Against the Gods (Web Novel)

The world before their eyes was incomparably spacious and empty, and their line of sight was hindered by a layer of smoke, making it impossible for them to look too far. Yun Che and others followed behind Mu Huanzhi and Mu Bingyun and walked for a long time, but there was still no end in sight.

“It seems that we really have come too late and the great majority of visitors have already entered the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. I still remember when we arrived at the last Profound God Convention, the whole place was full of noise and activity, and there were as many people as galaxies,” Mu Huanzhi said with a sigh.

“That’s only one of the reasons. Now that the cultivation level of the participants has been restricted to the Divine Tribulation Realm and above, it has resulted in an extreme reduction of their numbers, and is the primary reason for so few people to be here at this time,” Mu Bingyun said.

As they continued moving forward, Yun Che suddenly caught sight of a vague black silhouette very far off in the distance ahead of them. The black figure towered into the sky; it was so tall that one couldn’t see its top.

“Palace Master Bingyun, what is that?” Yun Che asked.

“That is the Eternal Heaven Tower,” Mu Bingyun replied. “It’s the tallest tower in the God Realm, towering fifteen thousand kilometers into the firmament.”

“Fifteen… thousand kilometers?” Hearing the words, all the disciples from the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect gasped in shock.

The distance of fifteen thousand kilometers was very high even for profound practitioners of divine way, and such a height could only be described as inconceivable.

“Hahaha,” Huo Rulie laughed aloud as he came over with big strides. “The Eternal Heaven Tower isn’t a ‘true’ tower, but actually a special projection from the Eternal Heaven Pearl. It is said that its true self is located within the ‘Eternal Heaven Divine Realm,’ the internal area inside the Eternal Heaven Pearl. The Eternal Heaven Pearl is right below the Eternal Heaven Tower that you’re seeing right now.”

With that, Huo Rulie shifted his gaze sideways as he said loudly, “Poyun, if you can get the qualification to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm at this Profound God Convention, then you’ll most likely be cultivating inside the Eternal Heaven Tower for three years… Oh, no, no, three years according to the passage of time in the mortal world, which will be three thousand years in the Eternal Heaven Tower. Being able to cultivate inside the Eternal Heaven Tower will definitely be far better than cultivating for ten thousand years in the outside world. Do you get it?”

Huo Poyun said with a solemn look, “Master, rest easy. Poyun will certainly not fail Master’s expectations or his own self.”

“That’s good to hear, hahahaha.” Huo Rulie let out a loud laugh, and continued to walk forward with big strides.

The group of the disciples from the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect felt envy and jealousy listening to their conversation. Mu Huanzhi also shook his head, and gave Huo Poyun a glance with a gloomy face. He suddenly felt emotional in his heart, thinking that he wouldn’t regret dying ten thousand times in this life if he could have such a successor. Soon after, he felt helpless as he sighed and became upset.

Huo Poyun was, in fact, embarrassed when saw their expressions. He stole a glance at everyone as he came over beside Yun Che, “Brother Yun, my master absolutely didn’t have the intention to show off. It’s just that… he says whatever comes into his head…”

“Haha,” Yun Che however, responded with a light laugh. “Brother Poyun, you don’t have to be so modest. No matter which star realm you go to, you definitely have enough talent to show off to others.”

He turned his head to the side as he suddenly lowered his voice, “Bother Poyun, the ancestral divine spirit of your Golden Crow Sect should have died away only a few years ago, right?”

“…” Huo Poyun stopped in his tracks for a moment. There was an obvious stiff look on his face as he stared blankly at Yun Che.

His reaction was enough for Yun Che to get his answer… Just as he expected, the reason for Huo Poyun’s unusual Golden Crow flame was quite similar to Feng Xue’er’s. It was the process of complete bestowal at the price of the thorough dissipation of the Golden Crow spirit.

When he had first arrived at the God Realm, Mu Bingyun had told him that the souls of gods no longer existed in the God Realm, and it was the same for the Flame God Realm. However, it was very clear that the truth was different from what she had said.

Back then in the Illusory Demon Realm, the Golden Crow’s soul had told him that if he couldn’t see Jasmine in five years, he would never be able to meet her again in his life. It was a known fact that souls could communicate with each other through soul voice, and it was evident that it was able to know of the matters of the God Realm because it was in touch with the Golden Crow’s soul in the God Realm… It meant that the Golden Crow’s soul in the God Realm still existed until not that long ago.

When Huo Poyun displayed his Golden Crow flames during their first meeting, he gave Yun Che a feeling similar to Feng Xue’er.

Now it seemed that everything was just as he thought. It was indeed due to the “divine bestowal” that Huo Poyun possessed flames with such astonishing ability.

“Brother Yun… Why do you say such a thing?” Huo Poyun asked with a stiff expression.

“Oh, there’s no particular reason. Earlier I heard some legends about the Flame God Realm from a senior of my sect, so I casually asked out of curiosity,” Yun Che said with an unconcerned look as he was lost in thought for a brief while. Considering the dignity of gods, it was absolutely impossible for them to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a human. But, the Primordial Azure Dragon gave the last of its blood and marrow, as well as soul to him. Later, first Feng Xue’er and now even Huo Poyun had experienced the same thing…

It was very evident that by bestowing their own parts to others, they were staking all on one throw for some great reason.

What exactly was the thing that they sensed and the Heavenly Mystery Realm prophesied about…?

“Well…”

ZzZz!!

Huo Poyun stammered, not able to come up with a reply. It was at this time that an obscure and enormous force enshrouded the place below from out of the blue sky.

Yun Che subconsciously turned his head around. Far off in the distance behind them, there was a huge profound ark high up in the sky… Precisely speaking, it was a huge palace that was slowly flying over. It looked fifty kilometers long at a glance. Approaching the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, although the huge palace was flying at a very slow speed, the feeling of coercion it gave off was as vast as the sun rising in the sky, hastening the heartbeats of others and frightening their souls.

“Divine Martial Heavenly Palace!”

The low cries from Mu Huanzhi and Huo Rulie resounded beside Yun Che at the same time.

“Divine Martial Heavenly Palace? Is it the… main profound warship of the Divine Martial Realm that Master talked about?” Huo Poyun exclaimed in a low voice.

Divine Martial Realm? Yun Che was reminded of something.

“Correct.” Huo Rulie slowly nodded his head. “It’s no surprise for the Divine Martial Realm to arrive at this time. There aren’t that many upper star realms which are allowed to land their profound warships inside the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. The Divine Martial Realm will naturally not let go of such an opportunity to display its might.”

“I’ve heard that an extraordinary genius called Wu Guike has appeared among the young children of the Realm King of the Divine Martial Realm. The Divine Martial Realm will definitely be a strong contender in the peak level battle that is going to be held in this Profound God Convention,” Mu Bingyun said slowly.

Yun Che raised his brows… Wu Guike of the Divine Martial Realm. Two years ago, not only did he hear of this name but also nearly bumped into him.

Furthermore…

The Divine Martial Heavenly Palace slowly headed forward as it flew to the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, but one could still feel incredible might from it. Suddenly, another feeling of coercion descended from the sky, which actually eclipsed the imposing manner of the Divine Martial Heavenly Palace in an instant. It scared everyone to such an extent that they came to a halt.

“What… What is that thing?” Almost every disciple from the Divine Ice Phoenix Divine Sect shouted in surprise.

Above the boundless firmament, an enormous, black silhouette was roaming at a slow pace. Looking fixedly at it, it surprisingly turned out to be a huge, completely pitch-black whale! The body of the whale was two hundred to two hundred and fifty kilometers long. Like a world-exterminator level enormous beast that could swallow the entire heaven and earth at any time, it was overlooking the tiny and lowly land and the living beings present upon it.

“Shrouding Sky Whale! Shrouding Sky Realm has also come… Wait a moment, look over there!”

Behind the huge whale was a bit smaller but several times faster shadow that passed by the huge whale and overtook it. To everyone’s surprise, it was a huge, greenish black hawk that was one hundred and fifty to two hundred kilometers long.

As the huge hawk flitted by, another huge silhouette gradually came closer and closer. It was an incomparably enormous profound ark that was five hundred kilometers in length, blotting out the sky and the sun. Every time it moved a bit further, it would cause changes in the flow of the wind and clouds.

“Primal Chaos Hawk of the Glazed Light Realm!”

“Star Destroyer Warship of the Holy Eaves Realm!”

Huo Rulie, Mu Huanzhi, and others had completely stopped moving any further. They looked up at the sky with faces full of shock. Those disciples from the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect were even more shaken than them. Each and every one of them utterly flabbergasted as if they were drawing closer to an illusory realm.

“They are… profound beasts?” Yun Che asked in bewilderment. He had never seen or even heard about several kilometers long aerial whales or hawks.

“Of course, they are,” Mu Bingyun said in a light tone. “That huge whale is called ‘Shrouding Sky Whale,’ the guardian divine beast and main profound warship of the Shrouding Sky Realm. That huge hawk is called ‘Primal Chaos Hawk,’ the exclusive ride of the great Realm King of the Glazed Light Realm. However, those profound beasts are somewhat different from those you know about. Precisely speaking, they are ‘Profound Beasts of Absolute Beginning.’”

“Profound Beasts… of Absolute Beginning?” Yun Che said with a blank look.

“It’s because they originate from a place called the ‘God Realm of Absolute Beginning’ that they’re called ‘Profound Beasts of Absolute Beginning.’” Huo Rulie butted in their conversation without any reservation. Afterwards, he waved his hand, “But you don’t need to know too much. Even I wouldn’t dare enter a place such as the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, so it’s still quite unnecessary for you to understand it boy.”

“However, as for the Primal Chaos Hawk, I do seem to have heard some information regarding it around a month ago,” Huo Rulie said with some hesitation. “The Realm King of Glazed Light has already given that hawk to her little daughter as her birthday gift when she turned fifteen. But I don’t know whether it’s true or false.”

Yun Che didn’t expect that those very common words of Huo Rulie would cause Mu Bingyun and Mu Huanzhi to turn around at the same time. The looks in their eyes also greatly changed. “Mu Bingyun said, “The Glazed Light Realm King has personally brought the Primal Chaos Hawk back from the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, and never let anyone else make any use of it. But if that hawk has been given to the ‘little daughter’… that wouldn’t be surprising at all.”

Mu Huanzhi slowly nodded his head.

“The Glazed Light Realm… is it that Glazed Light Realm where ‘Fairy Yingyue,’ one of the Four God Children of the Eastern Region, originates from?” Thinking of something, Huo Poyun cried in a low voice. “Is Master talking about her?”

“No…” Huo Rulie shook his head with a complicated expression in his eyes. It seemed as if he wanted to say something but decided otherwise. Eventually, he could only say, “Don’t let your mind be distracted by such thoughts before the Profound God Convention.”

“Understood, Master,” Huo Rulie at once replied and didn’t ask any more concerning the matter.

Rather than saying that Huo Rulie didn’t want Huo Poyun to be distracted by unnecessary thoughts, it’d be better to say that he didn’t want to increase the pressure on him for no good reason… Because that girl was an odd existence that made all the heaven-favored extraordinary geniuses of the God Realm feel inferior.

“Star Destroyer Battleship of the Holy Eaves Realm, Primal Chaos Hawk of the Glazed Light Realm, and Shrouding Sky Whale of the Shrouding Sky Realm. It appears as if they collaborated for these three great realms to actually arrive here at the same time,” Mu Huanzhi said.

“Matters related to such high level realms as those three aren’t something people like us can touch, let’s go,” Mu Bingyun shifted her gaze away as she said indifferently.

“Are these three star realms very strong?” Yun Che asked.

“Haha, their strength is far better than that,” Mu Huanzhi laughed. “Holy Eaves Realm, Glazed Light Realm, and Shrouding Sky Realm, are the three strongest great star realms among all the upper star realms in the Eastern Divine Region. In other words, under the king realms of the Eastern Region, these three great star realms are the topmost existences.”

“…I see.” Yun Che nodded in realization.” He finally understood the reason for such a strong reaction upon the arrival of the three star realms.

“I told you about the ‘Four God Children of the Eastern Region’ earlier. Besides Jun Xilei, the successor of the Sword Sovereign, the other three come from these three great realms,” Mu Bingyun said. “Luo Changsheng of the Holy Eaves Realm, Shui Yingyue of the Glazed Light Realm, Lu Lengchuan of the Shrouding Sky Realm… In this session of the Profound God Convention, the focus will still be on these three great realms. Even other realms with the status of an upper star realm like those three, can only grudgingly accept being overshadowed by their brilliance.”

Her word “still” undoubtedly showed that the same situation had already continued for many, many years. For many generations, these three great star realms had remained towering and unshakable like three great mountains of the Eastern Divine Region.

Having traveled for over two hours, they still could only see the vague figure of the “Eternal Heaven Tower” just as when they first caught sight of it. It seemed as if they hadn’t taken even a step towards it all along. But the place ahead of them was no longer spacious and empty. There were countless screens of light soaring into the sky that had the effect of blocking their line of sight. However, they were spread out in such a manner that it made the surroundings appear like a dreamy and indistinct bizarre world.

There was a figure standing at the bottom of every screen of light; some were boys and some were girls. Carrying all the disciples of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, Mu Bingyun and Mu Huanzhi headed over to the nearest screen of light. Mu Bingyun walked forward as she greeted, “Divine Ice Phoenix Sect of the Snow Song Realm. We have received the invitation to visit Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, and have also brought disciples to participate in the Profound God Convention.”

The girl before the screen of light took the invitation card and greeted them gracefully, “So it’s the honored guests from Snow Song. Honored guests, please wait for a moment. I’ll at once have someone show you seniors in. Those participating in the Profound God Convention, please use your hand to come in contact with the screen of light. You’ll be allowed to enter the convention as a participant once you satisfy the qualification requirements.”

Mu Bingyun returned her greeting with a nod. Mu Huanzhi had already started to have the disciples of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect stand in order.

“Yun Che, we’ll be separating for the time being,” Mu Bingyun specifically went over to Yun Che as she told him, “I will be entering the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm ahead of you disciples with the Great Elder and the others. You and the other disciples of the sect will be sent to the site where the preliminary competition will be held. As for the site of the competition, you will come to know of it only after you get there.”

“Put your hand on the screen of light. If you qualify, you’ll be able to go inside.”

Yun Che nodded in understanding, after which he stretched out his hand and placed it on the light screen in front of him.

A wisp of undetectable blue light immediately covered his palm. Then, it spread to his whole body and disappeared with a flash.

At once, clearly visible words emerged on the screen of light before his eyes.

Lifespan: Twenty-seven years.

Cultivation: First level of the Divine Tribulation Realm.

It was at the same time that a clear soul voice resounded in his mind: Please imprint your name and place of origin.

“Yun Che, Snow Song Realm.” Yun Che answered immediately.

After a moment, Yun Che opened his eyes and said to Mu Bingyun, “Palace Master Bingyun, I can enter inside now.”

“Among the numerous profound practitioners participating in the Profound God Convention, your cultivation is at the bottom level, after all. Therefore, your journey in the competition will very soon come to an end.” Mu Bingyun said quite bluntly. She also knew that Yun Che wasn’t really concerned about the Profound God Convention, and it was just a medium for him to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. “Once you’re done, remember to contact me right after. Whatever you do later in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm must be all under my watch… That’s an order from your master.”

“Understood. Palace Master Bingyun, do not worry,” Yun Che responded obediently.

“Poyun, you go too.” Huo Rulie pushed Huo Poyun to the front of the screen of light. His slightly flushed face was displaying his greatest hope in life.

This Profound God Convention wasn’t only related to Huo Poyun alone. It was a major event that would determine the future of the Flame God Realm.

Blue streaks of light wound around Yun Che, Huo Poyun, and the disciples of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect. The girl before the screen of light said in a light tone. “Once you enter the competition site, you won’t be able to get out before the end of the preliminary competition. No personal fights are allowed before the Profound God Convention. Otherwise, your qualification will be cancelled right there and then, and you’ll be kept in isolation until the end of preliminary competition. Please be sure to keep this firmly in mind.”

The girl spoke very gently, but each and every word of hers contained an irresistible majesty.

Finally being able to stand in front of the large entrance of the Profound God Convention, all the people had nervous and excited looks on their faces. In comparison, Yun Che was the calmest among them, as he was basically unconcerned about his achievements at the Profound God Convention.

As he lightly willed in his mind to transfer over to the other side, his body was immediately enveloped in a blue light and an abrupt alteration soon happened in the world before his eyes.