Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“Hoo…” Lu Lengchuan let out a long sigh from Shrouding Sky Realm’s seating.

He wasn’t as strong as Luo Changsheng. He couldn’t compete with Jun Xilei or Shui Yingyue either. He was well aware that he was the weakest cultivator out of the “Four God Children of the Eastern Region,” and that many people thought there should only be three, not four god children.

Lu Lengchuan never got angry though. Not only was he the weakest, he was also the oldest out of all of them. That was why he himself believed that he would be disqualified from the title in at most a hundred years’ time.

However, Luo Changsheng and Jun Xilei’s battle had made him realize that… he didn’t need to wait for a hundred years. He was already unworthy.

“It looks like I was born in the best era,” Lu Lengchuan mocked himself, but smiled from the bottom of his heart.

Meanwhile, in the Glazed Light Realm’s seating area, Shui Yingyue became absorbed in her own thoughts for a very long time.

“Sister?” Shui Meiyin stared at her with vibrant eyes.

“For the longest time, I thought that I was the only one who was hiding my strength. But…” Shui Yingyue looked up and said seriously, “It appears that the match between Jun Xilei and I will be a difficult one.”

Shui Meiyin blinked. “Is it just me, or did you forget something very important, sister?”

“?” Shui Yingyue turned to look at her.

“Your next opponent is me, sister!” Shui Meiyin’s expression suddenly turned very serious.

“Ah?” Shui Yingyue gave her a beautiful smile. “You’re right. I nearly forgot about that.”

She extended a hand and caressed Shui Meiyin’s soft black hair while looking at her tenderly, “We haven’t fought each other seriously for a very long time, Meiyin.”

“Who do you think will win then?” Shui Meiyin smiled.

Shui Yingyue shook her head. “I don’t know. At the very least, I don’t have any confidence that I can beat you.”

She wore a frown when she spoke of her upcoming battle against Jun Xilei, but the possibility of losing to her younger sister actually brought a faint smile of pride to her face.

Seated next to the two sisters, a smiling Glazed Light Realm King watched his two daughters and listened to their conversation quietly without interrupting. No matter who the victor of the battle between sisters was, it would be the best result nonetheless.

The Glazed Light Realm King’s love life was a strange tale of its own. He had a hundred and one children to date, but the first ninety nine were all males. His two daughters had only just entered his life about thirty years ago.

He could add up all ninety nine of his sons, and they would still be incomparable to his two daughters.

Shui Meiyin especially was outstanding beyond words. Despite being only fifteen years of age, she was already the greatest pride of his whole life. She was so outstanding that sometimes the high and mighty Glazed Light Realm King himself doubted his own worthiness—was Shui Meiyin really his seed?

Shui Meiyin had undoubtedly grown up in a sea of love. Her parents weren’t the only ones who pampered her; her ninety nine brothers would literally climb a mountain of blades or traverse a sea of flames if it was her will. However, Shui Meiyin’s personality was completely absent of arrogance despite growing up in such an environment. Even better, she was born with a charm which made others want to protect her. It was so potent that it was almost demonic.

“Next, we have the second battle of the Conferred Gods Group third round battles, Shui Yingyue from the Glazed Light Realm versus Shui Meiyin from the Glazed Light Realm!”

The battle between the two pearls of Glazed Light was without a doubt a battle that everyone was looking forward to. Even Honorable Qu Hui was staring at the sisters strangely.

“Let’s go.”

Shui Yingyue held her sister and floated all the way to the Conferred God Stage’s airspace. Then, a soft push separated the two sisters—a blue butterfly and a black butterfly—as they landed on opposite ends of the stage.

“Let us begin.”

Although Honorable Qu Hui normally maintained a serious outlook, he sounded exceptionally even and gentle this time. His gaze was mostly drawn towards Shui Meiyin as emotions of admiration, praise and affection flitted across his eyes. He knew that the Eternal Heaven Divine Emperor had purposely visited the Glazed Light Realm because he wanted to take her in as his personal disciple. She was the only one who ever had the honor, including the honor of turning down his offer.

Besides her unbelievable amount of talent, Shui Meiyin was also unusually attractive. She could just stand there and do nothing, and anyone who looked at her would feel their irritation fading away and unconsciously start smiling as well. Their fondness for her eventually swelled to the point where they couldn’t even bear to take their eyes off her.

There was a soft ring, and Shui Yingyue’s sword, “Moon In Water,” left its sheathe. Water instantly flowed around the body of the sword.

But Shui Meiyin didn’t move at all. Her eyebrows moved as if she was hesitating about something. Finally, she looked towards Honorable Qu Hui and asked, “Grandpa Qu Hui, can I surrender this match?”

Shui Yingyue, “...”

“Huh?” Honorable Qu Hui was caught off guard. “Of course you can, but… may I know your reason?”

“Well,” Shui Meiyin said seriously, “I gave this fight some serious thought just now, and I just don’t think I can beat sister because she’s so powerful. If I accidentally got hit and it hurts… I think it’s best if I surrender this fight.”

Honorable Qi Hui hadn’t smiled for god knows how many years already, but he actually felt tempted to do so as he stared at Shui Meiyin’s innocent face. When he shot a sideway glance at the Glazed Light Realm King, he discovered that he was beaming from his seat.

“...” Shui Yingyue didn’t say anything. It was obvious that she didn’t want to fight against Shui Meiyin either.

“Shui Meiyin, I shall ask you this one last time. Are you sure you want to surrender this battle?” Honorable Qu Hui asked.

“Mn, I surrender.” Shui Meiyin nodded.

“Alright,” Honorable Qu Hui said softly as if not being able to see the two sisters fight was a great loss for him. Then, he declared, “Shui Meiyin has voluntarily surrendered the match and will enter the Losers Group. She will fight in the sixth round of tomorrow’s Losers Group match!”

“Shui Yingyue wins. She will be fighting in the Conferred Gods Group final round the day after tomorrow!”

Although the battle between the sisters, which everyone was looking forward to, had ended in an unexpected manner, it wasn’t exactly a surprising outcome. They were sisters after all.

The Conferred Gods Group battles had ended, and Jun Xilei and Shui Meiyin were both sent down to the Losers Group. This meant that there were only two people left in the Conferred God Group—Luo Changsheng and Shui Yingyue.

Their match was also the Conferred Gods Group’s final battle.

“Big sister, please do your best during the next match!” Shui Meiyin encouraged her sister after she returned to her seat.

Shui Yingyue nodded slightly. She knew that she was no match for Luo Changsheng, and her defeat the day after tomorrow was certain… her only real opponent left was Jun Xilei.

After a short period of rest, the Losers Group matches officially began.

The first round was between Meng Duanxi and Chao Feng. The two participants were equally matched, and after a grueling battle that nearly lasted for two hours, Meng Duanxi ultimately emerged victorious and entered the top six. Chao Feng’s journey in the Conferred God Battle was ended here.

The second Meng Duanxi and Chao Feng’s battle ended, Yun Che’s eyes abruptly focused, and his blood boiled with great excitement.

Lu Lengchuan had also turned to look at him as their gazes clashed in midair, generating invisible sparks. It was clear that they were eager to fight one another.

“Next, we have the second battle of the Losers Group fifth round battles, Lu Lengchuan from the Shrouding Sky Realm versus Yun Che from the Snow Song Realm!”

Countless gazes became concentrated on Yun Che. The moment Honorable Qu Hui made his declaration, Yun Che and Lu Lengchuan rose from their seats and landed on the Conferred God Stage at the same time.

Everyone from the Snow Song Realm and the Flame God Realm had fallen silent. It was because they knew that this was Yun Che’s final match. However, his astounding achievement had won great honor for the Snow Song Realm; an achievement that he could be proud of for his entire lifetime. That was why they didn’t feel any heaviness, despite feeling nervous for Yun Che.

Mu Bingyun was the only one who was still frowning deeply. Although she thought that Yun Che would lose—but not without honor—she also knew that Yun Che wouldn’t want to be stopped here no matter what.

“Match begin!”

Boom!!

The Skysplitter Spear and Heaven Smiting Sword appeared in their wielders’ hands at the same time as Lu Lengchuan and Yun Che detonated their profound energy… but instead of ice, it was golden flames that had surged from Yun Che’s body and transformed the Conferred God Stage into a fiery hell in an instant.

Every Golden Crow Sect, Phoenix Sect, and Vermillion Bird Sect elder and disciple goggled at Yun Che. They were so shocked that they nearly fell off their seats.

“G-g-g-g-golden crow flames!!??”

“T-t-t-t-t-t-this…”

Huo Rulie was the only one who looked completely unfazed. He turned his head sideways and said with unbelievable calmness, “Stop making a fuss about nothing and stay quiet.”

Huo Rulie’s unnatural calmness only caused the crowd to become even more flabbergasted. Yen Juehai asked hurriedly, “What’s going on, Sect Master Huo? Yun Che…”

Huo Rulie waved a hand to cut him off. “We can talk about this after we have returned to the Flame God Realm.”

“...” Yan Juehai frowned but didn’t say anything more. Instead, he focused his attention back on Yun Che.

Huo Rulie looked calm in front of his people, but his emotions were actually in great turmoil. If Yun Che hadn’t purposely sought him out and showed him the Golden Crow flames, his jaw would probably be the first to hit the floor just now.

“Golden Crow flames… it’s actually the Golden Crow flames!”

“Isn’t Yun Che a Snow Song Realm disciple? He clearly used the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon earlier! How on earth is he wielding these flames?”

“Is… is he a fire and ice cultivator!? There’s actually a fire and ice cultivator in this world?”

The spectator’s stand was without a doubt stunned by the display of power. The god emperors in the eastern seating area were slightly caught off guard as well.

“A fire and ice cultivator? This is truly rare,” the Eternal Heaven Divine Emperor said.

The profound elements naturally reject each other, but those with sufficient talent and power of understanding could manipulate multiple elements at once. However, ice and fire were the only two elements that sat at completely different ends of the spectrum. Not only was it nearly impossible to master both elements at once, the two powers would only clash and diminish each other’s power even if they could be forcefully mastered. The cultivator might as well just choose one or the other power as they would be much better off in the end.

Therefore, even if someone was born with an extraordinary body that could accommodate both elements at once, they still wouldn’t cultivate both elements seriously. Those who did would only be thought of as very unwise.

“It’s not merely dual cultivating fire and ice,” the Brahma Heaven God Emperor said. “The Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon must be cultivated with the Ice Phoenix’s bloodline, and the Golden Crow flames must be cultivated with the Golden Crow bloodline. Yun Che is clearly cultivating two divine blood inheritances at once!”

“Yun Che is the Snow Song Realm’s direct disciple, so it’s only natural that he was given the Ice Phoenix’s bloodline. However… giving divine blood to outsiders is a big taboo. Why in the world did the Flame God Realm decide to grant Yun Che the Golden Crow bloodline?”

A lot of people turned to look at Huo Rulie, only to discover that the sect master was sitting perfectly calm and unfazed in his seat. His behavior immediately made everyone think that he was the one who granted Yun Che the Golden Crow bloodline… it could only be him anyway.

“Heh,” Cang Shitian laughed. “What’s so strange about that? Even I’m willing to break my rules for a monster like him, much less the likes of the Flame God Realm!”

Although Cang Shitian’s tone was purposely eccentric, the logic behind his words was very sound.

On the Conferred God Stage, Yun Che’s profound energy shot upwards like it was riding a rocket. Evil Soul, Burning Heart, Purgatory, and Rumbling Heaven. He instantly entered his peak form and charged towards Lu Lengchuan like a loosed arrow.

He could only maintain his peak state for a mere hundred breaths’ time, and defeat was certain if he couldn’t take him out during this time limit. Not only must he end this battle as soon as possible, he absolutely couldn’t give Lu Lengchuan the chance to activate his Glowing Dragon's Sacred Barrier! Not even once!