Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Wei Hen’s abnormal state did not last very long. It only went on for a few breaths before it was forced back to normal.

Yun Che shifted his gaze away, his brows furrowed. He could already predict that a huge incident would happen on today’s Conferred God Stage.

Honorable Qu Hui rose into the air. At the same time, a huge, invisible barrier enveloped the Conferred God Stage. This barrier was able to isolate power and prevent the fierce battle on the Conferred God Stage from spreading to the spectating seats. However, it would not isolate living beings; human bodies were able to freely come and go.

“Battle 1, Flame God Realm’s Huo Poyun, Shrouding Sky Realm’s Lu Lengchuan, enter the Conferred God Stage!”

Once Honorable Qu Hui’s voice landed, the two that had been called simultaneously landed atop the Conferred God Stage.

On the left was Huo Poyun from a middle star realm, with cultivation at the seventh level of the Divine Spirit Realm.

On the right was Lu Chenyuan. From an upper star realm… and the Shrouding Sky Realm which was one of the strongest upper star realms at that, with a cultivation at the eighth level of the Divine Spirit Realm.

It was obvious which side was superior in a single glance so the audience was full of relaxed expressions.

“The Conferred God Battle’s first round first match… begin!”

Immediately after Honorable Qu Hui’s shout, Huo Poyun’s body flashed with firelight. A somewhat wide, three foot long dagger appeared within his grasp, its entire body scarlet red, like a soldering iron. Even without the injection of profound energy, it released a heat that would shock anyone.

This was the first time Yun Che had seen Huo Poyun’s weapon.

“The Flame God Devil Destroying Sword that originates from the Vermillion Bird, Phoenix, and Golden Crow Sects. Them giving it to Huo Poyun is not surprising,” Mu Bingyun said in a low voice.

However, Lu Chenyuan did not reveal his weapon, nor did he emit profound energy fluctuations. Instead of a cautious expression, he wore a tranquil smile and leisurely stated, “You may go first.”

In front of someone from a middle star realm, a profound practitioner from an upper star realm would either have a superior attitude, or a contemptuous one carved from habit. This was supplemented by the fact that even though two people were at the same cultivation level, the foundation of a middle star realm could never compare to an upper star realm.

Let alone the fact that Lu Chenyuan’s profound strength exceeded his opponent’s by a small realm.

If he were to make the first move, he felt that he would lose some face.

“Then I won’t hold back!”

Without another word, Huo Poyun took off like an arrow in flight, straight toward Lu Chenyuan… It was also at this instant that Yun Che muttered, “Brother Poyun has won.”

BANG!!!

Without any foreshadowing or condensation of profound energy, raging scarlet gold flames suddenly erupted, as though a huge sun had directly exploded atop the Conferred God Stage, instantly engulfing a huge majority of the stage. If it weren’t for the isolation barrier, perhaps even the northern seating area would have also been swallowed whole.

“Ah!?”

“W-what!?”

The Conferred God Stage broke out in cries of surprise. The instantaneous explosion of the blaze which gave no warning at all stunned the entire audience.

Even those big shots from various star realms were included within those numbers, let alone Lu Chenyuan. He still wore a relaxed smile when Huo Poyun was charging at him but in the next instant, his heart leapt. Before he had time to react, he was already deep within the sea of fire.

The Shrouding Sky bloodline cultivated earth attribute profound arts and had extremely strong defenses, which was why he was so calm. As long as Huo Poyun showed any fluctuations in profound energy, he could instantly protect himself. In order to win in a much more spectacular fashion, Lu Chenyuan was even scheming to allow his opponent three, or even five moves...

But once the firelight on Huo Poyun’s body flashed, all his plans had become jokes and went up in smoke.

In his astonishment, he moved in panic, intending to put up an earth barrier. However, it had yet to take shape, when it was burned into nothingness by the Golden Crow flames. By then, Huo Poyun had already arrived before him, eyes blazing. Following a wave of the Flame God Devil Destroying Sword, Golden Crow flames wildly exploded once more.

Burning Sun Rupture!

Red Purgatory Lotus!

Calamitous Flame Dance!

Star Scorching Brilliant Fire...

Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!

The might of the blazing profound energy was immense but the time in which profound energy burned like fire was much longer than the norm. This was especially so for the Golden Crow flames, the divine fire with the strongest combustive force. However, in Huo Poyun’s hands, though its power was enormous, he made the difficult to control Golden Crow flames resemble a flame shower as it wildly exploded, causing the spectators to doubt whether this power came from a single person. It felt as though this power came from the joint collaboration of tens of people.

“Uuua.... aaaghh…”

Lu Chenyuan was sent backwards from the explosions. From the moment he fell into a passive state, even defending himself was a difficult task, let alone making a counterattack. Raging flames burned on his body and his miserable cries continuously came out from within the sea of fire. While he was being cooked alive, both his willpower and conviction were quickly collapsing. However, the chance he was waiting for since the very start never appeared as the flames he was being bombarded with became all the more violent.

Until finally...

BOOOOM!!

Lu Chenyuan’s profound energy defense had completely fallen apart. He was sent flying out of the sea of fire and had become a fire man, covered in flames from head to toe. Huo Poyun raised his hand. Intense flames condensed into a blade that immediately lengthened to a few hundred meters before sweeping over to Lu Chenyuan.

Lu Chenyuan was not a weakling. He had actually forcibly recovered his standing in midair. A yellow light flashed and a large portion of the Golden Crow flames on his body had been wiped out. A nine foot long spear then appeared within his grasp...

Clang… Bang!!

The Golden Crow flame’s “Golden Annihilation” was extremely powerful and was not something those at the same level or below could possibly ward off. Lu Chenyuan lifted his longspear, but was still swept away by the Golden Crow flames blow after blow. After another explosion, the burning spear was sent flying. Lu Chenyuan was also sent flying like a meteor amidst a blood curdling scream, directly passing through the Conferred God Stage’s barrier, and smashing into the spectating seats.

“Lu Chenyuan has left the Conferred God Stage and has been defeated. He will enter the Losers Group. Huo Poyun wins, and will enter the Conferred Gods Group!”

Qu Hui’s ruling statement, the flames on the Conferred God Stage were instantly extinguished. Huo Poyun stood at the center of the Conferred God stage. Having completely crushed an opponent with a better background and a higher profound strength than himself, the excitement that should’ve been there on his face was actually not present. As calm as he was before the battle, Huo Poyun lifted his hand in the direction Lu Chenyuan had been blown off in and said, “You let me win.”

The Conferred God Stage was completely silent as all eyes locked onto Huo Poyun’s body… It was not just the experts from the lower and middle star realms, even those famous experts from the Eastern Divine Region’s upper star realms wore looks of deep shock.

Now was the moment the name “Huo Poyun” had been truly carved in their minds.

Although the Flame God Realm was only a middle star realm, everyone was aware of what the Golden Crow flames were. It was the strongest fire out of the three flames possessed by the Three Supreme Fire Attribute Beasts in the Era of Gods, and the hardest one to master.

In that previous battle however, the control Huo Poyun exhibited completely surpassed their understanding, so much that it could even be said that he had completely surpassed humanity’s limits of flame mastery. Instantaneous combustion… and it was the Golden Crow flames at that too!

“Good! Well done! Very well done!!! Wahahahahaha…” As though he had gone mad, Huo Rulie jumped three hundred meters into the air while laughing without care.

In the spectating area, an incredibly wretched looking Lu Chenyuan crawled up. He was completely charred black and the moment he stood up, he let out a dull groan, then heavily kneeled back down, sending all the clothes on his body flying. Unaware of this, his eyes blazed as he hollered, “Unfair… this isn’t fair! I didn’t even use all my power… I want a rematch!”

If Lu Chenyuan hadn’t underestimated his opponent and stood on guard, with Shrouding Sky Realm’s powerful profound arts and his advantage in profound strength, it would have been difficult for Huo Poyun to win, let alone execute a smashing victory.

But unfortunately...

“Enough!” Before Honorable Qu Hui had yet to speak, the Shrouding Sky Realm King had already shouted in anger, “In this stately Conferred God Battle, you actually acted with such arrogance the moment you took the stage, completely throwing aside the warnings this king and your master gave you. You ought to have lost! Even if you won, you would not have deserved it. Come down and reflect upon this!”

Having completely disgraced himself and been scolded by his royal father in front of the public, Lu Chenyuan paled. He shot Huo Poyun a fierce glare but no longer said anything else as he left in his miserable state.

“This child’s future is immeasurable,” the Dragon Monarch slowly stated.

Although the Dragon Monarch’s voice was very low, everyone present heard it clearly.

This was the evaluation given by the God Realm’s number one dragon. From today on, the entire Eastern Divine Region would have no choice but to pay attention to the previously unknown Huo Poyun.

The opponents in the first round were decided on the spot for the first day so there was not enough time to open a betting area. Otherwise, Huo Poyun’s convincing win would have made many gamblers a loss great enough to cough up blood.

However, after the first round, the opponents for the next day would be decided at the end of the previous day. Various large gambling joints in the Eastern Divine Region would definitely be established then. This had long since become an indispensable tradition in every Profound God Convention.

Huo Poyun returned to the Flame God Realm’s seats. The Flame God Realm, which nobody had paid attention to at first, was now being continuously glanced at by everyone present. As a result, those from the Flame God Realm straightened their backs. They had never received such glory in their entire lives.

“Big Sis, I wasn’t wrong, right?” In the Glazed Light Realm’s seating area, Shui Meiyin giggled after her comment.

Shui Yingyue nodded, “He truly is a notable opponent.”

“But he’s definitely not your match, Big Sis. Though… if enough times passes, it may not be so certain. That’s why you need to do your best, Big Sis,” Shui Meiyin said softly.

Shui Yingyue, “...”

Honorable Qu Hui’s voice rang out at this time.

“Conferred God Battle, Round 1 Battle 2, Holy Eaves Realm’s Luo Changan, Snow Song Realm’s Yun Che!”

BOOOM!!

Like a bolt out of the blue, Luo Changan landed on the Conferred God Stage alongside a loud impact. He then turned around, eyes directly shooting a provocative gaze at the place Yun Che sat at. The corners of his mouth hooked into a light smile that made others feel uncomfortable… It was apparent that he was extremely pleased that Yun Che was his opponent.

“This Luo Changan’s so damn lucky! To have met the guy who randomly scuttled in during the first round. That’s simply a free win!” a Conferred God Candidate commented with a smirk.

“Luo Changan’s strength is one of the lowest among us, but he’s up against this trash who’ll give him a free ride past the first round. Meanwhile, my opponent is his younger brother Luo Changsheng… that’s f*cking messed up!” another Conferred God Candidate said in an aggrieved tone.

“I’m guessing that kid wouldn’t even dare to get up on stage. He’s able to do some shameless despicable things in the preliminaries, but in the Conferred God Battle… tsk, tsk.”

“That might not be so. He’s able to cheat through three rounds so how could he possibly care about face? When he goes up to disgrace himself he might make his reputation even greater.”

“Bah! I wouldn’t be happy even if I had to go up against him. This is the Conferred God Battle! Winning against this kind of opponent would only be humiliating.”

Everyone seemed to be awaiting a good show, but Yun Che remained motionless and had yet to leave his seat even after a long time had passed since Luo Changan stepped onto the Conferred God Stage.

Honorable Qu Hui’s brows sunk as he said in a strict voice, “Yun Che! Enter the Conferred God Stage.”

Yet Yun Che did not even raise his head during his immediate reply. “No need, I concede!”