Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1974 - The Six Kingdoms of God (2)

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

Chi Wuyao continued, "The third Kingdom of God is called the ‘Eternal Night Kingdom of God’."

"Eternal Night?" The name drew Yun Che’s attention immediately. "Could they be the descendants of the Eternal Night Devil Clan?"

"No." Chi Wuyao shook her head. "This Kingdom of God has nothing to do with the Eternal Night Devil Clan we know of. It was named ‘Eternal Night’ by the True God who rules them."

"Her name is ‘Shenwu Yanye’, and her divine title is ‘Lightless’."

(Author’s Note: Surname ‘Shenwu (Godless)’, Name ‘Yanye (Loathing The Night)’)

"Lightless?" Yun Che commented with a frown.

Chi Wuyao said, "As I had said earlier, one requires a sufficient amount of divine essence to be able to inherit the power of a True God. Otherwise, the inheritance isn’t just incredibly likely to fail, but the bearer will suffer an incredible amount of damage as well."

"Shenwu Yanye was an exception to the rule. She succeeded in inheriting the divine origin of a True God despite the fact that their divine essence was lacking. Supposedly, it was her extreme obsession and willpower that made the impossible possible."

"Unfortunately, she still paid a huge price due to her lack of divine essence. In her case, the price of ultimate power was her eyesight."

So that’s why. Realization and astonishment dawned on him.

"The night is eternal because there is no light, and she loathes the night because it is eternal."

At this point, it was clear that Shenwu Yanye had renamed herself after she became a True God. Even the name of her Kingdom of God had been changed to "Eternal Night" to reflect this.

It was obvious that the True God was trying to vent by changing the names.

"Moreover, it seemed that permanent loss of sight wasn’t the only price Shenwu Yanye had to pay in her pursuit of ultimate power. She is infamous throughout the Abyss for having the scariest temperament of the seven True Gods. Assuming that she wasn’t originally like this, this could mean that her temperament was greatly twisted by the imperfect inheritance."

"Mo Beichen did not have many impressions of Shenwu Yanye, but the word ‘terrifying’ was dominant in all of them. As an Abyssal Knight, there was no threat he feared more than the Eternal Night Kingdom of God."

"If her temperament is twisted, then her mood must be quite unpredictable as well," Yun Che muttered to himself. "Of all the Kingdoms of God, it looks like this is the one to avoid no matter what."

Chi Wuyao nodded in agreement before resuming her explanation, "The fourth Kingdom of God is known as the ‘Dreamweaver Kingdom of God’. It is ruled by the True God ‘Meng Kongchan’, titled ‘Dreamless’."

"The profound practitioners of the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God are experts in cultivating the soul. While their profound strength is below average compared to the other Kingdom of Gods, no one’s soul is greater than theirs. It is rumored that they could trap a powerful profound practitioner in an eternal nightmare with a single glance."

"The fifth Kingdom of God is known as the ‘Star and Moon Kingdom of God’. It is also the only Divine Kingdom to possess two True God divine origins, which is why they have to find two successors with the right amount of divine essence every time it is time to pass down the power. You can imagine just how hard that is."

"However, the Star and Moon Kingdom of God has had a miracle this generation. A pair of miraculous twins have inherited the powers as perfectly as possible. Their names are ‘Wu Shenxing’ and ‘Wu Shenyue’, and they go by the divine title ‘Heaven’s Star’ and ‘Crescent Moon’."

Yun Che knew it might be a pointless question, but he asked anyway, "Are they really twins?"

"That’s right." Chi Wuyao nodded. "That is why they are commonly known as the ‘Miraculous Twins’. As the only Kingdom of God to possess two True Gods, Star and Moon is naturally more intimidating than the other kingdoms. You may expect their combined power to be greater than any singular True God as well."

"Last but not least, the sixth Kingdom of God…" Chi Wuyao paused for a second before continuing, "... is a rather special one."

Yun Che played the role of a good listener and asked, "How so?"

Chi Wuyao replied, "Barring the Pure Land, the six Kingdom of Gods are easily some of the most prominent existences in the Abyss. Everything I’ve told you is something every denizen of the Abyss knows."

"However, Mo Beichen’s impression of this Kingdom of God, even considering that his memories are fragmented, is incredibly foggy."

She thought for a moment before correcting herself, "Or rather, I should say that his memories are much, much less visible than the other five Kingdoms of God. In fact, it's Mo Beichen’s least frequented Kingdom of God after he became an Abyssal Knight."

Yun Che: "...?"

"As a result, the only concrete information I managed to dig out of Mo Beichen’s memories is its name. Not only that, it has quite the unusual name."

"It's called the ‘Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God’."

That was strange alright. All the Kingdoms of God he had heard of until this point had had a grand name. Boundless represented infinite growth and freedom, Heaven Breaker implied overwhelming ambition and arrogance, Eternal Night was as scary as it was eternal, Star and Moon invoked images of infinite space, and Dreamweaver wrapped itself in a veil of mystery and transience. Each and every name was intimidating in its own right.

The "Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God" though? Even Yun Che could tell that it did not fit the naming convention.

"Owl Butterfly… Owl Butterfly…" Yun Che repeated the name a couple of times before looking up. "This doesn’t even sound like the name of a country, much less the Kingdom of God of a True God. Are you sure the name is correct? Perhaps you misread it because the memory fragment was too blurry?"

"No, I am certain." Chi Wuyao shook her head without hesitation. "The characters were clearly engraved in Mo Beichen’s memories. There can be no mistake."

"Do you know what’s stranger? The name was bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch themselves."

"Also, the other five Kingdoms of God have changed their names multiple times throughout history, but not the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God. The name has remained the same since time immemorial."

Yun Che thought for a moment before saying, "It sounds that this Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God is closely tied to the Abyssal Monarch. Perhaps it is a nation they created to balance out the power structure and keep an eye on the other Kingdoms of God in the Land of the Living?"

Chi Wuyao shook her head yet again. "It’s not like that. Of all the elements, dark profound energy is the rarest profound energy in the Abyss. It is why the dark energy in Primal Chaos is still flowing into the Abyss at a slow rate. As a result, it is very difficult to cultivate dark profound energy in the Abyss.

"This is why the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God is the weakest nation of them all, and why their True God is commonly known as the weakest of all the True Gods."

"That said, the other Kingdoms of God don’t try to abuse this power dynamic because the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God has—at least on the surface—the blessing of the Abyssal Monarch. Owl Butterfly themselves has never interfered with another kingdom’s business or interacted much with them either. That is why it has the weakest presence of the six Kingdoms of God."

Yun Che asked, "What is the name of their True God?"

"I have no idea." Chi Wuyao shook her head. "As I said, Mo Beichen’s memories of the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God are so blurry that the only concrete information I managed to dig out is its name. That said, I can tell you that their True God’s divine title seemed to have been bestowed by the Abyssal Monarch as well. It seems that they have never changed their title either."

"As for why the Abyssal Monarch gave the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God special treatment…" the light in Chi Wuyao’s eyes dimmed a little. "Mo Beichen did not know. It’s not because his memories are too unclear, but because no one has ever found out the reason. This is one of the mysteries of the Abyss no one has ever dared to look into."

"Owl Butterfly… Owl Butterfly (Xiao Die)…" Yun Che repeated the word a few more times before asking suddenly, "Could it be the name of a person?"

"I doubt it," Chi Wuyao replied. "The character ‘Xiao/Owl’ symbolizes ruthlessness and defiance of the normal order, while the character ‘Die/Butterfly’ symbolizes elegance and beauty. It doesn’t really make sense to combine the two characters to make a name."

Yun Che gave it some thought before nodding. "You’re right."

Suddenly, Chi Wuyao rose to her feet and walked in front of Yun Che. He noticed that his reflection was shivering within her dark and devilish pupils for some reason. He then realized it wasn’t him, but her.

"Thanks to Mo Beichen’s knowledge, I’m able to confirm one thing. Although you are famous throughout Primal Chaos, the Abyss has no knowledge of your presence at all. This means that it has been a long while since anyone fell into the Abyss… except her."

Yun Che’s pupils dilated instantly.

Chi Wuyao did not say her name. "I know that hope has been lit in you ever since you learned that falling into the Abyss does not equate absolute death. I know there is nothing anyone can say or do to change your mind."

"Assuming she is still alive, and considering her intelligence and her undying love for you, she would never reveal you to the Abyss."

"This means that the Abyss is unprepared for you. You must make good use of this advantage."

"I understand." Yun Che nodded. There was a tremor in his voice when he said those two words.

Chi Wuyao leaned forward and grabbed Yun Che’s hands gently.

Her voice was silky, but her gaze and tone were harsh. "Everything I told you just now may be useless after you entered the Abyss. After all, you have a long, long way to go before you can get from the entrance to the Abyss to the Kingdoms of God. In the Abyss, not only must you begin from zero, you are the only person you can truly rely on. In that sense, it does not matter even if you forget everything I just told you. However, I need you to promise me three things. You must keep your word no matter what."

Normally, Chi Wuyao indulged Yun Che to the point of excess. She almost always went along with his choices even when they were the complete opposite of her advice.

This was the first time Yun Che had ever seen such a look on her; the first time she wouldn’t accept no for an answer.

"Tell me." Yun Che met her eyes without fear.

"First…" Chi Wuyao slowed her words. "There is a quote that goes something like this: there is no one more heartless in the world than an emperor."

"To an ordinary person, all they could glean from the quote is the unkindness of the emperor. But to an emperor, it is an absolute truth that they can never hope to change."

"That is why you must remember this, Yun Che." Chi Wuyao slowed down even more as if she was trying to etch the words as deeply into his soul as possible. "You are the Emperor of Primal Chaos. You will never be a member of the Abyss."

"From the moment you set foot in the Abyss, every thought that passes through your mind, and every action that you choose to take, will directly affect the life and death of this world!"

"That is why every connection you might make in the Abyss—friendship, master-disciple relationship, romance, and even kindness—are only tools to be exploited to your advantage. You must never allow your true feelings to spill over to these relationships; not even a little. Do you understand?"

"You know the kind of person you are. If you allow those relationships to become real, then you cannot help but guard those bonds with your life. But the price you’d have to pay to secure those bonds… might mean the end of yourself and this entire universe!"

Just as people must learn to hide their kindness, emperors must learn to void their hearts.

"Very well." Yun Che nodded slowly and promised, "Be it the living or the dead, everyone and everything of the Abyss is my enemy. As the emperor of Primal Chaos, every choice I make will affect the fate of this world."

"For this reason, any and all connections I make in the Abyss will never be genuine!"

"Good!" Chi Wuyao’s eyes softened before she continued.

"Second, Mo Beichen’s power had nearly been enough to unbalance the entire God Realm to the point of collapse. If the final battle had not taken place at the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, god only knows what kind of calamity could’ve happened."

"If the power of Divine Extinction Realm alone is already enough to push Primal Chaos to the brink, then the likes of Divine Limit Realm and True Gods can only be worse. If any one of them manages to make it to the Primal Chaos, it will be the end of everything even if you are their equal or better."

Right now, the laws and space of Primal Chaos was so weak that God Ash alone could destabilize half of the God Realm. A battle between True Gods would absolutely annihilate the universe in no time.

Even if Yun Che became powerful enough to annihilate a True God in just a couple of breaths… those few breaths were more than enough time for a True God to destroy all of Primal Chaos.

"I understand." Yun Che nodded heavily. "I will do everything in my power to prevent anyone of the Abyss from ascending to the Primal Chaos!"

"The reason the Abyss is able to breach into our universe is due to that unknown spatial artifact the Abyssal Monarch holds."

"If it can be des—"

She cut herself off before she could finish the word. "If it can be taken, then it is not impossible for this journey to end on a perfect note."

It would be near impossible to take such an important spatial artifact from the Abyssal Monarch.

"I will remember this," Yun Che said with a nod.

But it might also be his only way of returning to the Primal Chaos.