Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Xiao Yun and all of the ladies of Frozen Cloud Asgard swiftly retreated under the protection of Feng Xue’er’s Phoenix flames along with the rest of their companions. Amidst a sharp cry that threatened to rip the heavens asunder, an extremely enraged Little Demon Empress continuously shot out hundreds of beams of violent Golden Crow flames, forcing Xuanyuan Wentian to retreat tens of kilometers. A large swathe of this icy snowscape which had endured for ten thousand years was mercilessly incinerated as the entire blue sky was burned golden.

“Hahahahaha…” Xuanyuan Wentian let out a wild and insolent laugh as he stood amidst of sea of Golden Crow flames. Black energy curled up around his body and the Golden Crow flames, which surrounded him burned everything else into nothingness, were unable to penetrate the black mist around him. “Do you see this?! This is the strength that this sovereign now possesses! This is the legendary Golden Crow Divine flames and Huangji Wuji and the other two trashes were burned and menaced by it until they were reduced to a bunch of defeated dogs, but it can’t even scratch this sovereign!”

“This is indeed a strength that belongs to the devil gods!!”

“Xuanyuan Wentian!” The golden pupils of the Little Demon Empress’ eyes blazed with a hatred that cut to the bone, “My Illusory Demon Royal Family had no grievances or hatred against you but for the sake of your own selfish desires, you caused the death of this empress’ royal father and caused the death of this empress’ royal brother… Causing the Illusory Demon Realm to be struck by a calamity that nearly overthrew it!!”

“I have already thoroughly crippled that villain Duke Ming and right now, he is suffering the most exquisite pain every single day, where he cannot hope to truly live or die. But it is still not sufficient to cleanse the hatred in this empress’ heart. But you… even if this empress descends into the Yellow Springs of the netherworld today, I will drag your corpse kicking and screaming down with me!!”

“Hahahaha, what does that Duke Ming even amount to? Do you think he is worthy of being compared to this sovereign?” Xuanyuan Wentian said as a wild and arrogant laugh ripped out from his throat, “Even if the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix God was still alive today, the only thing it would be able to do is to bow its head in submission to this sovereign. You want to kill this sovereign… That is merely the foolish talk of foolish dreamer!!”

The black energy around Xuanyuan Wentian surged as it swelled into a dark devil shadow that was so gigantic that it nearly covered the sky. In an instant, the entire sky grew dark and it seemed like all of the light on earth had been swallowed up as dark clouds that seemed to come from the devil realm roiled about in the sky. If one took a glance at the current scenery, it would look like something out of an apocalypse.

“This sovereign already possesses the most powerful devil god power in this world, even if it is the Golden Crow Divine flames, they are only fit to tremble before this sovereign! Hahahahaha…”

The sound of Xuanyuan Wentian’s laughter shook the heavens. As he was wildly cackling, all of the black clouds and black mist were swept up, as if a hurricane was pulling them along. They exploded towards the Little Demon Empress as lightning and thunder roiled within. From a distance, it looked as if a black shining sun had descended to earth as it attempted to devour the Little Demon Empress who looked as tiny as an ant.

The Little Demon Empress’ expression had become terrifyingly grave and solemn. The fiery image of the Golden Crow appeared behind her back before soaring into the heavens. In an instant, a large sea of golden fire had ignited in the air, causing the darkened sky to once again shine with a glaring golden light.

The fiery image of the Golden Crow gave a long cry as it suddenly flew even faster. Like a golden-colored knife, it pierced into the black mist, violently rending apart the churning dark clouds. The violent flames of the Golden Crow that trailed in its wake also rushed into the midst of the black clouds, wantonly incinerating it from within.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

The dark and sinister energy brought along by the black clouds was devoured by those flames while the flames were also being dyed black. The color of the sky and the earth had completely changed and the entire Snow Region of Extreme Ice was trembling. Space was being bored through by the flames as if it was composed of weak ice crystals, becoming riddled with holes.

“Oh? You were actually able to block this sovereign’s devil god power?” Astonishment briefly flashed through Xuanyuan Wentian’s eyes but he immediately started to laugh wildly yet again, “Hahahaha… Not bad, you have indeed managed to barely force your way into the ways of the divine. But how can a mere mortal like you even compare to this sovereign who has already become a devil god!!?”

Xuanyuan Wentian shifted his hands as both his arms thrust forward repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, he had formed a hundred thousand dark profound seals in the air, all of them exploding towards the black mist. The black mist which covered the skies instantly distorted before letting out a sound which sounded like the wail of a vicious spirit and fiercely pressing towards the sea of burning Golden Crow flames.

The skies instantly grew darker yet again as the Golden Crow flames were violently suppressed.

The pressure on the Little Demon Empress’ body sharply increased. Her long hair was shaking in the air that was burning with golden fire, the fires burning around her had also completely concealed the color of her her rainbow-colored skirts. The Little Demon Empress, who was being baptized by golden flames, was indescribably and fantastically beautiful, her appearance conveying a sacredness that could not be profaned.

Her eyes gently closed before suddenly snapping open again. In that instant, a long keening cry swallowed up all the other sounds in the world and long golden-colored wings slowly unfurled from her back… it was as if a true Golden Crow had suddenly awoken inside her body.

“Red… Purgatory… Lotus…”

After that soft chant, a scarlet-colored cluster of flames proudly began to bloom in the dusky sky.

“AUUHHHOOOOO————”

The rampaging dark mist was instantly stopped in its tracks by the Red Purgatory Lotus. After that, it was mercilessly pierced by countless beams of fire as howls of pain filled the sky, it was as if a berserking devil beast had been shot through the heart by myriad arrows.

“WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH…”

In the distance, nearly all the girls of Frozen Cloud Asgard let out cries of shock and terror. They saw the glaciers and ice boulder melt away at a crazy rate, causing the ground to steadily sink. Even though they had clearly distanced themselves far away from Frozen Cloud Asgard, they could still feel that scorching heat wash over their bodies.

“Don’t panic, immediately activate the Frozen Cloud Arts at maximum capacity to shield your body!” Murong Qianxue forcibly steadied her voice before shouting. She turned back to look and her face instantly turned pale as a sheet.

Dark clouds whirled and a sea of fire raged in the southern skies… It was a dreadful scene that she could not conjure up even in her wildest fantasies and despite the fact that it was unraveling right before her eyes, she was unable to believe that this scene was something that could be created by the power of mortals. But what caused her heart to truly tremble was that...

Frozen Cloud Asgard… had vanished...

It was as if her soul had been wrenched out of her body in that moment as her feet halted and she stared dazedly towards the north...

“Senior Sister! You… Ah!” Mu Lanyi, who had discovered that Murong Qianxue had suddenly come to a stop, anxiously came to drag her along but after she shouted those three words, the rest of her words were firmly stuck in her throat as she stood there petrified along with Murong Qianxue.

The ladies of Frozen Cloud Asgard stopped one after the other until all of them stood in place. They blankly stared at where Frozen Cloud Asgard used to be and in an instant, tears filled their eyes as those crystal tears began to mournfully roll down the snow-white skin of their faces.

“Our… Frozen Cloud Asgard… is gone…” Murong Qianxue whispered, pain arcing through her like a keen knife.

Given the calamitous power that the Little Demon Empress and Xuanyuan Wentian were throwing at each other as they fought, even if there were hundreds of Frozen Cloud Asgards, they would have been reduced to flying ashes in the blink of an eye, much less just one.

Tears hovered in Feng Xue’er’s eyes as she felt their pain and helplessness… Because that was their home, the place that they had lived most of their lives. Yet it had disappeared forever just like this, never to return again.

Feng Xue’er bit her lower lip as she struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes at any moment before speaking in a soft voice, “My fellow Senior Masters, Junior Masters, Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters, Frozen Cloud Asgard has not disappeared. What has disappeared is only its shell… As long as we survive, no matter where we go, we can always build a new Frozen Cloud Asgard. Furthermore… furthermore, the ancestors of Frozen Cloud Asgard are buried in a secret place more than ten kilometers below the ground, so their resting place is definitely whole and unharmed. Even as they sleep, they will still look over us and protect us as we rebuild Frozen Cloud Asgard and it will be a Frozen Cloud Asgard that is even better than the last one.”

Murong Qianxue turned around and wiped the traces of tears from her face before gracing Feng Xue’er with a faint smile, “Princess Snow, thank you for your kind words. You don’t need to worry, we were able to overcome one life-and-death struggle after the other, so why would we collapse at this point? You are absolutely right, what we have lost is merely a shell of the past. Right now, what we need to do is properly protect the Asgard Master and ourselves as well… As long as we are still alive, Frozen Cloud Asgard will never fade away.”

“Lanyi, Lanqie, protect the Asgard Master. Yueli, Hanyue and Hanxue, devote your energy to protecting the disciples who have low cultivation… Nobody is allowed to turn back. Now let’s leave quickly!!”

The only thing they could do now was to flee and it was the one thing that they had to do.

Even though they had fled an extremely far distance, the energy waves that radiated from behind them were still incomparably terrifying. Xiao Yun, Number One Under Heaven and Number Seven Under Heaven devoted all of their energy to protecting Xiao Lie, Cang Yue and Xiao Lingxi. Murong Qianxue carried Yun Che in her arms, Jun Lianqie and Mu Lanyi were by her side at all times to ensure that he was fully protected… Because in Yun Che’s current condition, he could not afford to sustain the slightest bit of damage.

Feng Xue’er took up the role of the rearguard and if any energy waves that were too fierce headed their way, she would block them completely.

“Wah… wh… why!? This isn’t possible!!”

As he witnessed his power being suppressed by the Golden Crow flames, the expression on Xuanyuan Wentian’s face finally changed for the first time. He had originally believed that his darkness profound energy would easily swallow up the Golden Crow flames but right now, he was witnessing that darkness profound energy being relentlessly incinerated and pierced by those flames. This was the devil god power that he had obtained after enduring countless trials and tribulations, the devil god power that he had obtained only after abandoning his original body, so how could it be suppressed like this!?

Ten days ago, the devil soul within the sword took advantage of the fact that Fen Juechen had fainted to successfully incite the devil blood within his body to activate the “Devil Wheel Blood Sacrifice”, the technique devouring Xuanyuan Wentian’s body and all of his power along with his soul.

Even though extinguishing Fen Juechen’s soul took far more effort and energy than he had anticipated in the end, the final result was just as he had expected. He had seized control of Fen Juechen’s body after it had devoured him and after that, he had spent a few days merging the strengths of Fen Juechen and Xuanyuan Wentian.

No, to be exact, it was the merging of Xuanyuan Wentian, Fen Juechen and Ye Mufeng’s powers!

Because Fen Juechen had initially devoured the devil soul of Ye Mufeng. The power that he had obtained before his devil blood had awoken had all come from Ye Mufeng but even when he had fought with Xuanyuan Wentian, he had still not been able to fully absorb Ye Mufeng’s power.

Xuanyuan Wentian’s own strength had already reached the pinnacle but now that he had also obtained Fen Juechen’s and Ye Mufeng’s power, devil blood which had not fully awakened was flowing in his body and a devil soul which could maximize the power of said devil blood dwelt in his sword. So in the few days after that, he could feel his own power explosively increasing at an incomparably crazy pace each and every day.

It explosively increased to the point where even he, who had been a Sacred Master for a thousand years, had not dared to imagine.

Even though it had been a short ten days, his powers had yet to be completely merged and the devil blood in his body was far from completely awakening but the inconceivably strong power that had welled up in his body gave him a resolute belief that the current him had grown so strong that no one would be able to rival him… Even if it was the Illusory Demon Realm’s Little Demon Empress, whose own power had grown by leaps and bounds and who also seemed to have finally touched upon the way of the divine.

So after he had found out that the Little Demon Empress and Feng Xue’er were both in the Snow Region of Extreme Ice, he decided to pay them a visit personally.

Given Xuanyuan Wentian’s original temperament, he would definitely not make any casual moves unless he had absolute confidence. This could clearly be seen from the fact that he did not hesitate to wait one thousand years just so that he could definitively choose the day of the Thirteen Star Alignment just so he could obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.

If it was the original Xuanyuan Wentian, he would definitely choose to finish consolidating and merging his power and fully awakening his devil blood before moving to realize his ambitions. But under the influence that the darkness profound energy had wrought on his personality, he could not wait to move even though it had only been ten short days after he had obtained the power of the devil gods.

Xuanyuan Wentian had indeed clearly noticed the influence on his very nature but he did not try to control it. Instead, he reveled in this change.

However, even though he had a high estimation of the Little Demon Empress’ strength, it turned out that he had still underestimated her a lot.

“This sovereign has already become a devil god… How can I lose to a mere mortal!!?”

Xuanyuan Wentian’s face turned sinister as the black light around his body began to swell as tens of pitch-black sword beams soundlessly appeared in the air behind him… Under the influence of the darkness profound energy, his originally colorless sword beams had turned black.

A sinister edge instantly pierced the Little Demon Empress’ spiritual perception. Her eyes flashed and the sea of fire which filled the skies was abruptly and swiftly pressed down from above. The dark light which had been entangled with the flames for a long period of time was immediately torn apart like a black-colored curtain as the overflowing sea of flames hurtled towards Xuanyuan Wentian’s head.

“Wh… What!?”

Even though he was being suppressed, Xuanyuan Wentian had definitely never dreamed that his power would be so abruptly torn apart. The sword beams which still hovered in place were immediately swallowed up by the sea of fire as his entire person was pulled into the sea of Golden Crow flames.

“AAAHHHHHHH!!”

Xuanyuan Wentian gave a furious howl as an enormous black-colored barrier opened up around his body, firmly pushing the Golden Crow flames outside its boundaries. But in the next instant, he heard a long cry that caused his very soul to fiercely shudder as the fiery figure of the Golden Crow which left a long trail of fire in its wake dove out of the voluminous sea of flames to explode against his dark barrier.

BOOOM!!

A beam of fire shot towards the sky. The dark barrier had successfully blocked that fiery golden-colored figure but it had quickly turned thin. Xuanyuan Wentian could scarcely believe his widened eyes and once his eyes stretched to their absolute widest, his dark barrier was forcibly melted away and the golden-colored figure crazily rushed towards him. The surrounding flames zoomed in on him as well, causing him to be completely engulfed in the sea of fire.

“AAAHHHHH!!”

Xuanyuan Wentian gave a miserable cry as his entire body was swallowed up by the Golden Crow flames and he became a human torch which was fiercely flung through the air!

Rrrmb!!

Xuanyuan Wentian flew for more than five kilometers, the dreadful impact causing tens of kilometers worth of glacier to instantly and completely crumble away. The Little Demon Empress’ figure flashed towards him, two delicate ice-jade hands lightly danced in the air as one Golden Crow flame lotus after the other hurtled down at him like golden-colored meteors, mercilessly bombarding the deep crater in which Xuanyuan Wentian lay.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...