Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-1436

The Ice Phoenix Spirit temporarily fell silent after hearing Yun Che’s question. She then said, “The world today belongs to the mortals. The shape and laws of the Primal Chaos are completely different from what they used to be… and this is a world where gods aren’t necessary and should not exist.”

“That is why I had wanted to gift my last vestiges of strength to a mortal on this star realm since a long time ago… and my choice, was your master.”

Yun Che, “...”

“As the Ice Phoenix, I am one of the Three Supreme Water Attribute Beasts of the ancient past, and I am a high rank divine spirit with the qualification to stand next to a Creation God. Unfortunately, I am also a member of the Demon Race, so my power just isn’t too compatible with humans. That is why those humans who have inherited my bloodline and profound art are rarely able to reach their pinnacle… the Divine Master Realm. Your master is first person ever to become a Divine Master in the history of Snow Song Realm. Do you know why?”

Yun Che gave the question some thought before answering, “I once heard from Palace Master Bingyun, the one who brought me to the God Realm that my master possesses something special called the ‘Ice Phoenix Divine Soul’... Is it something you gave her?”

“That’s right,” answered the Ice Phoenix girl. “I chose her and granted her part of my divine soul in secret while she was still a young girl. As she cultivated and grew older, the power in my divine soul slowly fused with her and aided her breakthrough to Divine Master Realm. That is how she has become the first Divine Master Realm King of Snow Song Realm.”

“...I see,” muttered Yun Che.

“My divine soul is harmless to her, but it is too high level for her to fuse with it quickly and easily. Ten millennium had passed since she started cultivating, and yet she had only managed to take in about twenty percent of its divine power as her own.

“Originally, this process would’ve taken another thirty millennium to complete… until she met you, and this process was quickened drastically.”

“Huh?” Yun Che was just about to ask what he did when he suddenly recalled something. He instantly choked on his words as his expression turned strange, “Er… about that… I actually didn’t know…”

“Both your Evil God divine aura and your Dragon God divine aura are of a higher level than my divine soul, so when you copulated with her she was given some of your Evil God divine aura. As a result, the fusion process became much smoother, and her power was able to grow quickly in just a short time.”

Yun Che was clearly trying to cut this topic short, but the Ice Phoenix girl had ignored the strange expression on his face and stated the truth bluntly. At least she had said it in an even and unaffected tone, or his facial muscles would be spasming right now.

“I had… no choice in this matter. I hadn’t wanted it to happen,” said Yun Che. But the more he tried to explain, the more awkward he felt, so Yun Che quickly changed the subject and asked, “Does that mean that Master has known about you since a long time ago?”

“Yes, she is definitely aware that I exist. However, she has never met me,” replied the Ice Phoenix girl. “You are the only human I’ve ever met in person.”

“At first, I’d planned to pass away after I’d granted her my powers, but a terrible premonition suddenly struck me out of nowhere. So, I kept myself alive until I sensed that terrible presence… and your arrival.”

“When you first showed up, your Evil God divine aura had surprised me greatly. I was also able to witness many secrets that even the people of the Ancient Era weren’t able to learn from your memories. Perhaps the heavens had kept me alive for a good reason.”

A large majority of the truths she had told Yun Che had actually come from his own memories.

By combining Yun Che’s memories and her own knowledge, she was able to figure out many terrifying or shocking secrets of the ancient times.

“Is this… the secret of my master you wish to tell me?” asked Yun Che suspiciously.

Last time, when the Ice Phoenix girl had brought up this topic, she had hesitated for a long time before stopping herself in the end. What she had told him just now, the fact that Mu Xuanyin possessed the Ice Phoenix’s divine soul, had in fact been revealed to him freely by Mu Bingyun many years ago.

Technically, it barely counted as a secret. But only barely.

Moreover, it didn’t fit with the hesitation Ice Phoenix girl had displayed during their last meeting.

“...” The Ice Phoenix girl didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, she stayed silent for a moment before finally whispering, “Never mind. I’ve thought over this matter again and again, and in the end I think it’s best if you’re kept in the dark about this. Right now, your relationship with your master is at its best possible state, and I simply cannot see any benefit in revealing to you her secret. It will only cause some unnecessary ‘friction’.”

“???” Yun Che frowned as he tried to comprehend the Ice Phoenix girl’s words, but failed to because of how vague they were. He urgently needed to know anything that was related to Mu Xuanyin, so he pursued the subject further and asked, “What do you mean? Is master purposely hiding something important to me?”

“No, she herself doesn’t know about this. It is beyond her control too,” answered the Ice Phoenix girl. She could sense the unusually strong urgency behind Yun Che’s voice… and she thought she had an idea what this urgency really meant.

Her icy breath moved slightly as she whispered, “This is a secret that will only bring negativity if it is revealed. It is better if you don’t hear it… and there is no need for you to hear it.”

“I’m sorry,” Yun Che firmly shook his head and said, “but if it is related to my master, then I simply must know!”

“...” The Ice Phoenix girl sighed quietly. “If that is your wish. However, I will be giving you some time to think through your decision rationally. If you still wish to learn about this secret after the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor is gone, then I will tell you everything before I disappear.”

“...” Yun Che wanted to say something more, but the Ice Phoenix girl continued by saying, “You won’t have to wait for a long time. After all, that day is very, very near already.”

“Very near!?” Yun Che’s attention was instantly diverted. “How near is very near? Since you can clearly sense the World Piercer’s presence already, can you determine how long it’ll take before the Wall of Primal Chaos is penetrated completely?”

A few breaths of silence later, the Ice Phoenix girl answered, “In a month at most.”

“...!!” These five words alone caused Yun Che’s eyes to shake violently.

A… a month!

It was such a short time that he couldn’t help but feel chilled to the bone.

“A month? How… how can it be this fast?” Yun Che’s breath felt icy to himself, and even his back was crawling with chills.

“Unless the World Piercer’s power were to deteriorate drastically without warning, the Wall of Primal Chaos will fall in at most a month’s time. That is why I considered your return to be quite timely.”

Yun Che: “...” (A month? Dammit…)

“That star realm called the Eternal Heaven Realm will be making a move before a month is up too.”

The Ice Phoenix girl’s words caught him by surprise for a second, but he immediately said, “That’s right! I met the Eternal Heaven God Emperor just now. The Eternal Heaven Realm has built a great dimensional formation that leads to the eastmost area of Primal Chaos, and they are about to convene the Eternal Heaven General Assembly to deal with the Scarlet Disaster. All Divine Masters in the Eastern Divine Region are required to participate.”

All Divine Masters...

A moment ago, he had been stunned by the idea of every Divine Master in the Eastern Divine Region gathering in one place.

But after he learned that their opponent was the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor… Forget just the Eastern Divine Region, not even every Divine Master in the entire God Realm combined could do anything against a devil emperor. They were nothing more than a bunch of ants that the devil emperor could crush at her leisure.

But what else could they do if not that?

No wonder the Eternal Heaven God Emperor had looked as bleak and sorrowful as he was when he spoke of the “truth”... so much so that he was almost despairing.

…...

Wait a second. How did the Eternal Heaven God Emperor learn about the truth!?

Oh right! It must be the Eternal Heaven Pearl!

The Ice Phoenix Spirit had once said that the only people who knew that the Evil God and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor were married were the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor herself and the four great Creation Gods… Naturally, that also included the Creation God of Order, Xi Ke.

If the former master of the Eternal Heaven Pearl was Xi Ke, then it was only natural that his artifact soul would be privy to this secret as well!

If even the Ice Phoenix Spirit could detect the World Piercer’s presence, then it was impossible that the Eternal Heaven Pearl would fail to sense it!

Combining the World Piercer’s presence and the secret that the Evil God and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor used to be husband and wife as one, it was only natural that the Eternal Heaven Pearl would assume that the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had survived the harsh world beyond the Primal Chaos due to the World Piercer, and was making a return!

Yun Che exhaled deeply when he recalled the colorless look in the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s eyes when he spoke of the “Eternal Heaven General Assembly”... Even the strongest existence in this world was powerless before a returning devil emperor.

This Eternal Heaven General Assembly felt less like a resistance more like a last ditch effort to show that the denizens of this world wouldn’t go quietly… a weak and helpless struggle.

“Coincidentally, I’ve obtained the qualification to head to the Eternal Heaven Realm from the Eternal Heaven God Emperor just now,” said Yun Che with a frown. “I will head to the Eternal Heaven Realm with Master as quickly as I can and stay there until the Wall of Primal Chaos is completely broken.”

“I’ve put all my trust in you. I hope that you can become the eternal glory of mankind, and that the Evil God’s great will will bring the light of salvation.”

While carrying the Ice Phoenix Spirit’s hopes and the duty and the burden of a “savior”, Yun Che bid her goodbye and floated back up to the surface.

But Yun Che didn’t leave the place immediately after he had jumped out of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. He simply stood in the middle of the lake and kept his eyes closed for a very long time.

Everything he had learned from the Ice Phoenix had been a massive, no, unbearable blow to his psyche.

“He Ling,” he said quietly, “I haven’t lived for a long time, but I think my life is packed with a little too much excitement.”

“There’s no point in worrying too much, Master,” consoled He Ling gently. “It’s just like what you said earlier. Even if you fail, you’ll still be able to protect yourself and the people around you.”

“...What’s Hong’er doing?”

“She went to sleep after secretly eating a whole bunch of purple crystals,” answered He Ling in a small voice.

“~！@#￥%... Again!?” Yun Che’s eyes turned round, but when he recalled that Hong’er was the… daughter of the Evil God and the Evil Smiting Devil Emperor, he couldn’t stop his mouth from twitching strongly. “Whatever, it’s just some purple crystals. Tell her that she can eat them all she wants from hereon, including the swords. There’s no reason in hiding them any longer, so just let her eat to her heart’s content.”

“We’ll keep her as happy as we can during this period. Whew…”

Yun Che had always thought that Hong’er was a little ancestor who needed to be pampered like a baby because she was prone to throwing a tantrum any time something didn’t go her way.

But now he knew that she wasn’t just a little ancestor... She was the daughter between a Creation God and a Devil Emperor! A super great level ancestor!

If the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor were to learn that he was using her daughter as a sword… only god knows if she would smack him into dust on the spot.

Well.. she probably wouldn’t. Their lives were tied to one another after all.

“Hong’er has always been worry free soul. She’s happy as long as she’s fed and allowed to sleep to her heart’s content,” said He Ling. “You on the other hand, Master… I can sense that your heart is burdened by a great weight. Are you worried that things… won’t go as you wish?”

Yun Che tried to move the corner of his lips, but he found it impossible to smile at this moment. He said quietly, “Even if everything had gone perfectly, and the best case scenario is achieved… what does it matter?”

He Ling, “Ah?”

“The Ice Phoenix Spirit had mentioned repeatedly that the current Primal Chaos is a world where gods aren’t necessary and should not exist.” Yun Che looked towards the distance while feeling heavy. “Considering the current state and laws of the Primal Chaos, will the world truly be peaceful even if the devil emperor decides not to scourge the world?”

“If we are living in the Ancient Era right now, then of course the addition of a devil emperor wouldn’t distort the world. But… you’ve seen what has happened on Blue Pole Star and Snow Song Realm. The devil emperor aura leaking from the Wall of Primal Chaos is barely noticeable, but the effect it has on the worlds is drastic enough already.”

“Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that the current Primal Chaos cannot withstand the presence of a devil emperor at all. She is a disaster already just by existing in the Primal Chaos. If she stays here for too long, the laws and truths of the Primal Chaos might even collapse upon itself… in short, even the best case scenario is accompanied by a calamity at an unpredictable scale.”

“Master…” He Ling whispered, “At least you will be able to keep the damage to a minimum, right? If you succeed, you will still be the savior of the world.”

Yun Che shook his head. “There’s no point in thinking too deeply into the future until after facing the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor. Right now, my biggest hope is that the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor the Evil God loved so deeply will be a good-natured… devil.”

Yun Che flew out of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake and got ready to leave. But suddenly, he saw a strange light while he was turning around.

Yun Che paused in midair and subconsciously looked at the source of the light. Staring at a corner of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, he said, “What’s that?”