Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-1818

Shui Meiyin slowly started recounting her tale. “However, there was a problem with that. When Senior Devil Emperor used the World Piercer to create that ‘crimson crack’ in the Wall of Primal Chaos, the effort nearly drained it of all of its power. It was so drained that it wouldn’t even be able to perform the jump that we just did more than a few times.”

This didn’t surprise Yun Che either. The God Realm had known about the crimson crack for several years, and that was because it took the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor that long to cut open the Wall of Primal Chaos. During those years, the World Piercer had definitely expended all the energy it could before it needed to recharge itself again, and the cycle of being used and recharging its energy went on until the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor finally broke through.

Hence, when she finally did manage to break through to the other side of the Wall of Primal Chaos, the World Piercer was in an entirely drained state, to the point where it had even been significantly overtaxed.

Furthermore, in the current Primal Chaos Dimension, there was no doubt the World Piercer would take a very long time to recover its strength… for the same reason as the Sky Poison Pearl and the Eternal Heaven Pearl.

“Senior Devil Emperor said that the current aura in the Primal Chaos Realm was too thin and turbid, and it was possible that the World Piercer’s artifact spirit might never wake up in such an environment. She even said that it was very possible that it may die while still in its state of slumber.”

Yun Che, “...”

Shui Meiyin’s words made him recall the previous poison spirit that dwelled within the Sky Poison Pearl.

Even though the Sky Poison Pearl had managed to recover its poison origin in the Azure Cloud Continent, its poison spirit had already died. As such, the rate at which the Sky Poison Pearl regained its ability to poison was… incredibly slow.

It was only when He Ling became its new poison spirit that the Sky Poison Pearl’s power began to properly recover. In fact, it had even managed to unleash its “Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison” on the Brahma Monarch God Realm a few years ago, an act that had brought the mighty king realm to its knees.

If the needle spirit of the World Piercer remained in its deep sleep or died, then the power of the World Piercer would undoubtedly remain dormant forever.

However, he instantly quashed that thought the moment it surfaced in his head.

No, that wouldn’t do! He Ling could perfectly control the Sky Poison Pearl as she was a wood spirit, but taking over the Eternal Heaven Pearl had dramatically increased the burden on her soul. In spite of that, she still tried to merge her spirit into the Primordial Seal of Life and Death on a regular basis, even when it was clear that it was hurting her.

Given her willingness to sacrifice herself for him no matter what the cost, this World Piercer...

Wait a minute! The needle spirit was asleep, it wasn’t dead! I’m getting ahead of myself here.

“However, Senior Devil Emperor did not want the World Piercer to accompany her into her eternal exile from the Primal Chaos. So, she handed it over to me before she left.”

“Is it because you have the Stainless Divine Soul?” Yun Che asked. This was the unique trait, a blessing from the heavens themselves, that only Shui Meiyin had.

“Yes.” Shui Meiyin nodded her head. “The World Piercer was born in the core of the primordial universe. So she said these words to me. ‘Only your Stainless Divine Soul, birthed by the primordial energies of this universe, can nurture and temporarily awaken the needle spirit that slumbers within the World Piercer’.”

“The Stainless Divine Soul was then used as a medium to connect to the needle spirit which had been roused from its slumber for a little while, and I would then proceed to use my own strength to forcibly activate the World Piercer’s dimensional powers.”

Emotion filled Yun Che’s face as he said, “So you’re saying that you managed to switch the Blue Pole Star with another planet using this method?”

She had used the Staineless Divine Soul to temporarily awaken the needle spirit slumbering within the World Piercer before using it again to connect with the roused needle spirit. After that, she had used her own power to forcibly activate the World Piercer’s dimensional power to accomplish this huge spatial swap.

If completely destroying two planets was as hard as lifting a boulder, completely swapping the locations of two planets was as hard as lifting a mountain.

This enormous endeavour had definitely exhausted most of Shui Meiyin’s soul power and profound power. However, the one that had borne the brunt of the burden had undoubtedly been the already-weak needle spirit.

No wonder Shui Meiyin had said that this was a one-off divine miracle… Unless the needle spirit recovered enough of its strength, it might not even be possible to try to forcefully pull this stunt off again. In fact, even attempting to do this again would inevitably result in the complete destruction of the needle spirit.

Given the current state that the Primal Chaos Dimension was in, the needle spirit could perish at any given moment. Even if it could make a complete recovery while resting within Shui Meiyin’s Divine Soul, there was no telling how long that would take.

Shui Meiyin continued, “Swapping the locations of two planets is the very limit of what the World Piercer can do in the current universe. This was something that Senior Devil Emperor told me after she passed it to me. At that time, I had never thought that there would actually be a day where I had to… and I had never dreamed that it would come so quickly either.”

Yun Che’s heart throbbed with a gentle warmth as he stared at Shui Meiyin, but he did not know how to put this feeling into words.

“Tou found a replacement for the Blue Pole Star very early on?” Yun Che asked. This felt just like… when Shui Meiyin had used the Illusory Glazed Imagery Jade to secretly record the truth of what happened back then, before the god emperors had betrayed him.

She had told him that it was because her Stainless Divine Soul could predict danger to a certain extent.

“Senior Devil Emperor told me something back then and I still remember each and every one of her words like it was yesterday.” Shui Meiyin started to speak slower as she repeated Jie Yuan’s words. “The true devils have never been the devil race which live within the darkness. Instead, they exist within the depths of every living being’s soul. Therefore, do not be so naive as to expect your kindness to be repaid in turn and never ever underestimate the depths that people can stoop to.”

“...” Yun Che had also come to fully understand those words.

Back then, he had found Chu Yuechan and his daughter, regained his power, and his friends, family, and lovers were all safe and sound. He had even managed to find Jasmine in the God Realm in the end. As such, he had decided to return to the Blue Pole Star and disappear from the God Realm forever. Furthermore, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, the person he had trusted and respected the most in the God Realm, had even personally… vowed in the most public of fashions to ensure that he would not be disturbed by anyone from the God Realm.

Everything seemed so beautiful and perfect at that moment and he was deeply grateful to the protection and benevolence that life had shown to him thus far.

In the end, it was this innocence of his that sent him hurtling into the deepest abyss.

“At first, I thought that the cruel misery that Senior Devil Emperor had endured during her years outside the Primal Chaos had naturally caused her to view everything from the bleakest and most cynical viewpoint. After that, I saw Big Brother Yun Che slowly become the God Child Messiah that everyone revered and respected, and my heart was filled with joy. However, a strange unease started to grow in my heart…”

“At that time, I didn’t think that anything bad would happen to you. I also desperately hoped that all would be well, but the unease in my heart caused me to start thinking about the worst possible ending for you.”

“As a result, I carefully used the Illusory Glazed Imagery Jade to secretly record the scenes of Big Brother Yun Che saving the universe. At the same time, I also started looking for a planet that was similar to the Blue Pole Star… Because, in the worst-case scenario that I had thought of, Big Brother Yun Che’s home planet, which was your greatest weakness and where your heart truly lay, would also be…”

Shui Meiyin suddenly stopped speaking. She didn’t continue, but Yun Che understood what she was saying.

Yun Che broke the awkward silence by saying, “Speaking of which, why did you know where the Blue Pole Star was located? I don’t remember ever bringing you there.”

Shui Meiyin’s delicate head drooped slightly before she looked at Yun Che and flashed him a sweet smile. “That is naturally because Senior Devil Emperor told me where it was. I also know that it was the planet that Senior Devil Emperor and Senior Heretic God created together in the far distant past.”

“...” Yun Che gave the softest of sighs. When he recalled the raw emotions the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had shown when she saw the Blue Pole Star once again, he found it hard to imagine what her reaction would be if she found out about everything that had transpired in recent years.

In the Ancient Era, the Heretic God and Jie Yuan had created the Blue Pole Star together and it had originally been situated in the north of the Primal Chaos, near where the current Northern Divine Region was.

After that, the war between the True Gods and True Devils broke out, and the Heretic God shifted the Blue Pole Star to the east of the Primal Chaos in order to protect it… However, the Blue Pole Star had suffered severe damage during this process, causing most of its land to collapse. Only three percent of its landmass remained, with the remaining ninety-seven percent being turned into ocean.

And now, it had leapt through space once more to arrive in the south of the Primal Chaos.

No one in this world, and that included all the living beings on the Blue Pole Star, would ever dream that this tiny planet, which was as common as dust in the Primal Chaos Realm, had actually leapt through space three times.

“It must have been very difficult to find a planet that was similar to the Blue Pole Star, right?” Yun Che asked in a soft voice.

“No.” Shui Meiyin shook her head instead. “In fact, the Blue Pole Star’s special characteristics actually made it the most simple of things.”

“Oh?” Yun Che looked at her, his curiosity and confusion evident in his eyes.

Shui Meiyin continued, “Most planets are primarily made out of mountains and land and these vast stretches of land would often be populated by complex and even unique geographical landmarks. Hence, if the Blue Pole Star was one of these planets, it would have been extremely hard for me to find a similar planet in such a short period of time, and finding a planet that completely matched it would have been nearly impossible.”

“However, the Blue Pole Star has a very unique composition of three percent landmass and ninety-seven percent water. From the outside, it looks like a pure blue planet, and even the small amount of landmass that does exist is completely disguised by the vast amount of water. As a result, I just needed to find a planet the same size as the Blue Pole Star which was mostly composed of water.”

“Furthermore, the Blue Pole Star doesn’t exist within the plane of the God Realm, and it is a lower realm planet that couldn’t be more ordinary. Its aura is weak and turbid and all of the elements on the planet are in harmony. So it was not only easier to find a similar planet, the turbulence that occurs from time to time in the energies of the universe also made it very hard for even people familiar with the planet to tell it from another one.

Shui Meiyin’s starry eyes curved slightly. “These two factors were heaven’s way of protecting the Blue Pole Star.”

“...” Yun Che stared at Shui Meiyin dazedly. Back then, when his life had been a bed of roses and the future had been bright, he would never have imagined that there was a person who was quietly looking out for him, doing things for him, and sacrificing so much for him.

“Then when did you complete the swap between the Blue Pole Star and the Sky Water Star?” Yun Che’s voice had unconsciously grown gentler and his eyes had even started misting up with tears.

As she stared into Yun Che’s emotion-filled eyes, Shui Meiyin whispered, “It was right after Senior Devil Emperor left, when you were hurt and betrayed by those you trusted in front of the Wall of Primal Chaos and agitated into unleashing your darkness profound energy.”

“Before the time came to send off Senior Devil Emperor at the Wall of Primal Chaos, I felt a deep terror emerge from within my Stainless Divine Soul… That was also why my father, sister and, I stayed in the Glazed Light Realm instead of venturing forth to the Wall of Primal Chaos at that time.”

“Soon, news arrived and you had been declared a devil that all the king realms were trying to hunt down and kill.”

“The worst-case scenario I had prepared for had truly occurred, and it happened with such breathtaking speed. Once I received the news, I left the Glazed Light Realm without anyone’s knowledge and used the World Piercer to teleport to the Eastern Divine Region.”

“Even though I had managed to use the Stainless Divine Soul to rouse the incredibly frail needle spirit within the World Piercer, I was still not convinced that I could accomplish a divine miracle like swapping the location of two planets in the universe. However… destiny must have definitely been quietly protecting Big Brother Yun Che, because I managed to succeed. The only differences after I made the swap were some deviations in where both planets had once been, something that no one would be able to detect unless they already knew what had happened.”

“No,” Yun Che said with a faint smile. “It was your pure heart and soul that moved that temperamental and fickle thing called fate.”

Shui Meiyin’s starry eyes grew a little vacant as she continued her story, “After that, I returned to the Glazed Light Realm and someone soon arrived and handed you over unconscious to Big Sister. After that…”

Yun Che knew better than anyone what happened next. He woke up, heard that the Blue Pole Star’s location had been exposed by the Eternal Heaven God Realm and that many god emperors and realm kings were already making their way there. He disregarded everything else and used the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace to rush over to the Blue Pole Star… before he personally witnessed the Moon God Emperor destroying the “Blue Pole Star” with a single slash...

“Big Brother Yun Che,” Shui Meiyin said as she stepped forward and weakly grasped Yun Che’s hand. Her eyes were misted over with tears as she continued, “At that time, I wasn’t able to keep you from rushing over here, nor was I able to tell you that it wasn’t the real Blue Pole Star.”

“I understand. I understand everything,” Yun Che said as he gripped her hand tightly.

“No.” Shui Meiyin shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is that I knew that you had a Void Illusion Stone with you, so I knew that you’d be able to escape no matter how dangerous the situation became. More importantly, at that time.. I… I wanted you to… personally witness the destruction of the Blue Pole Star…”

“I knew that doing that to you was the cruelest thing to do in the world, but… but…”

Yun Che shook his head vigorously as he folded the shivering girl into a tight embrace. He closed his eyes and suppressed the wild beating of his heart as he crooned to her in a gentle voice, “No, you didn’t make a mistake, you didn’t do anything wrong. You were the person who saved the Blue Pole Star, saved my home, saved my family and friends… You were the one who saved my everything.”

If Shui Meiyin had told him in advance that the planet that had been destroyed was not the Blue Pole Star, then he would not have fallen into an abyss of pain and despair and even if he still fled to the Northern Divine Region, the worry, longing, and fear he would have always felt for his home would have prevented him from growing so rapidly.

He would have never truly been able to abandon and give up… his home, family, friends, and lovers.

The only way he could truly become strong was if he was robbed of all his weaknesses and attachments and plunged into an endless abyss of despair. All of the weakness and hesitance in his heart had to be purged and any sympathy and kindness he may have shown toward his enemies had to be killed. The only way he would truly be reborn and quickly ascend to the peak of the universe was for him to crazily pursue strength within that boundless abyss of hatred and vengeance.

It was only like this that he would no longer have to worry about any threats once he regained what he had lost.

What Shui Meiyin had given him… was true rebirth and a shadowless future. In fact, one could even say that she had saved him.

“Meiyin.” His arms tightened around her as his voice turned soft and gentle. When he opened up his mouth to speak again, every word came from the bottom of his heart. “How can I… ever… repay you for everything…”

As it turned out, there was really such a thing as a debt of gratitude that could not be repaid in one’s life. It was a debt that he couldn’t repay with ten or even a hundred lives.

“...” Shui Meiyin fiercely shook her head.

It seemed as if she wanted to say something, but the only thing that came from her lips were hoarse sobs that she wasn’t able to stifle.

Perhaps she was crying because she felt guilty over letting Yun Che experience such pain and despair, or perhaps it was because of the touching words that Yun Che had whispered to her in such a warm and gentle fashion. Whatever it was, her slender shoulders continued to shudder as her tears fell like spring rain and quickly drenched the front of Yun Che’s shirt...

It went on and on and on.

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