Against the Gods

“It seems like you’re very interested in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness,” Chi Wuyao said with a faint smile on her face.

“Just as I had expected.”

Yun Che slowly got to his feet. When he had first heard about the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness from Qianye Ying’er, he had more or less figured out what kind of place it was.

A sea of ancient devil corpses… He had been right on the money.

“We’ll conquer the Yama Realm first.” Yun Che’s eyes were dark and gloomy and he had said those six earth-shattering words without a single hint of emotion.

“When do you intend to do so?” Chi Wuyao asked.

“In sixteen months time.” Yun Che indifferently set another date. “At the latest.”

Even though the core strength of the Soul Stealing Realm had, for all intents and purposes, been reborn, swallowing up the Yama Realm was still an impossible task.

But since Yun Che dared to say such a thing, he had definitely made his own plans.

She had long since witnessed the strength of the Calamity and Misfortune Formation. Furthermore, it was possible that this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the Eternal Calamity of Darkness.

However, Chi Wuyao did not immediately agree with Yun Che. Instead, she replied in a slow and gentle manner, “Even though this is something that looks to be impossible under normal circumstances, it is something that this queen is willing to believe since those words came from your mouth.”

“However, if we can truly possess the power to suppress the Yama Realm at that time, why aren’t we swallowing up the Burning Moon Realm first?”

Chi Wuyao’s words caused Qianye Ying’er’s eyebrows to jump violently. She asked, “According to what I know, even though the Burning Moon Realm is weaker than the Yama Realm, there isn’t a huge gulf of power between them.”

“No, you’re only half-correct. There are some things you are unaware of.” Chi Wuyao glanced at Qianye Ying’er before asking, “Have you heard of these two words? ‘Yama Ancestor’?”

Qianye Ying’er’s gaze grew a little heavier, “What exactly is the Yama Ancestor!?”

When she had mentioned the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness to Yun Che, she had also mentioned Yan Zu, “Yama Ancestor”. But in the Eastern Divine Region, it had been nothing more than a blurry name in a record. In fact, she had not even known whether it was a title or a name.

The strangest thing about the words “Yama Ancestor”, was that they kept reappearing over time. This suggested that whatever it was had existed for a very long period of time.

Chi Wuyao glanced away from them. Even she felt her heart stir when she thought of the existences that were the Yama Ancestors. She replied in an unhurried manner, “Do you believe that immortals exist in this world?”

“...” Both Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er gave no reply, but the look in their eyes changed subtly.

“The Yama Ancestors are exactly that,” Chi Wuyao said. “Furthermore, there are three of them.”

The already intrigued Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er were startled once again. Neither of them responded to Chi Wuyao’s revelation and they waited for her to continue speaking.

“The words Yama Ancestor mean exactly what they say. They are the founding ancestors of the Yama Realm, so they’ve been living for at least seven to eight hundred thousand years… In fact, it’s even possible that they’ve reached a million years of age.”

Chi Wuyao began to slowly talk about the “Yama Ancestors”, existences that only the three king realms had any comprehensive information about. The other star realms in the Northern Region had only heard this name in passing.

"In the ancient past, these three Yama Ancestors obtained the devil blood and art left behind by the primordial Yama Devils. After that, they conquered the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness and created the Yama Realm."

"Later on, after they had cultivated the Yama Devil Art to its peak, they suddenly realized that they could tether their lifeforce to the darkness energy within the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness using the Yama Devil Art. From then on... as long as the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness remained, they would live forever."

“In fact… no matter how badly hurt they got, even if their bodies were completely broken, they could swiftly recover from those wounds within the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness.”

“They are not only immortal, they could also be said to be indestructible!”

They were devils who had survived for nearly a million years… and they were even immortal and indestructible at that!

Just hearing these incredibly outrageous words felt weird.

“Since they’ve already cultivated the Yama Art to its pinnacle and they can borrow the energy of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness to become immortal and indestructible, why are there only three Yama Ancestors?” But the answer had occurred to Qianye Ying’er just as she had asked the question. “Is it an issue with bloodlines?”

“That’s right.” Chi Wuyao nodded. “The only people who could obtain this ‘treatment’ were the three old Yama Ancestors who obtained the devil origin blood from the True Devils. From then on, the descendants who inherited their Yama Devil bloodline no longer possessed devil blood that was pure enough. Though they could still cultivate the Yama Art, there was no one else who could become ‘immortal and indestructible’.”

“What about the negative side-effects?” Yun Che suddenly asked.

It was very clear that if there were no drawbacks or limitations to this ability of theirs and they were truly immortal and indestructible, there would not be two other king realms in the Northern Divine Region.

Chi Wuyao turned her face toward Yun Che. When their eyes met, a seductive light flashed through her eyes and it was so radiant and enchanting that it caused Yun Che’s heart to stir. “The lifespans of the three ancestors of the Yama Realm withered away long ago, so right now, they are entirely reliant on the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for their immortality. As a result of that, they are unable to leave the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for more than an hour. Because they will die if they exceed that time limit.”

“Heh!” Suddenly, Qianye Ying’er, whose heart had been heavy and weighed down with many thoughts, spoke in a contemptuous manner, “Then how are they any different from beasts who have been raised in a cage?”

Chi Wuyao’s voice was still soft and cottony when she replied, “Beasts trapped in a cage have no freedom, but they can guard the house. And since these three have lived for nearly a million years in the best environment of darkness in the Northern Divine Region, why don’t you guess… what realm their darkness profound energy has reached?”

“Not a single one of them is inferior to the Yama Emperor.” Chi Wuyao simply gave them the answer.

Qianye Ying’er, “...”

When it came to cultivation, the three Yama Ancestors were three existences that equaled a god emperor of the northern region!

“Even though they cannot leave the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for too long, if the Yama Realm were to meet with any serious danger, these three dreadful Yama Ancestors, who are at the very least equal to the Yama Emperor in terms of strength, have enough power to rout any enemy, and overturn any danger that threatens the Yama Realm in that single hour.”

“This is also why this queen has never dared to provoke the Yama Realm even though the Yama Realm is equally afraid of this queen. Because no one can overcome... the Yama Realm’s home field advantage.”

“Since this is the case, do you still think we should swallow up the Yama Realm first?” She directed this question toward Yun Che.

A god emperor who was bound by some restrictions was still a god emperor. If the Yama Emperor, someone who was already incredibly powerful himself, was added in, the Yama Realm had four people at the level of a god emperor.

Now that he knew about the three great Yama Ancestors, he was probably going to hold back on that idea and reconsider where to attack first.

“Did the Yama Realm ever come back to ask for me again during this period of time?” Yun Che suddenly asked a question that sounded completely unrelated to the topic at hand.

Chi Wuyao replied, “No, he did not. The Yama Emperor is someone who is quite good at keeping his cool. However, you still killed the Yama Ghost King in the end, so there’s no way that he’s really going to just let it go. Perhaps he’s just waiting for a suitable opportunity.”

“Hmph, then we won’t wait for them to come knocking on the door.” Yun Che raised his head. “We will still swallow up the Yama Realm first.”

Not only did Yun Che not show any signs of hesitation when he found out about the Yama Ancestors, his gaze even seemed more resolute than before.

“What about the amount of time? Will it be the same as before?” Chi Wuyao asked as she stared at him unblinkingly.

“No.” Yun Che spoke the next five words slowly. “We will go right now.”

This time, Yun Che had even given Chi Wuyao a huge shock.

Qianye Ying’er stretched out a hand to grab Yun Che’s arm. “What exactly are you planning to do!? Explain it to me clearly! If not, I won’t allow you to go!”

“If you do not explain yourself, this queen will not agree to this matter either,” Chi Wuyao said with a look of consternation on her face.

The gazes of the two women subconsciously collided for an instant. After that, they instantly averted their eyes.

Yun Che did not say anything. He closed his eyes for a short period of time and released his soul power, forming two spirit fragments which entered Qianye Ying’er and Chi Wuyao’s brows respectively.

Both women closed and opened their eyes simultaneously.

“Can you truly… accomplish it?” Qianye Ying’er asked hesitantly.

“I can,” Yun Che replied.

“No way!” Qianye Ying’er shook her head and her jade hand gripped Yun Che’s arm a little tighter. “It’s far too dangerous!”

“Danger?” Yun Che asked in a cold and scoffing voice. “What’s that?”

Chi Wuyao lapsed into a brief moment of silence before saying, “That really is too dangerous. This concerns the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness and the Yama Ancestors, there are too many things which cannot be calculated. However… since you are so eager for vengeance, it’s not surprising that you’d choose to take a few risks rather than be tormented by the passage of time.”

“I still disagree!” Qianye Ying’er took a step forward and glared at Yun Che, “In a few more years, once our cultivation has become sufficiently strong and you’ve successfully cultivated the Eternal Calamity of Darkness, it won’t be too difficult to swallow up the Burning Moon Realm and the Yama Realm with the added power of the Soul Stealing Realm. There’s simply no need for us to take such risks.”

“You can’t stop me,” Yun Che replied without any hesitation or emotion.

“...” Qianye Ying’er bit back the words she wanted to say.

“Fine then, we’ll do as you wish.” Compared to Qianye Ying’er’s vehement resistance to the idea, Chi Wuyao seemed to come around rather quickly. She gave it some thought before saying, “However, there’s no need for us to be too anxious when dealing with this matter. Before this, we should get rid of some causes for concern so we won’t suffer any consequences when we enter the Yama Realm.”

“Causes for concern?”

“The Burning Moon Realm has been snooping around quite often the last few days.” Chi Wuyao’s eyes narrowed as she said those words, a cold and dangerous light flashing in her bewitching eyes. “This is probably because they found out that this queen personally went to the border of the Northern Region ten days ago. It is very likely… that they’ve sniffed something out.”

It was not impossible for them to find out about the changes occurring within the Soul Stealing Realm. After all, all three thousand six hundred Soul Attendants had undergone that dark rebirth. Once they were released from their quarantine, it would be easy to detect any strange changes since there were so many people that they could spy on.

“If you’re truly so anxious and impatient…” Chi Wuyao paused for a moment before continuing, “This queen will personally pay a visit to the Burning Moon God Realm tomorrow!”

“To do what exactly?” Qianye Ying’er asked.

“To put on a show of force,” Chi Wuyao said with a dry chuckle. “And while I’m at it… I’ll also be calling in an old debt!”

Qianye Ying’er turned to the side. It was as if she was not willing to let Yun Che or Chi Wuyao see the look in her eyes right now. “Since we’ve already decided to go to the Yama Realm, aren’t you afraid that going to the Burning Moon Realm to put on a show of force will be counter-productive instead?”

Chi Wuyao chuckled before she replied, “If it was the Yama Emperor, then it would indeed be counter-productive to do such a thing. But when it comes to the Burning Moon God Emperor… this queen understands him all too well.”

“Ten thousand years ago, he took advantage of the chaos resulting from the Clear Sky God Emperor’s death to steal the Untamed Divine Marrow. But after he witnessed this queen’s abilities, he decided to hide it far away from the Burning Moon Realm and he did not even dare to touch it for the next ten millennia.”

Her lips curved into a small, mocking smile, “He is someone who values his position above all else, someone who hates taking even the smallest risk.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yun Che said.

“Sure.” Chi Wuyao readily accepted his condition.

————

The Burning Moon Realm was to the west of the Yama Realm and it was about as far from the Yama Realm as the Yama Realm was from the Soul Stealing Realm.

Fen Daojun, a mighty name that had once shaken the Northern Divine Region. However, that name had long since been forgotten by the world, but there was no one in the Northern Region who did not recognize his other name:

The Burning Moon God Emperor!

Today, something startled him so badly that his eyes suddenly shot open while he was meditating. After that, he slowly rose to his feet.

“God Emperor, what instructions do you have for us?” the servant girl at the Burning Moon God Emperor’s side said as she hurried over. When she saw the grave expression on his face, she was so shocked that her heart tensed up and she did not dare to say anything further.

The Burning Moon God Emperor raised his head to look at the sky. His eyebrows tightly knit together and his jade robes were trembling. Suddenly the atmosphere through the entire great hall had become oppressive.

There was no way he could mistake this aura.

It was Devil Queen Chi Wuyao!

She clearly did not have any intention of hiding her aura. On the contrary, she was deliberately releasing her aura and even though she was still a great distance away from the Burning Moon Realm, he could already feel it with unmistakable clarity.

If one were to compare the total strength of each of the three king realms of the Northern Region, the Yama Realm would be the strongest. However, if you were to ask the Burning Moon God Emperor who he feared the most, his answer would be the Soul Stealing Realm’s emperor, Chi Wuyao.

And today, she had suddenly come to visit him personally, without any warning at all.

He turned his head to the side. His brows sank and he suddenly spoke in a deep voice, “Open the realm and prepare a feast!”