Against the Gods

“The Yama God Realm’s Yan Tu, Yan E, and Yan Huo have come to pay a call on the Soul Stealing Realm’s exalted Devil Queen! We plead for an audience with her!”

A deep and oppressive voice rang out from the borders of the Soul Stealing Realm’s sacred region. Even though the words and tone used were respectful, they were accompanied by a deathly aura that seemed to come from the bottom of the Yellow Springs, instantly causing the Soul Stealing Realm’s sacred region to fall into an oppressive silence.

Countless eyes suddenly turned in the direction the voice had come from and expressions of shock and amazement appeared on everyone’s faces.

Because Yan Tu, Yan E, and Yan Huo were the names of three of the Ten Yama Devils!

The Yama Realm’s Yama Devils had suddenly come to pay them a visit… and there were three of them at that!

Within the Soul Sky, all of the Witches started to frown. Ye Li said in a deep voice, “To think that three Yama Devils would come at once. The last time we received such grand company was when Master was being crowned emperor. What are they up to now?”

“Master,” Jie Xin said as she stepped forward, her pure white robes and her long ink-dark hair fluttering in the wind, “I will go meet them.”

“Don’t bother.” Chi Wuyao was not the least bit surprised by the arrival of the three Yama Devils. “Since the Yama Realm has shown us such ‘great face’, then this queen will go out and personally welcome them.”

“They are not worthy of being greeted by Master personally,” Jie Ling said.

However, Chi Wuyao had already raised her head. Without releasing any profound energy at all, her voice had already penetrated the sound obstruction barrier that Ye Li and Yao Die had formed and permeated the air. “What happened?”

When those three faint words fell on everyone’s ears, they sounded as soft and ethereal as mist. But when that voice penetrated the soul, it made all the living creatures in the Soul Stealing Realm’s sacred region feel as if the heavens themselves had been overturned, causing all of them to hold their breath.

It was also these three words that caused the silent Yun Che’s eyes to suddenly change as they darted towards Chi Wuyao… and his gaze lingered on her for several full breaths before he finally slowly shifted it away.

The arrival of the three of the Ten Yama Devils was no small matter. However, even though they had sent such a grand delegation, they did not harbor any hopes of being able to truly meet with the Devil Queen.

After they heard the Devil Queen’s unexpected voice, the three Yama Devils were clearly caught by surprise. A long period of silence passed before their voices finally rang out once more. “May the protection of the devil gods bless and keep the Devil Queen. We have specially arrived on the orders of the Yama Emperor to capture that wicked fugitive from the Eastern Divine Region who borrowed the name ‘Ling Yun’ yesterday and killed the Yama Ghost King without cause or reason, Yun Che!”

“We hope that the Devil Queen will grant our request and allow us to escort Yun Che back to our realm.”

Even though the voices of the three Yama Devils were hard and cold, everyone could clearly hear fear and reverence contained within them… Because the person they were speaking to right now was the Devil Queen Chi Wuyao!

“How does the Yama Realm know that Yun Che is here?” Chanyi whispered.

“They probably… exposed themselves while they were traveling here?” Yu Wu whispered back. “After all, the Yama Realm launched an all-out hunt for them yesterday.”

“Even if that is the case… this has still happened way too quickly,” Lan Ting said in an even softer voice. After all, Yun Che had just entered the Soul Stealing Realm but the Yama Realm had already come calling. They had even sent three Yama Devils over, so it was clear that they were extremely confident that Yun Che was in this place.

Even though the three king realms of the Northern Divine Region were in very close proximity to one another, they were still several hours apart. The arrival of the three Yama Devils at this moment meant only one thing... They had already arrived here before Yun Che had even taken a single step into the Soul Stealing Realm.

Chi Wuyao’s voice filled the air once more. “Your Yama Realm is not the only one who has a grudge against Yun Che. Since he has already fallen into this queen’s hands, then this queen shall deal with him as I see fit. So what does that have to do with your Yama Emperor?”

There were two reasons why the Yama Emperor had sent three Yama Devils at once. The first was because Yun Che’s power was simply far too abnormal. He had been able to kill Yan Sangeng with a single stroke of his sword, so the Yama Emperor was worried that a single Yama Devil would not be enough to restrain him.

As for the second reason, on the surface it seemed like the Yama Emperor had been utterly enraged by the Yama Ghost King’s death, but in truth… Yun Che’s Heretic God inheritance and Sky Poison Pearl were things that posed an irresistible attraction to anyone!

The Yama Devils replied solemnly, “We have indeed heard that these two wicked fugitives from the Eastern Region not only hurt a Witch but offended the Devil Queen as well. However, their crimes against you pales in comparison to their murder of our Yama Ghost King. The Yama Emperor is utterly enraged by this turn of events and he sternly ordered us to drag Yun Che back to our realm to be punished. So we hope that the Devil Queen will grant our request. Our Yama Realm will compensate you well.”

Chi Wuyao gave a light and tinkling laugh. “Since the Yama Emperor regards this matter with such importance, ask him to come and ask for these people himself. This queen will gladly attend to him if he comes. The few of you aren’t worthy yet.”

The Yama Devils lapsed into another brief period of silence. When their voices rang out again, they were colder and darker than before. “The Yama Emperor gave us an order to bring them back no matter what…”

“This queen has already said all that I want to say.” A soft and gentle voice cut the Yama Devils off. But after that, the voice that permeated the air suddenly changed. “Could it be that you want to hear it a second time?”

It was a cold which pierced the soul and penetrated the bone.

When Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er had dealt with Chi Wuyao, her voice had been devilish and seductive. In fact, it was so bewitching and seductive that it practically turned their bones to water. However, at this moment, her voice had suddenly turned ice-cold and that sentence made them feel as if they had been transported to the border between an icy hell and death. Every single nerve, every single strand of their souls were trembling and spasming uncontrollably.

The entirety of the Soul Stealing Realm’s sacred region fell silent. After a long period of deathly silence, the Yama Devils finally spoke once again, “We will relay the words of the Devil Queen to our Yama Emperor just as you have spoken them. We take our leave.”

After they said those words, the auras of the three Yama Devils swiftly sped off into the distance. They did not dare take a single step into the Soul Stealing Realm’s sacred region.

After the Yama Devils left, the Devil Queen’s cold might disappeared into thin air. Qing Ting spoke up, “It’s so strange. How did the Yama Realm know that Yun Che was here? And how did they get here so quickly?”

To the gathered Witches, the fact that Yun Che possessed the power of a Devil Emperor was an enormous secret. Right now, it was something that was probably only known to the Devil Queen and those who were present. This secret and their “alliance” were things that absolutely had to be kept under wraps, especially in the beginning.

Thus, given the Soul Stealing Realm’s position, they would naturally try to hide or seal away any information regarding these two things with all of their might.

“Heh.” A cold chuckle rang in the air as Qianye Ying’er said in a cold voice, “This is something you should ask your master then!”

Qing Ting glared at her furiously, “Yun Qianying, what do you mean by that!?”

Qianye Ying’er ignored Qing Ting as she stared at Chi Wuyao with cold eyes. “Chi Wuyao, the only people who knew that we were coming here were the Seventh Witch and you.”

“We aren’t familiar with this Northern Divine Region and we had to conceal our auras too, so we couldn’t travel at too quick a pace. However, you arrived even later than we did.”

“What is even stranger…” Qianye Ying’er said as her lips curled up into a mocking smile and her beautiful eyes grew even colder, “is that only eight of the Nine Witches are present. Even you, the Devil Queen, are present but the Seventh Witch remains unaccounted for. Let me guess, just where did she go?”

“Shut up!” Qianye Ying’er’s words had undoubtedly incited the wrath of all the Witches. “If you dare to slander our Master’s name again, don’t blame us for being impolite!”

“Aiyah.” Chi Wuyao let out a seductive sigh as she said in a merry voice, “I really couldn’t hide it from the two of you. The reason why Hua Jin isn’t around is because this queen dispatched her to several places… The first one being the Yama Realm itself.”

“Right now, both the Yama Realm and the Burning Moon God Realm know that you are here. Before long, half of the Northern Divine Region will also find out about this news.”

The gathered Witches were stunned by this revelation and Ye Li said, “Master, this… this is?”

“The reason?” Yun Che was not anxious or angry. He simply asked for a reason in a calm voice.

“Reasons? There are many.” Chi Wuyao was even less anxious than Yun Che and she entirely ignored the soul-piercing gaze that Qianye Ying’er was directing toward her. “Then let’s just start with the closest and simplest reason.”

“This queen wants people to know that you have fallen into this queen’s hands. It’s as simple as that. Furthermore, this isn’t limited to the Northern Divine Region alone. If we continue to spread the news, the Eastern Divine Region will also hear about this after some time has passed.”

“Especially…” Her dusky eyes seemed to flash. “The Eternal Heaven God Realm.”

“Chi Wuyao!” Qianye Ying’er could not hold back her rage any longer. Her body blurred and she closed the distance between her and Chi Wuyao in a single instant. Their gazes collided as they stood less than half a foot from each other. “Just what exactly… are you trying to do!?”

At this moment, she suddenly started to question something that she had insisted on since she had entered the Northern Divine Region—influencing and exhorting Yun Che to strike up an alliance with the Devil Queen Chi Wuyao.

This was the very first day of their alliance and they had started it without a single hitch. However, she now realized that Chi Wuyao’s thinking and actions were beyond her comprehension, and they were also beyond their control.

Even as Qianye Ying'er glared at her from so close that their noses were practically touching, Chi Wuyao simply smiled sweetly as she leaned in a little. It was as if she was admiring what she could see of her unreasonably perfect face. “Speaking of which, this is actually something that you enlightened this queen about.”

“...” Qianye Ying’er did not back down one bit. Her voice was ice-cold as she said, “You had better give me a proper explanation!”

Chi Wuyao said, “Since this is an alliance, this queen will definitely give you a nice and proper explanation. After all, the two of you are the true main characters, this insignificant queen is just here to set the wheels of destiny in motion.”

“How ridiculous!” Qianye Ying’er replied coldly, “In just this matter alone, you’ve clearly acted entirely on your own, you did not even deign to ask for our opinions or consult with us. By reporting our location to the Yama Realm, you’ve already made us suspect you of foul play. Even now, you still have the face to mention our ‘alliance’? You still think that we’ll obediently play along with whatever you say or do?”

Chi Wuyao said with a cheery smile, “How about you wait for this queen to finish first? As for whether we will continue cooperating or not, it’s not simply up to you.”

“Speak.” Yun Che spat out a single word.

“Then the both of you should listen very closely. Especially you.” She directed those last words at Qianye Ying’er as she gently pursed her lips.

The corners of Qianye Ying’er’s brows twitched.

“Yun Qianying, you previously said that the great gift you were giving this queen in compensation for the ‘Untamed Divine Marrow’ was a marvelous ‘opportunity’. You said that I could use this deal that Zhou Xuzi suggested to this queen to utterly enrage him and cause him to launch an all-out attack on the Northern Divine Region in his insane rage and sorrow. Thus, I could use this as a pretext to create an opportunity for myself.”

“When you lay it out like that, it sounds wonderfully perfect and even this queen can’t help but be moved by it. However, after this queen pondered your plan for a moment, I discovered that this ‘great gift’ of yours seemed to have two glaringly large holes in it.”

“What holes!?” Qianye Ying’er said.

“The first hole,” Chi Wuyao replied, “is that your imagined opportunity occurs only after the three king realms have been united and we have prepared our strength. After that, you plan to enrage the Eternal Heaven God Emperor and bait him into attacking us. You will then use this as an excuse to launch a counterattack using our moral high ground and superior power, while counting on the two other great divine regions, the West and the South, to sit on their hands in the initial stages of the war.”

“However… my Soul Stealing Realm must rely on Yun Che’s power if we are to swallow up both the Burning Moon Realm and the Yama Realm. Moreover, any war with another king realm, no matter how small it is, will shake up the entire Northern Divine Region and this will naturally be news that can be easily obtained by the king realms of the Eastern Divine Region. If that is the case, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor will naturally find out that this queen did not capture Yun Che but is working together with him instead. Why then would he take the bait and deliver his son to us?”

“Heh.” Qianye Ying’er sneered disdainfully. “As the Soul Stealing Devil Queen, don’t you even have the ability to seal away this tiny bit of news?”

“Seal away?” Chi Wuyao gave a disdainful smile of her own. “There isn’t anything in this universe that is more momentous than a war between king realms. So how exactly am I supposed to seal that kind of news?”

“How about this. Since you once held the title of Brahma Monarch Goddess, why don’t you tell this queen something. No matter how hard I try to contain the news of such a momentous event occurring in the Northern Divine Region, is the Eastern Divine Region’s ability to gather information truly so lousy that they’ll be the none the wiser while it is happening?”

“...” Qianye Ying’er did not respond.

“Now let’s proceed to the second hole in your plot,” Chi Wuyao continued. “Let’s assume that none of my fears come true and everything goes exactly as you wished and we provoke the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s rage after we complete our preparations, how can you be so sure… that he will definitely lash out in rage and attack the Northern Divine Region with the full might of the Eternal Heaven God Realm?”

Qianye Ying’er said in a low voice, “Based on the guilt he harbors towards his dead wife, based on the fact that he places Zhou Qingchen’s life above everyone else’s, based on the fear and panic he will experience when he witnesses Yun Che’s growth… Aren’t all of these reasons enough!?”

“How would this queen know if those reasons are good enough?” Chi Wuyao said. “However, this queen does know one thing at the very least and it is that a person can’t even control their own thoughts sometimes. If you gamble on what you ‘think’ another person may do… it often ends up as a bad joke!”

She glanced towards them and said, “I mean, aren’t both of you that sort of joke as well?”

“You!” Qianye Ying’er’s golden hair flared up around her and black light flashed in her eyes… But she could not truly bring her anger to a full boil.

They, who had once respectively held Zhou Xuzi and Qianye Fantian in the highest regard, had ended up in such a state.

So how exactly was she mistaken when she called them “that sort of joke”?