Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1977 - The Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

“The four Creation Gods and the four Devil Emperors all possessed an aspect where they excelled above all others. Their overall strengths might differ, but there is no doubt that they all belong on the same playing field.”

“With that in mind, how was it possible for a Creation God to entrap three Devil Emperors single handedly?”

Chi Wuyao answered her own question immediately after voicing it, “With the Eternal Heaven Pearl, of course!”

Yun Che: “...”

Chi Wuyao continued, “Back in the day, the Heavenly Profound Treasures were far more powerful and intact than they are today. The Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor, Mo E used the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword to exile the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and defeat the Creation God of Elements. The Evil Infant used the Sky Poison Pearl to create the Myriad Tribulations that ended both the God Race and the Devil Race. And the Creation God of Elements used the Eternal Heaven Pearl to delay three Devil Emperors single handedly.”

“You can just imagine how powerful and worshiped the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures were back then.”

Chi Wuyao’s devilish eyes grew darker at this moment. “Which brings us to our third contradiction.”

“We know that the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword belonged to the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor, the Primordial Seal of Life and Death belonged to the Creation God of Life, the Eternal Heaven Pearl belonged to the Creation God of Order, and the World Piercer belonged to the Creation God of Elements.”

“The Mirror of Samsara did not belong to anyone as it only existed in writing and memory at the time.”

“Lastly, the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was sealed by the Devil Race, and the Sky Poison Pearl belonged to the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor.”

“Of the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, the God Race owned four, and the Devil Race only two. They were literally two Heavenly Profound Treasures behind the God Race.”

“This clearly did not meet the balance the Ancestral God had strived for when she created the two races and the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures. There is no way the two races could have maintained a long period of peace before the war either.”

Yun Che suddenly understood what Chi Wuyao was trying to say.

“You’re saying that the ancient Devil Race possessed devil artifacts that weren’t up to par with the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, but were enough to make up for their deficiency in that regard?”

“That’s right.” Chi Wuyao nodded slowly. “Two devil artifacts. They must have two devil artifacts at the very least to balance the scales of power in terms of artifacts. Moreover, they are most likely a powerful spatial devil artifact and a time devil artifact.”

The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword’s sacred power was the antithesis of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulation’s sheer destructive power, and the Primordial Seal of Life and Death’s immortality was the antithesis of the Sky Poison Pearl’s deadly poison.

Since the God Race possessed the ultimate spatial artifact, the World Piercer and the ultimate time artifact, the Eternal Heaven Pearl, it makes sense that the Devil Race would possess corresponding devil artifacts as well.

Right now, Yun Che was wearing a deep frown on his face. His puzzlement had far surpassed his astonishment a while ago, “From a ‘balance’ perspective, your ideas are quite logical. But that era is also so far behind us that no speculation, no matter how reasonable, can possibly be taken in any serious capacity.”

“But since you’re bringing it up now, that means…” Yun Che declared, “You must have circumstantial evidence to support your theory?”

Chi Wuyao nodded in agreement. “The day I imparted my life’s memories to you and suffered a massive turbulence in my soul sea, the Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul had taken quite a bit of damage as well. As luck would have it, it awakened an ancient memory that should’ve disappeared a long time ago.”

The Devil Queen pressed a finger to Yun Che’s forehead, and an ancient voice full of sorrow and despair immediately resounded in his soul sea:

“If we hadn't lost the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl, it wouldn’t have turned out this way!!”

Since it came from the Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul, it could only be the Devil Emperor’s own voice!

Who would’ve thought that a supreme Devil Emperor could make such a painful and despairing howl?

“The Nether Mirror… and the Devil Pearl…” Yun Che repeated those names with clear shock in his eyes.

“Speaking of the ‘Nether Mirror’, what does it remind you of?” Chi Wuyao asked.

Yun Che knew the answer even before she had asked the question. It could only be the strange black mirror that had allowed Mo Beichen to pierce through the Abyss and appear in Primal Chaos!

“Could it be…” Yun Che met Chi Wuyao’s gaze.

“Most likely,” Chi Wuyao replied gently. “In ancient times, not even the strongest spatial artifact in the universe, the World Piercer, was able to pierce through the Abyss. Although its laws have changed drastically since, its spatial laws are still far greater than what we thought possible.”

“For the past week, I’ve asked Meiyin repeatedly about the absolute limits of the World Piercer in the current universe. We’ve also traveled to the God Realm of Absolute Beginning and attempted to pierce into the space beneath the Abyss of Nothingness using the World Piercer. The result we obtained is this…”

Chi Wuyao let out a small sigh. “The World Piercer is now capable of interfering with the Abyss’ laws, but it would need at least hundreds of thousands of years of recovery to pierce to the other side.”

“Not including the World Piercer, the most powerful spatial profound artifact in our universe is the Great Void Cauldron. However, the Great Void Cauldron is utterly incapable of warping the space of the Abyss of Nothingness even at maximum output.”

“On the other hand, the Abyssal Monarch is able to gather his True Gods’ power to recharge his unknown mirror. He’s also able to make an attempt every fifty years.”

“With that in mind, it is highly probable that the mirror he holds is the Nether Mirror the Nirvana Devil Emperor lamented about. It must be a spatial devil artifact that is almost on the same level as the World Piercer of ancient times!”

Chi Wuyao’s speculation was as bold as it was fantastical.

She might be the only one in the entire Primal Chaos who could put together such a stunning speculation through countless fragments of information.

If we hadn't lost the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl, it wouldn’t have turned out this way!!

Lost…?

For a long time, Yun Che was fully absorbed in his thoughts.

Assuming Chi Wuyao’s speculation was close to the truth, could the Abyssal Monarch actually be…

Chi Wuyao continued, “The despairing howl we heard clearly happened after the Nirvana Devil Emperor finally escaped the Eternal Heaven Thousand Level Realm, but was greeted by the horrific sight of Myriad Tribulations killing everyone and everything.”

“Assuming I haven’t grossly misinterpreted his words… he is saying that he and his fellow Devil Emperors would not have been trapped by the Eternal Heaven Pearl if they had the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl. It also means that the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl are strong enough to resist the power of the Eternal Heaven Pearl, one of the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures!”

Yun Che's frown deepened as he murmured, “He didn’t say the artifacts were damaged or destroyed, he said they were ‘lost’… but how is that possible? How do you even lose artifacts so important they can literally decide the fate of your race? Also, none of the ancient records mentioned the Nether Mirror or the Devil Pearl at all.”

“It’s very simple,” Chi Wuyao said, “assuming that the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl really were powerful enough to resist a Heavenly Profound Treasure, their importance to the Devil Race cannot be understated. In that case, it’s easy to imagine what the overlords of the Devil Race might do after losing them: they would do everything in their power to hide this fact. Why? Because it would cause unrest among the Devil Race and tempt the God Race into war otherwise.”

“Also, we can speculate that they had lost the two artifacts in a permanent fashion. Specifically, we can speculate that they had been dropped into the Abyss. If they had misplaced the artifacts after a particularly grueling battle or something, they could always retrieve them later. If someone had stolen or robbed them of the artifacts, they still could reclaim them from their enemies eventually. But the Abyss is a different story.”

“At the time, everyone knew that the Abyss was a one-way trip. There was zero chance they could have retrieved their artifacts. If I was one of the overlords of the Devil Race, I would definitely do everything in my power to hide the loss. Then, I would work continuously to diminish the artifacts’ existence without being overt.”

“There weren’t many ancient records that survived to current times to begin with, and most of them were focused on the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures. All things considered, it’s not too unusual that the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl were completely lost to history.”

What Chi Wuyao left unsaid was that it was still unusual. No matter how much the four Devil Emperors tried to diminish the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl’s existence, they were still artifacts that almost rivaled the Heavenly Profound Treasures in power. However, they were wiped so thoroughly from the annals of history that no one in present time even knew they existed until the Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul had yielded the ancient memory. It was almost as if someone had wiped them after the era of gods and devils had come to an end.

Also, the Devil Emperors might be able to wipe every record the Devil Race had regarding the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl, but there was no way they could have affected the God Race’s records.

There was one god who could’ve potentially wiped the records on the side of the God Race though. It was the god who had cleaned up everyone’s mess after the war, the last god to die before the godless era began…

The Heretic God, Ni Xuan.

Chi Wuyao didn’t dwell too long on this theory though. It was just too outlandish. No matter how she hypothesized, she just couldn’t imagine any reason why the Heretic God would do this.

“As for how the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl were lost in the first place…” Chi Wuyao shook her head. “I’ve considered many possibilities and looked through a massive number of ancient records to verify them, but I just couldn’t find even a sliver of information. Unfortunately, I’m unable to make up even a shoddy explanation to convince myself.”

“Personally, I believe that the truth of the matter is buried even deeper than the existence of the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl themselves. Today, it has become a mystery that can never be resolved.”

Chi Wuyao paused for a second before continuing, “When the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor had tricked and exiled the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor from Primal Chaos, the temperamental Devil Race had chosen to lie low and wait until the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor had passed away before going to war with the God Race. Their actions did not match up against the temperament that was described in the ancient records.”

“However, the loss of the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl perfectly explained this behavior.”

“It wasn’t because the three Devil Emperors didn’t want to take revenge immediately. It was because they couldn’t.”

“Speaking of which, there’s another question that’s been puzzling me for a while…” Chi Wuyao said with a puzzled expression, “As we both know, the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor had sacrificed his lifespan to use the Ancestral Sword and even risked the two races entering total war against each other just to exile the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor from Primal Chaos. We were told it was because the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor couldn't tolerate the Creation God of Elements and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor getting together, but… was that really it? Does it actually make sense for him to sacrifice that much and risk it all just to satisfy his personal desires?”

“...” Yun Che could not answer her. Before this, the “truth” he was told had sounded perfectly accurate, natural, and enlightening. But now, Chi Wuyao was making him question it all again.

Unfortunately, the past was just too far away. It would seem that most of their questions would never be answered.

Chi Wuyao continued, “In any case, the Devil Race’s resentment had only grown by leaps and bounds since they lost their Devil Emperor. Like a live volcano, it was only a matter of time before it erupted with full force.”

“Unfortunately, the three Devil Emperors were fully aware that they were, in fact, ill-equipped to go to war against the God Race because they had lost the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl. So, they had no choice but to calm their people as best they could while waiting for the right time to show up.”

“Later, the Heretic God went into seclusion, and Mo E passed away after reaching the end of his lifespan, meaning that the God Race had no one left to wield the Ancestral Sword… this was the opportunity they were waiting for, and the Devil Race did not wait to unleash the full force of their fury.”

“The Creation God of Life, Li Suo was ambushed and killed by poisoning, leaving only the Creation God of Order behind.”

“The Original Darkness Devil Emperor, Nine Fiend Devil Emperor and Nirvana Devil Emperor joined hands and attempted to crush the Creation God of Order with overwhelming power. They did not want to give the God Race any chance to make a comeback. However, their alliance was actually turned against them when the Creation God of Order lured them into the Eternal Heaven Pearl and trapped them within Eternal Heaven One Thousand Level Realm.”

Chi Wuyao was reimagining the ancient war of gods and devils by presuming that the two races must have existed in balance at the beginning, and adding the Nether Mirror and Devil Pearl into the mix. Although it was practically impossible to prove that her theory was true, they might as well be gospel to Yun Che’s ears.

It was because her theory explained most of the inconsistencies in the “truth”.

Chi Wuyao shot him a glance and smiled a little. “It’s just a theory, one that you should only listen to and forget for the most part. The biggest reason I’m telling you this is to inform you about the Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl.”

“There may not be a record or even a trace of them in the entire universe, but they must exist since they were mentioned by the Nirvana Devil Emperor himself.”

“Assuming that they really are lost in the Abyss, then the strange mirror the Abyssal Monarch used to pierce the Abyss of Nothingness most likely is the Devil Race’s Nether Mirror.”

“The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her Devil Gods were able to survive the harsh world beyond Primal Chaos by creating a livable space using the World Piercer. In that case, it’s perfectly possible that the Abyssal Monarch used the Nether Mirror, a spatial devil artifact that rivaled the World Piercer in terms of power, to create the Abyss as well.”

“And since the Abyssal Monarch both owned and wielded the Nether Mirror, they are most likely…”

“The descendant of a Devil Emperor!”

Of the Six Kingdoms of God, the Abyssal Monarch favored the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God, a people that primarily cultivated dark profound energy, the most. Even the name of their kingdom was bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch himself. It wasn’t direct evidence that he was a member of the ancient Devil Race, but it was definitely suggestive.

Also, Mo Beichen had said that the Abyssal Monarch was seeking to enter the realm of the Creation Gods… literally no one but a direct descendant of a Devil Emperor or a Creation God would have the right to consider such a thing.

Yun Che nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

There was no greater hidden threat than the unknown, and Chi Wuyao had done absolutely everything she could to uncover a world that she hadn’t even set foot in before.

“The Nether Mirror and the Devil Pearl had most likely been lost at the same time. Assuming that the Devil Pearl is also in the Abyss, it would most likely be a time devil artifact.”

As the inheritor of the Eternal Calamity of Darkness, Yun Che’s mastery of dark profound energy was second to none. He was also the closest person to a Devil Emperor in current times.

Assuming that the Abyssal Monarch really was a descendant of a Devil Emperor… This might actually be good news for Yun Che.