Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“Quietly contemplate the mysteries of the universe?” Yun Che said with a scoffing laugh. “You’re just another old fogey who had no choice but to climb out of his hole in the ground now that his home is about to be torn down around his ears!”

Even though Nan Guizhong had “left the world” many, many years ago, as the previous emperor of the Southern Sea God Realm, someone who had reigned supreme in the Southern Divine Region, how could the God Realm forget his mighty name?

Today, he had descended upon this world like a legendary hero walking out of the mists of myth and time, and his vast power, which seemed as colossal as a star, seemed even greater than it had been back then. However, he had not returned to the great adulation and acclaim of the universe. He had returned to see his Southern Sea God Realm be reduced to a nightmarish state, and… he had returned to just to be greeted by a merciless, mocking remark by someone many times his junior.

“Hmph, just as expected,” Qianye Ying’er scoffed in a soft voice. She wasn’t the least bit surprised by Nan Guizhong’s reappearance either.

For the ones who had climbed to the very top of the profound way and had experienced everything life had to offer, the greatest desire that they had in their old age was to deeply explore the world that lay beyond the boundaries of the profound way. As a result, many of them would “die” in order to seclude themselves from the world and seek to attain enlightenment. There were far too many examples of this in the history of the God Realm.

Unfortunately, none of them had ever been able to break through the boundaries of the profound way, even up to the day of their true deaths.

“Yun… Che!” Nan Wansheng growled as he slowly raised his head to stare at him. Blood wildly gushed from the orifices on his face. One could well imagine just how enraged he was at this moment. “I… will personally… rip you… Urgh!”

His vision went black and he had to clench his teeth violently and force down the blood that had nearly gushed out of his mouth.

Even though one of Nan Wansheng’s most outstanding traits was his overweening arrogance, he had always been exceedingly respectful toward his father. Given his father’s status and prestige, there was no one in the known universe who had dared to insult him like this.

Nan Guizhong took a long look at Yun Che before he turned his head towards the Southern Sea God Emperor. “Wansheng, I spent ten thousand painstaking years to refine your heart and mind, but I see that all of that composure and clarity has fled you today. Even if the Southern Sea God Realm had remained whole, it wouldn’t change the fact that you have completely and utterly lost to Yun Che.”

“...” Nan Wangsheng slowly closed his eyes and said, “Royal Father, your child has failed you. A moment of fear caused me to use the Titanic Sea God Cannon, and this grave sin… has shamed me so greatly that I am unable to face my ancestors or the Southern Sea God Realm any longer.”

Nan Guizhong shook his head as he replied in a gentle voice, “I bore witness to everything that took place today. Even I would have done the exact same things that you have if faced with such an arrogant devil. If not, I would have already sent a sound transmission to you the moment you started activating the Titanic Sea God Cannon… Your defeat was not due to luck or chance.”

Indeed, no one would have been able to imagine that the Titanic Sea God Cannon, which possessed a forbidden power that transcended the boundaries of this current universe, a weapon so strong that the Dragon Monarch himself had never dared to enter the Southern Sea God Realm, would have its blast reflected back at it in a single instant… neither Nan Wansheng nor Nan Guizhong could have anticipated it. Even if every god emperor of the Southern Sea God Realm were to be resurrected and gathered together in this place, not a single one of them would have raised the possibility of this happening.

Nan Wansheng clenched his teeth fiercely as he slowly regulated his breathing. After that, he bent his head and said in a deep voice, “Everything happened because of the Titanic Sea God Cannon! Our Southern Sea God realm did not lose! Now that Royal Father has personally made an appearance, we will definitely be able to… tear Yun Che to pieces!”

Nan Guizhong couldn’t sense the auras of any of the Four Sea Kings at the moment and he only felt the presence of four of the Sixteen Sea Gods. He let out a long sigh of lament… This was truly the work of the divine power of the Titanic Sea God Cannon. It had really been able to rend the heavens and the earth, and slay gods with impunity. This unassailable divine might had smashed directly into the heart of his Southern Sea God Realm.

“Xuanyuan God Emperor, Purple Micro God Emperor,” Nan Guizhong suddenly said, “I thank you for your help. If not for your actions, Wansheng would already have lost his life. Our Southern Sea God Realm owes your realms a huge debt of gratitude. However, I fear we must rely on your strength again today.”

The Xuanyuan God Emperor and the Purple Micro God Emperor bowed at the same time. The Xuanyuan God Emperor said, “What are you saying, Senior? The Devil Master Yun Che is the common enemy of our Southern Divine Region. How could we not help under such circumstances?”

“That’s right,” the Purple Micro God Emperor declared, a grave expression on his face.

Nan Guizhong glanced at God Emperor Shitian, who had remained quiet all this while. He said, “Cang Shitian, I see that you’re still unwilling to relinquish your throne even though you have more than a few able successors. It looks like you’re really attached to the title of god emperor.”

“Hahahaha.” Cang Shitian let out a hearty laugh. “A god emperor reigns over all creation and we can trample over creation as we will. Since I can do as I please, why would I let go of it? I wouldn’t dare compare myself to Brother… Oh no, Senior Guizhong.”

“You’ve been twittering over there like a bunch of birds for half the day. Are you finished yet?”

Yun Che’s voice cut through their souls like a poisonous needle. Nan Guizhong finally turned to look at Yun Che. His face was impassive as he replied, “The Devil Master who has brought a calamity of devils down on this world’s head, the legendary Three Yama Ancestors, the two great Brahma God Emperors who had supposedly passed away, and the Goddess and her attendants… This is indeed a world-shocking assembly of personages. Shocking enough to cause even gods and ghosts to tremble.”

“However, to presume that you can trample over our Southern Sea God Realm with just this number of people!” Nan Guizhong’s voice suddenly turned severe as a brilliant golden light shone from his eyes. “It looks like you’ve significantly underestimated the Southern Sea God Realm which has endured for thousands of generations!”

Those short few words had fired up the spirits of the surviving denizens of the Southern Sea God Realm. Nan Wansheng, Nan Qianqiu, and the remaining Sea Gods immediately straightened their backs. Their blood had been stirred by the anger in their hearts and terrifying waves of energy started rolling off their bodies.

“Of course we wouldn’t be able to do it by ourselves,” Yun Che said with a smug grin, “but didn’t you already help me get rid of the biggest obstacles by yourselves? What Sea Kings, what Sea Gods, what God Realm? All of them have been personally smashed to bits by the Titanic Sea God Cannon that you took so much pride in! Hahahaha!”

“You... “ Nan Wansheng’s body violently swayed and the boundless anger and battlelust which had just been ignited in his body was snuffed out like a match.

Nan Guizhong didn’t react with any anger. He let out a long sigh of lament before he said, “Senior Wugu, Brother Bingzhu, the both of you were once Brahma Heaven God Emperors who reigned high above the universe, people that I greatly respected. So why have you allowed yourselves to be ensnared by this devil? Why have you become the accomplice of this calamitous evil? Are you truly willing to commit this grave and irredeemable sin?”

Qianye Wugu wasn’t the least bit perturbed by Nan Guizhong’s words. He simply replied in a calm voice, “When I was young, I used to have deep convictions about what was right and wrong, what was good or evil. However, now that I have the weight of all of these years on my shoulders, my perception of good and evil is no longer so clear.”

“The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor breached the walls of reality to reappear in the world, but she was not the world-ending calamity that we thought she’d be. Instead, she appeared to be just as human as any of us. Indeed, my views of what is good or evil has undergone an earth-shaking change over the last few years.”

Nan Guizhong, “...”

“Guizhong,” Qianye Wugu said. Given his seniority, he possessed the qualifications to address Nan Guizhong by name. “As for who is good or evil, who is right or wrong. Do you truly think that you, someone who has hidden himself away for ten thousand years, can truly be the judge of that?”

“...” Nan Guizhong turned silent as he contemplated Qianye Wugu’s words. He then replied, “It’s all meaningless now. Given the current state of our Southern Sea God Realm, it really would be hard for us to endure any more damage.”

“Devil Master.” His voice turned milder as he looked at Yun Che once more. “I acknowledge that you do have some grievances against the Southern Sea God Realm, but there is no such thing as an unresolvable grievance in this world. Even though our Southern Sea God Realm has already sustained such heavy damage, we will definitely make you pay a heavy price in blood if you choose to engage us in battle. Furthermore, we still have the other three god emperors of the Southern Divine Region here as well, and I’m sure that the Devil Master is well aware of this fact.”

“Oh?” Yun Che said with a frown.

“The karma that the Southern Sea God Realm reaped today was sown the moment Wansheng chose to use the Titanic Sea God Cannon. It has nothing to do with the Devil Master,” Nan Guizhong’s voice turned even softer as he said that and his hands had soundlessly curled into fists. “However, our Southern Sea God Realm will compensate the Devil Master for offending him. Please state your terms. The Southern Sea God Realm will definitely satisfy you, and we will never antagonize the Northern Divine Region again!”

“Royal Father!?” Nan Wansheng’s head swiveled in his father’s direction, and the expressions on the other denizens of the Southern Sea God Realm had dramatically changed as well.

The Southern Sea God Realm had suffered such colossal damage and humiliation from Yun Che’s wicked scheme, but the returned Nan Guizhong… actually wanted to bow his head and apologize to him!

Nan Guizhong suddenly thrust out a hand to suppress Nan Wansheng’s wild and agitated energy. His voice was as deep as an abyss as he said, “With this, the Devil Master will have gained all the benefits without expending a single pawn on the battlefield. Our Southern Sea God Realm will be left with a mark of deep shame, while the Devil Master will emerge from this gambit covered in glory. I believe that the Devil Master will have no objections to this.”

Nan Wansheng’s body violently shuddered and the muscles on his face were spasming so intensely that it seemed like the bones on his face were going to deform. That being said, he still remained silent throughout because he knew that the Southern Sea God Realm really couldn’t afford to suffer any more damage today. Nan Guizhong might have chosen the most humiliating option, but it was also the most rational option.

The people that Yun Che had brought with him were all much too terrifying. Now that most of the Sea Kings and Sea Gods had died to the Titanic Sea God Cannon, they wouldn’t even be able to kill Yun Che and his retainers, even if they burned up their lives in the attempt. The only thing that they would “gain” from this fight would be the further destruction of the Southern Sea God Realm, and perhaps the whole realm would be razed to the ground by the time everything was over.

If taking a step back and suffering this humiliation would allow them to protect their roots, then so be it. They would leave Yun Che to the enraged Dragon God Realm.

“Heh heh… Hehehehe… There is no such thing as an unresolvable grievance? Haha… Hahahaha!” Yun Che started laughing. It had started as a low chuckle but it soon morphed into a full-blown cackle. He slowly extended a finger towards the Southern Sea God Emperor. “Nan… Wan…sheng…”

His laughing face suddenly contorted in rage. It looked like the face of a demon and his voice was filled with a soul-shocking maliciousness as he snarled. “In the east of the Eastern Divine Region, where the Blue Pole Star once was. You were one of the people… who murdered my master!”

The heartbreaking scene flashed through his mind, causing Yun Che’s arm to tremble lightly. Each of his words were like awls which bored into one’s soul as he said, “I swore back then… that I would completely and utterly… annihilate your entire Southern Sea bloodline!”

Nan Guizhong finally showed his first visceral reaction, because he was currently sensing a bone-piercing hatred and killing intent that far exceeded anything he had ever felt emanating from Yun Che’s body!

It wasn’t something that could ever be resolved with words alone!

“You… actually think… that you can do it!?” Nan Wansheng snarled in a sinister voice. At this moment, he had clearly realized that even the most humiliating submission would achieve nothing.

Yun Che immediately sensed that he had started to lose control over his emotions, so he quickly sucked in a breath of air. The corner of his lips quirked up as his face turned calm. “Speaking of which, your ability to buy time is really quite impressive, Nan Guizhong. It’s certainly good enough to trick three year old kids.”

The corner of Nan Guizhong’s right eye twitched violently.

Yun Che laughed once more, but this time his laughter was filled with disdain. “This is such a sublime coincidence. Heh, as you were writing your wills, you actually managed to buy quite a bit of time for me as well.”

BOOOOOOM————

The skies to the east, west, and south suddenly turned dark when Yun Che finished speaking. Thunderous explosions immediately shook the air.

Everyone could also feel three dark auras flare up fiercely in the direction of those explosions.

“Wh… What!?” Color drained from the faces of everyone from the Southern Sea God Realm. Even Nan Guizhong’s composure vanished from his face for an instant.

They sensed thirty different dark auras coming from those three directions. Even though it was only a small squad of people, every single one of them was radiating the aura of a Divine Master!

Shockingly enough, the strongest one in that group was a level ten Divine Master!

They had actually remained hidden all this while!

Furthermore, the sound of those dark explosions had clearly come from...

“Oh… no!” the Xuanyuan God Emperor exclaimed as a shudder went down his spine.

“How… could this happen!?” The Purple Micro God Emperor’s limbs had gone ice-cold. “When did they even…”

The grand dimensional formations which connected the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm, Xuanyuan Realm, and Purple Micro Realm to the Southern Sea God Realm had been destroyed by the power of darkness at the exact same instant.

This stopped the Southern Sea God Realm from receiving any reinforcements… and it also cut off all their escape routes.

Devils always had trouble hiding their darkness energy. This was something that had become common knowledge to the profound practitioners of the God Realm. Unfortunately for them, all the devils who had been “purified” by Yun Che’s Eternal Calamity of Darkness could conceal their auras perfectly.

This piece of asymmetric information had been the biggest reason for the quick downfall of the Eastern Divine Region.

When they had launched their assault on the Eternal Heaven God Realm, Chi Wuyao lured out half of the Eternal Heaven God Realm’s core forces first before they destroyed their grand dimensional formations, cutting off all methods of reinforcements and escape. What followed after was a swift and brutal slaughter in the Eternal Heaven God Realm.

Yun Che had taken a leaf out of Chi Wuyao’s book here. Before he entered the Southern Sea God Realm, he had gotten Yan Tianxiao to form three different parties to infiltrate the Southern Sea God Realm.

The moment the Southern Sea God Realm activated the Titanic Sea God Cannon, all of their forces and attention would be focused on Yun Che. Yan Tianxiao would take advantage of that opportunity to swiftly swoop down towards the grand dimensional formation and destroy them.

“The Devil Master is safe and sound while the Southern Sea has destroyed themselves!” Yan Tianxiao roared as he soared into the air, the dark energy flaring from his body blocking out all light. “Charge!!”

The Yama Devils and Yama Ghosts who had just completed their missions immediately transformed into three bloodthirsty devil blades as they struck towards the heart of the Southern Sea God Realm from three different directions. Most of the Southern Sea profound practitioners were still flailing around in panic when they were turned into puffs of blood and smoke by the all-encroaching darkness.

“Our luck wasn’t bad. It looks like everything went according to plan,” Qianye Ying’er said in a soft voice. As she said those words, Divine Oracle started to buzz with a cruel black light.

“Royal Father, our three great core profound formations have been completely destroyed,” Nan Wansheng hissed through gritted teeth.

The profound formations which connected the great king realms were exceedingly sturdy. In the eyes of the world, destroying these profound formations in a short period of time was as hard as reaching the heavens. The fact that the devils had managed to accomplish this told the people of the Southern Divine Region just how terrifying these hidden devils were.

Nan Guizhong closed his eyes briefly. Once he opened them again, they looked vacant as he said, “The Devil Master Yun Che, the person who was able to conquer the Northern Divine Region. He really…”

“Charge!” Now that they had successfully cut off the Southern Sea God Realm from any support, Yun Che couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time listening to the Southern Sea God Realm. He simply uttered a blood-chilling command as the Devil Master of the North. It was the painful vow he had made back then:

“There will be nothing left… of the Southern Sea’s bloodline!”

Rumble!

The skies suddenly went dark as darkness pressed down on the souls of everyone present. The Three Yama Ancestors rushed forth to do battle and their might, which had not even been fully unleashed yet, had already cast a deep pall of terror over the broken and battered Southern Sea God Realm.