Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1975 - Memories of An Ancient Devil

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As of late, Chi Wuyao had been doing everything she could to find out exactly what the spatial artifact mentioned in Mo Beichen’s memories was.

The sudden twitches and flares of pain in her Nirvana Devil Soul only deepened her certainty that it was a powerful and extraordinary existence even for a Devil Emperor. Not only that, it might be proof that it had something to do with the ancient Devils.

Unfortunately, she would not be able to discern the most accurate answer before Yun Che ventured into the Abyss. She could only advise him to watch out for it.

“Good.” Chi Wuyao gave Yun Che a small nod after he gave her his word. Then, she voiced the last thing he must promise her no matter what:

“Third…”

She lifted her hand and grabbed Yun Che’s wrist. While staring him in the eye, she slowly pressed his finger against her forehead and said,

“I want you to read my life’s memories from beginning until the end… I want you to learn everything.”

Yun Che’s pupils contracted into needlepoints as he pulled away immediately. He responded without any hesitation whatsoever, “No! Absolutely not!”

Human nature was a complex, ever-changing, and unpredictable thing. Even the greatest, noblest, clean-living man could not avoid having a dark side in his soul, and they were normally hidden in the darkest corners of one’s memories.

Few people would willingly share their dark side even with the partner they trusted the most. The whole sum of their memories? Impossible.

Chi Wuyao caught Yun Che’s wrist again. His reaction didn’t surprise her whatsoever. With eyes as calm as the eternally silent space, she said, “I’m not speaking to Yun Che when I told you to promise me three things. I am speaking to Emperor Yun, am I not? The Emperor Yun who currently bears the fate of the entire universe behind his back!”

“Forget the emperor of the universe, even a secular one must disregard their personal feelings when making a decision that will affect countless lives, am I right?”

“...”

Yun Che froze. This time, he could not find it in himself to pull away.

Chi Wuyao continued, “Growth isn’t something you can achieve in a short period. Zhou Xuzi, Nan Wansheng, Qi Tianli and more had lived for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years as all-powerful God Emperors, but even they could not avoid being horribly shortsighted and flawed in some ways. As for you, you are the emperor of Primal Chaos, and you have experienced more turmoil in your short life than even a God Emperor has in hundreds of thousands… but ultimately, you are still less than forty years old.”

“Worse still, your opponent is the Abyss, a place countless times more dangerous than anything our universe has to offer. And you’ll have to face it all alone.”

“In order to prepare you for this danger, I, Empress of Primal Chaos, is obligated to hasten your growth in the shortest amount of time possible even if it means resorting to the most extreme of methods.”

Ch Wuyao’s voice suddenly grew softer. “Everyone in the Northern Divine Region knows that I am of humble origin. I was born in the lowest of the lowest where even a lowly dark profound beast would scorn to visit.”

“However, I was ultimately able to rise to the top and become one of the three supreme powers of the Northern Divine Region. Today, I am even the Empress of the God Realm.”

“There is literally no woman in the universe whose station is higher than mine.” Chi Wuyao stopped meeting Yun Che’s eyes and looked down. “Just the same, there is no woman whose life experience is comparable to mine.”

“I have experienced countless predicaments, dangers and dead ends in my life. I have been forced to choose between a bad and a worse choice again and again. I have had to wound myself and those I cherished to achieve my goals again and again, and finally, I have done things you can never imagine against Man and nature to come this far. That, is what I wish to impart to you.”

Chi Wuyao continued, “Most of my methods are violent, cruel, ruthless and so filthy you wouldn’t even imagine it was possible until you’ve witnessed it with your own eyes. This is especially true for a person who values emotions almost more than anything else in the world like you. I am your antithesis, the grandmaster of emotional manipulation. The benefactors who saved my life, and the masters who had taught me everything I know; I have not hesitated to trample even them if it meant elevating myself to a higher position.”

Yun Che: “...”

The Devil Queen lowered her eyes even more and said in a small voice, “I’m well aware that you may loathe me after you’ve gleaned my memories, but even so, I must—”

“I won’t.” Yun Che interrupted her with a decisive shake of the head. “You are the Empress of the universe and more importantly, my Chi Wuyao. You and I have long since become inseparable, and I view you as a part of my life. Bearing that in mind, how can I possibly ‘loathe’ a part of myself?”

Chi Wuyao lifted her head and broke into a small smile. “In that case, you have even less cause to refuse this.”

The moment she said this, she turned her wrist and pressed Yun Che’s palm against her forehead. Next, her devilish eyes began glowing with a black soul light of inscrutable purity and depth.

Yun Che subconsciously wanted to reject the intrusive power, but he immediately controlled his impulse and sucked in a deep breath. Then, he closed his eyes, steeled his heart, and allowed his consciousness to be pulled into Chi Wuyao’s completely unguarded soul sea.

And so Chi Wuyao’s full life experience crashed into his world like a sea.

As she said, growth could not be achieved in a short period. He might have become the emperor of the universe, his life experience was pitifully shallow even compared to a secular mortal. It was also why he had delegated most of his power, authority and responsibilities to Chi Wuyao.

But in the other universe, he would have no one to lean on or guide his actions. How could he possibly face the Abyss like this?

That was why Chi Wuyao had chosen this method. It was the only way she could think of that could grow his life experience via the brutest force.

She had no idea how effective this method would be. It might not be true growth at all, but at the very least he would have her life experiences to refer to when he was faced with different situations and circumstances.

For example, he would learn when to feign weakness, when to steel his heart and be ruthless, when to be cunning, when to be “honest”, when to proceed, when to retreat, when to use the companion he just went through thick and thin a second ago as his meat shield and more.

Unfortunately, her best qualities—her ability to peek into a person’s heart and manipulate them like a fiddle—was something that might not be transferable this way especially considering how little time they had. She would be satisfied if Yun Che could master even one percent of them.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, but to Yun Che, it felt like a lifetime.

When he finally opened his eyes once again, he stared blankly at Chi Wuyao without moving a muscle. He was so dazed that he had even forgotten to remove his hand from her forehead.

A historian could write down the most accurate, comprehensive and meticulous historical account of a certain person in the entire Primal Chaos, and it still wouldn’t compare to their own personal experience.

Chi Wuyao had not been exaggerating when she said that she had begun from the lowest of lows. No amount of words could describe how she had extricated herself from the darkest place of the Northern Divine Region and became the Devil Queen of the Northern Divine Region, and then the world. But what stunned Yun Che the most wasn’t her impossible circumstances, but her seemingly endless bag of tricks and schemes. It was like she was a mass of pitch black tendrils that soundlessly entangled themselves on every person she ever met. They would then dance to her tune without ever recognizing it. Absolutely no one ever had managed to escape her machinations.

He also recognized that, if Chi Wuyao had not chosen to be his Devil Queen, but the puppetmaster behind his strings, then—

No.

There was no if. She was his Devil Queen, and that was that.

“You took more or less the time I expected you to take to glean my memories.” Chi Wuyao slowly opened her own eyes and stared at the dazed Yun Che. “You should spend the next few days digesting everything that might be useful to you. I’ll tell everyone not to disturb you during this time.”

As soon as she said this, she looked away and got ready to leave. Her voice was calm, but she was really scared far more than she had initially anticipated.

Those were the years where she resorted to things—things that would infinitely stretch the imagination of a normal person—to achieve her goals. She would have been absolutely terrified to show even a sliver of her memories to a man on his deathbed, much less the man she loved with her life.

In fact, she had mentally prepared herself to be loathed and abandoned by Yun Che when she arrived at this conclusion—or so she believed. When the time actually came, she discovered that she wasn’t prepared after all…

She claimed she wanted to give Yun Che time to digest her memories without being disturbed, but in reality she was just panicking and trying to escape.

At this moment, Chi Wuyao was no longer the unassailable Devil Queen of the Northern Divine Region. In fact, she hadn’t been invincible for a long, long time.

Fortunately for her, she had only taken a step when a gentle arm scooped her into a warm embrace. While hugging her gently from behind, Yun Che whispered, “I know that you and I are long past the need for thanks, but what you’ve given me… I have no doubt they will be my biggest support in the Abyss.”

Chi Wuyao’s eyes turned misty. The corners of her lips turned up almost indiscernibly.

That was all she needed to hear.

……

After leaving Yun Che to digest her memories, Chi Wuyao walked out of the palace and greeted a gust of cold wind. Her gaze grew unfocused for a second.

Not everyone could impart their lifelong memories to another person. It went without saying that it was extremely unpleasant for the person performing the deed either. Throughout the process, her soul sea had stretched and churned like it was a piece of cloth being washed roughly over a washing board. It would be a long time before it returned to normal.

Despite what she said, she hadn’t actually shared all of her memories with Yun Che. For example, she had not shared with him the memory of the unborn child who died before they even saw the light of day; the child who had disappeared alongside Shen Xi named “Yun Xi”.

The space next to Chi Wuyao rippled before a magnificent figure appeared. She asked, “Master, your face… Did something happen?”

Hua Jin had accompanied Chi Wuyao for many years. She knew that the only thing that could warp her master’s face so was something beyond even her ability to imagine. It was also why she had appeared to inquire about her wellbeing.

Chi Wuyao shook her head and smiled reassuringly at the attendant. “I’m fine. I’m like this because my soul sea is in turmoil. It’s not—ugh!”

Suddenly, Chi Wuyao’s face scrunched up in pain as she staggered on her feet.

“Master!?” Hua Jin turned pale as she rushed forward to support her.

Chi Wuyao’s face was completely bloodless right now. It was because her soul sea was aching like a million needles piercing it repeatedly.

It was while she was struggling to master the pain when she suddenly heard an ancient howl:

“If we haven’t lost the Nether Mirror and the Devil Orb, it wouldn’t have turned out this way…”

“It wouldn’t have turned out this way!”

“IT WOULDN’T HAVE TURNED OUT THIS WAY!”

The howl sounded infinitely unclear and distant, but there was no denying the infinite power behind it, the despair, and the sorrow.

Chi Wuyao abruptly looked up and straightened herself. Then, she ordered, “Hua Jin, inform the Qilin Realm to open the profound dimensional formation to the Dragon God Realm right now.”

“I have a need for the Dragon God’s ancient records!”