’er there and then. Furthermore, he announced in front of everyone that his daughter would be married to Xiao Ying’s son in the future in order to repay heaven’s kindness.”

“Hmph.” Xiao Lingxi turned her nose upwards as she said in a very soft voice, “I don’t like that Situ Xuan at all. She’s always so aloof… and she’s even like that when she sees Little Che.”

“I don’t like her either,” Xiao Che agreed. “Also, I feel like she really detests me.”

Xiao Lie laughed, but he declined to comment. Instead, he continued speaking, “Because of that rescue attempt, Ying’er exhausted most of his profound energy and severely damaged his vitality. However, it was at that time when he suddenly met a villain… and fell to his evil hands.”

“A villain? So who is the villain that killed Father?” Xiao Che asked.

“I don’t know.” Xiao Lie shook his head. As he stared into the distance, his gaze started to focus as his voice grew thicker, “But we will definitely find him. We will definitely find him.”

Even though Xiao Che and Xiao Lingxi were very young, they could still hear a deep and heavy pain in his voice. For a moment, they both obediently decided not to talk.

    ……

Yun Che’s eyes sprang open.

In a place not too far in front of him, Qianye Ying’er’s body was still immersed in that silvery-scarlet light. At times, the spiritual energy surrounding her would be as peaceful as mist, but at other times, it would turn as violent as a hurricane.

Yun Che’s brow furrowed slightly… It was that dream again.

When he counted them, he realized he had already had three such dreams.

All three times he had dreamed such a dream, it was when he had suddenly fallen into a deep and unexpected sleep. The world he found in his dreams was always centered around Floating Cloud City and it was always when he was still a child. However, the world in his dream was subtly different from his own past and experiences.

He could clearly remember in his last such dream, that he was sixteen and he was about to marry someone named Situ Xuan, not Xia Qingyue.

What was even weirder was that the name “Situ Xuan” had actually appeared once again in this dream. Furthermore, the person that Xiao Ying had risked his life to save had not been Xia Qingyue, but the daughter of the Floating Cloud City Governor, Situ Xuan… This had tied together the events that had happened in his last few dreams in a decidedly perfect fashion.

Even though he had always been puzzled and suspicious about the reason he would have these weird dreams every now and then, in the end, these dreams were merely illusory bubbles. He did not pay this dream any mind and he closed his eyes once more, swiftly slipping into the state where he circulated the power of nothingness.

“Sigh…”

A very soft sigh rang out in the world of “nothingness”. A sigh that no one could hear.

“He has made contact with ‘nothingness’ and he is also finally beginning to touch upon the ‘truth’ buried underneath ‘nothingness’.”

“Well the good thing is that he isn’t ‘her’ in the end. Even though he is the【only one】who can come into contact with nothingness other than ‘her’. However, he can only touch the borders of nothingness, never to reach its core. He is destined to only see those ‘dreams’ which emerge every now and then. He will never be able to see the whole ‘truth’.”

“Destiny is the one thing that one should not interfere with in this world."

“I interfered with【her】destiny, and that is the one thing I regret the most in my life. And today, even if I do want to interfere with your destiny, I am already unable to do so.”

“Your destiny rests solely in your hands. No matter what you face in the future, you need to continue living on. It is only by doing this that you won’t dishonor her sacrifice, and her...【wishes】.”

The voice that echoed in the nothingness faded away. No one had heard even the slightest trace of it and it was as if it had never appeared on even existed before.

In the world of the Primordial Profound Ark, both Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er were in the state of cultivation, but both of their auras were growing at a dramatic and incomparably shocking rate.