Against the Gods

The faint black aura swam all over Chanyi’s body. Soon, every inch of her body was enveloped by a dark and blurry profound light.

The light only lasted for a short time. So short in fact, that it disappeared just as the Witches were about to probe it. At the same time, Yun Che withdrew his palm and stopped whatever he was doing.

Chanyi opened her eyes and checked her profound veins immediately. However, she frowned when she found no changes in herself whatsoever.

It was the same with the rest of the Witches. Ye Li spoke up first and asked, “How do you feel?”

“...” Chanyi slowly shook her head in response.

Although they never believed that Yun Che could do what he claimed he could do in the first place, the confirmation was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. If the Witches weren’t livid before, they were now after being provoked and made fun of repeatedly.

In contrast, Yun Che was acting distant and indifferent, much as he had since the beginning. It was as if the world itself was of no concern to him. Qianye Ying’er’s lips had curled into an exquisite but derisive smile, clearly mocking them for their foolish choice to believe them in the Witches’ opinion.

“Very good.” Ye Li’s tone actually grew tamer as she approached the limit of her anger. “In the end, outsiders are just outsiders. Yesterday you killed Yan Sangeng, and today you provoked us repeatedly in the Soul Stealing Realm. It would seem that you’re—”

“Wait!”

Chanyi’s sudden exclamation of surprise drew the Witches’ attention immediately. They quickly discovered that the normally collected Witch was looking unusually stunned and lost. In fact, her shock and disbelief seemed to be growing by the second… it was as if she was seeing an unbelievable dream that only she could perceive.

“What is it?” Yao Die asked.

Chanyi didn’t say anything. She simply raised her arm very, very slowly and spread open her palm.

The confused Witches watched as a ball of darkness suddenly appeared in Chanyi’s hand. It took only an instant to transform into a big, black lotus.

The dark lotus carried the aura of a dark purgatory. It soundlessly devoured all the light in its surroundings and dyed every Witch’s eyes black, eyes that were filled with pure shock and disbelief.

“Ah…” Eighth Witch Yu Wu opened her mouth unconsciously. Her eyes were about as widened as they could be. “How… how did you do it, Chanyi?”

Chanyi was the Ninth Witch and overall the weakest of all of them. Her power couldn’t easily affect or suppress her fellow sisters, and thus far the black lotus she created hadn’t exceeded their knowledge of her limits.

However, the same couldn’t be said about the speed at which the black lotus had been created… it was so fast it should’ve been absolutely impossible.

Chanyi had created her black lotus out of nothing in barely an instant, and it was more than twice her usual speed!

Even stranger was how quiet—or more accurately, docile— the black lotus in Chanyi’s hand was. Darkness profound energy was a symbol of negativity, violence and destruction, and every time it was used, it was like unleashing a violent and berserk devil god that wants to devour everything in the world. This didn’t change even when the profound practitioners controlling it had reached the Divine Master Realm, the supposedly highest realm in this world.

Darkness profound energy had never had anything to do with the word “tame”.

It was the common sense of common senses in today’s Northern Divine Region and world.

But Chanyi’s darkness profound energy was so stable that it defied common sense. It was almost as if it was a sentient being that had submitted entirely to her will.

In other words, Chanyi had… perfect control over her darkness profound energy!

“Chanyi, wh… what’s going on?” Ye Li stuttered, but the Witch in question still didn’t give her an answer. Since it was her body that was transformed, her shock was many times greater than her sisters’.

Chanyi closed her palm tentatively, and the lotus of darkness vanished completely without a trace.

Again, her action caused her sisters to shiver in shock.

Not even the strongest Witch of them all, no, the god emperors of the Northern Divine Region… could withdraw their darkness profound energy immediately and leave no traces behind.

“The devils were an independent race, and darkness profound energy was a power they wielded alone.”

Yun Che’s indifferent voice cut through the haze of shock. “Today, all the so-called devil people in the Northern Divine Region were people who actively or passively corrupted themselves with darkness profound energy. Although they gained the ability to control darkness profound energy and cultivate dark profound arts as a result—some were even forced to pass it down to the next generation forever—they ultimately weren’t true devils. At most, they were half-devils.”

“This applies to all the devil beasts and devil spirits existing in the Northern Divine Region as well.”

That is why none of you can ever be fully compatible with darkness profound energy… except you.” Yun Che stared at Nanhuang Chanyi and dropped landmine after landmine. “Starting now, you are more or less a true devil person.”

“You… you’re saying…” Yu Wu’s words spilled out of her mouth faster than her conscious thoughts.

“From today onward, you have complete mastery over your darkness profound energy. Your ability to gather, circulate and regain darkness profound energy will be many times faster than what you’re used to. Although your profound strength hasn’t changed one bit, there is no one in the entire Northern Divine Region who is a match for you, assuming that your power levels are identical.”

“Your cultivation speed will be several times faster than before.”

“Darkness profound energy will never consume your life force again, much less spiral out of your control.”

“Its natural effects on your mind will be suppressed to a minimum.”

Every time Yun Che spoke, the Witches felt as if someone was striking their souls with thunder.

As some of the strongest powers in the Northern Divine Region with the highest level of mastery over darkness profound energy, they knew all too well what this transformation meant.

It was a complete defiance of the common sense they and the world held toward darkness profound energy. Theoretically, it was something that should only be possible during the ancient times, when the True Devils still existed!

“He is… speaking the truth.”

It almost sounded like Chanyi was sleep-talking. She stared at her hands quietly, her recognition of darkness profound energy having changed forever.

Previously, darkness profound energy was to her a powerful blade that could devour anything, including herself if she didn’t suppress it from time to time. The possibility that it might spiral out of her control was also very real.

But now, it had turned from a double-edged sword into something that was hers and hers alone. It was like a third arm that she could use to do whatever she wanted with perfect control.

Chanyi’s confirmation and the fearful look on her face—more specifically, the fear that this was all just a dream—left the five Witches stunned and speechless for a long time.

“Also,” Yun Che wasn’t quite finished yet, “assuming that you were to leave the Northern Divine Region this moment, you would find that your circulation and recovery speed aren’t too different from before. The ‘common sense’ that a devil person’s strength is halved the moment they leave the Northern Divine Region no longer applies to you.”

“If you withdraw your aura completely, you won’t even be recognized as a devil person unless you run into a profound practitioner who is much stronger than you are.”

Maybe it was a dream… the Witches of the Soul Stealing Realm were powerful, but right now they felt as dumb as a toddler.

What they didn’t know was that the ability to make a creature’s body fully compatible with darkness profound energy was just one of the most basic abilities of Eternal Calamity of Darkness. When Yun Che had used the ability on Dongfang Hanwei for the first time, he had succeeded right away. But because he was unfamiliar with the skill, it took him some time and effort before he succeeded. Now, he had fully cultivated the middle realm of Eternal Calamity of Darkness, and he could make anybody compatible with darkness profound energy… even if the target was a Witch, a high level Divine Master.

“How long will these abilities last?” Ye Li’s breathing had obviously become shorter. If everything Yun Che said was true, forget the Witches, even the god emperors would feel exactly the same as them.

“It will last… forever…”

Chanyi was the one who answered, not Yun Che.

It was her power in every sense of the word. Naturally, she was well aware of its “characteristics”.

The Witches’ focus fell on Chanyi once more. Yu Wu asked blankly, “Is it true? Is everything he said… true?”

Chanyi nodded slowly but without any hesitation.

Yao Die suddenly looked at Qianye Ying’er. “Is this why you were able to fight against me even though it’s been less than three years since you cultivated darkness profound energy!?”

The biggest reason Qianye Ying’er was able to fight Yao Die, a level nine Divine Master despite being only a level eight Divine Master was because of the Devil Emperor’s blood, but she was too lazy to explain herself. So she said, “Your master invited us to her realm at first notice when the rest of you were screaming bloody murder over Chanyi and Yao Die… have you all never wondered why? Hmm?”

The Witches were as quiet as mice. Chanyi’s dream-like transformation had chased all their anger and grudges out of their minds.

“Is this compensation to your satisfaction?” Yun Che asked. He had just torn apart a common sense of the world, but he looked like he didn’t care at all.

Chanyi turned to face him with none of the calm she had before. “This is no different from being reborn. I doubt I’ll ever be able to repay this favor.”

It was true. It was a perfect rebirth she never even bothered to desire even in her own dreams. Her earlier grievance seemed as insignificant as a speck of dust compared to this.

“Please!” Yun Che abruptly raised his hand and stopped Chanyi before she could give him a bow. “Since you are satisfied, I will assume that my debt is fully settled. If you have any doubts left, you may challenge the Eighth Witch and see if you can beat her.”

Cultivation wise, Chanyi was still weaker than Yu Wu, but her control and recovery speed were far better than before. She might be at a disadvantage at the beginning, but it would only be a matter of time before Yu Wu lost to her.

The Witches knew each other’s strength well, so Chanyi didn’t need to bother. She was certain she could beat Yu Wu, who was in the same realm as her.

Now that she thought about it, Yun Che had carried out his promise exactly as he claimed. He really did give her the power to beat Yu Wu in less than ten breaths!

“It’s fine.” Chanyi said immediately, “Your words are all true, Young Master Yun.”

She didn’t realize it, but she was starting to address Yun Che the way she did in the past again.

Yu Wu’s lips moved slightly, but she didn’t say anything.

“Still, I have received far too much.” Although Yun Che had turned her down, Chanyi still said with determination, “The Witches of the Soul Stealing Realm don’t owe any favors or grudges. Chanyi will repay this favor one day whether you accept it or not, Young Master Yun.”

Yun Che gave her a strange smile. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. You will.”

Chanyi: “?”