Against the Gods (Web Novel)
chapter-1960-30041322

Chapter 1960 - Rainbow Glass

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

There was a crimson flash, and Shui Meiyin, Mu Xuanyin, Qianye Ying’er Jie Xin and Jie Ling, Yan Wu, Fen Daoqi and more had all been teleported to Yun Che’s side.

An ice barrier appeared around Yun Che and the Blue Dragon Emperor in the next second. It stopped everyone including the Blue Dragons who were rushing over to help their god emperor from coming in.

“Back off! Anyone who comes close without permission will be killed without mercy!”

Yan Wu declared murderously while striking the ground with the butt of her Yama Spear. The Yama Devils and Moon Eaters were guarding outside the barrier as well.

These people had chosen to turn their backs on Emperor Yun not too long ago. They could not allow them to get close in case they were planning to use this opportunity to wound Emperor Yun in some way.

Thankfully, it looked like their worries were unfounded. They had thought their situation was utterly hopeless and had chosen to submit to the Abyss, but Emperor Yun, Cang Shitian and Huo Poyun had done the impossible and killed Mo Beichen instead. They were so stunned that they could not spare even the slightest thought to scheme right now.

Meanwhile, the golden flames and Half-God energies at the center of the battlefield were fading slowly.

Not a trace of Cang Shitian or Huo Poyun could be found anywhere.

At the center of the disaster zone was a writhing, dark green-colored body.

Mo Beichen did not know that his rock spear had failed to kill Yun Che in the end. It was because unleashing his power in his condition had instantly dropped him into a bottomless abyss of poison.

His life, soul and strength were being devoured like crazy. If the poison in his body was vipers before, now they had evolved into wraiths that were thousands of times more vile and terrifying than before. The unimaginable pain swiftly dragged him toward the worst nightmare.

By the time Chi Wuyao had arrived above Mo Beichen, his eyes were dark green pits of emptiness, and his hair looked like a withered bush of dark green water plants.

His body had been twisted to the point where he no longer looked human, and the power and aura that had driven the entire God Realm to submit a while ago were nowhere to be seen. His occasional writhing and thrashing showed that he was still tormented by pain, but even screaming was beyond him now.

Back then, the Sky Poison had singlehandedly driven the Brahma Monarch Realm to despair. However, the power it had displayed back then didn’t even come close to this.

It was to the point where she almost wondered if this wasn’t the Sky Poison, but something else.

Back then, the Brahma Kings were able to struggle for a long time before Qianye Fantian finally dragged them to Yun Che and bought the survival of his realm with his death.

Mo Beichen was infinitely more powerful than the Brahma Kings and the Brahma Heaven God Emperor as a matter of course, and yet the man had practically melted from the Sky Poison in just a scant few breaths.

Something’s not right, Chi Wuyao thought immediately. She was an intelligent woman to begin with, and in this case the signs were literally impossible to ignore.

There was no time to ponder about this though. She mustered her wounded devil soul with great difficulty.

Behind her, Caizhi descended from the sky and brought down the Heavenly Wolf Devil Sword on top of Mo Beichen.

“Don’t kill him,” Chi Wuyao whispered.

“...” The blade froze in mid-strike, but Caizhi was unable to cancel her power completely. The tempest that accompanied her strike blew Mo Beichen far, far away.

“Gg…”

A tiny gasp escaped Mo Beichen’s throat.

Impossibly, a bit of light suddenly returned to the man’s empty, dark green eyes. It seemed like he was experiencing a moment of terminal lucidity.

He grabbed a handful of soil with his fleshless, rotten, dark green-colored fingers before whispering,

“Pure… Land…”

The man spoke. Incredibly, his voice sounded clear and distinct despite his physical condition.

“An eternal… Pure… Land…”

“...” Mixed feelings welled inside Chi Wuyao when she perceived the emotions behind Mo Beichen’s dying breath with her soul.

“Zhen’er… Long’er…” He extended his remaining fingers and reached out with all his might, clearly intending to touch more untainted soil. “I can finally… return to you…”

“With the Eternal Pure Land… with… me…”

His voice faded away, and his soul dissipated like the mist.

A single tear slowly slid down his dark green eye socket.

Somehow, it was pure and completely free from the poison.

It was at this moment Chi Wuyao unleashed her Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul in full force and collected Mo Beichen’s dissipating divine soul as much as she could.

She needed to gather as much information about the Abyss as possible, even if there was a high chance her devil soul would suffer irreversible damage from the strain.

…………

Unknown space.

Unknown time.

“Well met, brother Rahu! Hahaha! It is quite rare to see you here!” A cheerful yet gentle laugh cut through the air. It automatically evoked the image of a cultured and easygoing man.

The man was dressed in plain white robes, and his long hair was tied up in a simple fashion. His countenance was clean and elegant, and his eyes looked like a quiet, glassy lake or a still, starry sky. Anyone who met his eyes would automatically feel warmed to the soul.

He possessed the refinement of a middle-aged man, but the warmth of a youngster. It made it difficult to determine his age immediately.

Anyone who saw him for the first time would believe that he was a frail nobleman who disdained the profound way. They would believe that he was a hothouse flower who had never so much as scratched his nails his whole life.

They definitely wouldn’t believe him if he told them that his name was the name that awed the heavens…

Hua Fuchen.

“Hahahaha!”

The new laughter sounded a lot more rugged and carefree. As wild and unrestrained as fire, it was as if there was nothing under the heavens that he was afraid of.

The laughing man was also incredibly tall and brawny. His exposed muscles actually gleamed like they were made of refined steel when exposed to light.

His hair stood as vertically as swords, and his ash gray beard was shaped like a halberd. His eyes were intimidating without trying, giving him the impression of a lion that would rain down heaven and hell at the slightest offense.

“There is no one in the world who doesn’t know that you value silence and tranquility above everything, in-law. I would not dare to visit you if it wasn’t for a most serious matter.”

His voice wasn’t imbued with divine aura, but the entire hall quaked lightly to his energy still.

The guards standing guard outside the hall also felt a rush of blood at the same time. It took them a considerable amount of concentration before they were able to suppress the unnatural restlessness in their veins.

“Since you have come to visit in person, it can only be about the outside world, am I correct?” The elegant man guessed with a smile.

The lion-like man also possessed a name that struck like ten thousand thunders.

His name was Dian Rahu.

“Hah!” He declared while waving his hand, “It is but a small matter. Pure Land can handle it themselves.”

“The real reason I came here today is because my useless son is so distracted by love that he could not concentrate even when he’s in closed door cultivation. I had no choice but to drag him over and alleviate his lovesickness a little.”

He slapped a beefy palm on the shoulder of a young man next to him. “I swear, he looks just as pathetic as me when I was still a young lad, hahahaha!”

BOOM!

It sounded like a mountain had snapped in half when the slap landed on the young man’s shoulders. The guards outside the hall nearly spat out blood from the impact.

The young man did not move a muscle though. His pupils didn’t even shake in the slightest.

He took a step forward and gave the elegant man a respectful salute, “Junior Jiuzhi greets ‘Heart Painter’ Divine Regent. My deepest apologies for not visiting you sooner, senior.”

If Dian Rahu was a man who looked like a walking mountain, then the youngster next to him could only be described as a “frail” child. Relatively speaking, of course. Most people looked small and frail next to Dian Rahu, and his own son was no exception.

In fact, the young man possessed quite the tall and formidable physique. His countenance was stern but not unrefined, and his gaze sharp but not piercing in a way that was uncomfortable. He had a pair of eyebrows that were so long that they were joined with his hair, and his facial features looked like they had been sculpted with the sharpest blade.

Although he was assuming a subservient stance, every inch of his body—his eyes, his brow, his torso and even his hair—exuded an air of superiority he could not hide even if he wanted to. It was nothing like the empty air of your conventional aristocrat or hopeless sons either. The presence was something that originated from his very marrow; as if he was destined to rule over the nine heavens and all living things since the very day he was born.

His name was Dian Jiuzhi, and he was the son of Dian Rahu.

He might be standing before a Venerable Regent, but his behavior was respectful but not obsequious; dignified but not overbearing.

“Hah!” Dian Rahu slapped his son’s shoulder again. “Senior? Just call him your father-in-law already!”

Dian Jiuzhi returned to a standing position and said, “I may be engaged with Caili, but I would not dare disrespect senior in any way until our marriage is official.”

Hua Fuchen watched Dian Jiuzhi for a second before smiling faintly. “Last month, I heard that you made a breakthrough so great that it caused the sky itself to change. I did not think your improvement would surpass even my imagination.”

“As expected of the son of brother Rahu.”

His voice was filled with praise and admiration.

He had always been satisfied and fond of his future son-in-law.

Although Hua Fuchen’s personality was the complete opposite of Dian Rahu’s, they were close enough to be actual brothers. He had always viewed Dian Jiuzhi as his godson, and his friendship with Dian Rahu had only deepened after Dian Jiuzhi and his daughter were engaged.

“Hahahaha! More like, as expected of the son-in-law of Hua Fuchen!”

Dian Rahu had never been one to shy away from compliments. Still laughing, Dian Rahu shook his hand at Dian Jiuzhi and said, “Your father-in-law and I have something that doesn’t concern you to discuss, so stop bothering us and get lost already, lil brat.”

Hua Fuchen also shot a glance at the young man. “Jiuzhi, Caili is playing with a Rainbow Cloud Branch at the Clear Heart Garden. I’m sure she’ll be incredibly happy to see you.”

“Yes sir. I shall pay sister Caili a visit right away.”

Before he could move a muscle though, Dian Rahu suddenly kicked him in the butt and sent him flying right out of the hall.

At the same time, his voice thundered,

“Stop giving your dad goosebumps, lil brat! What kind of man acts so formal when visiting their own woman? Who’s the woman here, for fuck’s sake!”

Hehehe!” Hua Fuchen shook his head smilingly. “Come now, how our children carry themselves is their business. Anyway, the wine table has already been set, so let us make haste. It has been a few years since we were able to drink like this, so I’m not letting you go until our stomachs are burning.”

…………

The Rainbow Cloud Branch was a strange flower that only grows in the Pure Land. Its petals were fluffy and pure white in color, but they glowed a faint rainbow when under the light. If multiple Rainbow Cloud Branches were clumped up together, it was entirely possible to mistake them for rainbow clouds that had descended to the dust. It was a picturesque sight to say the least.

Unfortunately, they were also as ephemeral as a cloud. A stiff breeze could scatter them with ease.

That was why they needed to be tended to with the utmost care.

Dian Jiuzhi came to a stop when he arrived at the edge of the sea of Rainbow Cloud Branches. For a time, he forgot where he was and what he was doing.

In a world that was surrounded by abyssal dust, the Rainbow Cloud Branch, a miraculous flower of the Pure Land was an impossible luxury the average person might never see in their lives. An entire garden of them? They would happily give up everything just to catch a glimpse of it.

The master of this garden adored the Rainbow Cloud Branches very much. It was why her doting father moved an entire garden of them to his residence despite the great cost to himself.

What caused Dian Jiuzhi to lose his soul wasn’t the sea of rainbow radiance, but the girl standing in the middle of it.

If the sea of flowers was as beautiful as a dream, then the girl was the dream of all beautiful dreams.

Her eyes were as bright as her teeth. She possessed a countenance that could drop countries and nations at the mere glimpse of it. Her skin was as flawless as jade, and as soft as a flower. To call her a fairy incarnate would be an insult to her. She was a peerless beauty who could drive flowers to fold up, and moons to hide themselves in shame.

Countless expressions flitted across his mind, but it wasn’t long before he was left with utter blankness. It was because there was no expression in the world that could describe even a shadow of the impossible beauty he was seeing.

Her countenance was already so exquisite it was like the culmination of all the inspiration of the heavens, but she was also given the brightest, prettiest eyes of the entire universe.

The Rainbow Cloud Branches were gorgeous beyond imagination, but her soft, willowy fingers looked like they had been blessed with the radiance of heaven itself. Clad in a set of white clothes that was purer than snow and smoother than jade, the halo surrounding her actually outshone even the sea of flowers themselves.

She was the living proof that fate was biased. It was the only explanation why she was so beautiful.

She disliked complicated, superfluous clothes, so she was often seen wearing a plain white dress. However, the dress might as well be jade attire from the mythical palace of immortals on her. The wind danced around her like she was protected by an entourage of invisible fairies. Literal butterflies flew around her non-stop as if they too were absolutely mesmerized by her every movement.

Finally, the girl looked up as if sensing his gaze. Her luscious lips immediately widened into a joyful smile.

In that moment, everything in Dian Jiuzhi’s vision except her faded into shades of gray. His heartbeat refused to slow even after a long time had passed.

She spun on her heels and appeared right in front of him in an instant. Startled, the butterflies reluctantly scattered into the distance.

I held her hand, but I almost couldn’t feel the bones

The wind blows, and butterflies danced to her dress as if

It was the only joy of their lives…

The poems flashing across Dian Jiuzhi’s head seemed to live only for her sake.

“You came, big brother Bighead.”

Her voice sounded like the fantastical melody of the Unforgettable Moon Palace. The startled butterflies literally froze in mid-air when she spoke.

Dian Jiuzhi had been born with a frail body and an unusually large head. Add to the fact that his talent was so-so at best, he was the subject of bullying by many children and grandchildren of Dian Rahu. At the time, his siblings, his sect mates and even his peers called him “Bighead” to insult him.

The nickname became so well-known that barely anyone remembered his original name. Naturally, the girl also called him “Bighead” when she met him for the first time.

She had called him “big brother Bighead” since.

That was the first time he couldn’t feel any disgust or rejection toward the nickname. It was because there wasn’t even the slightest bit of ill will behind her star-like eyes when she said it. At the time, she looked so beautiful he almost thought he was in a lucid dream.

Some time after that, he became a Divine Son and was granted the name, “Jiuzhi” by his father.

The nickname “Bighead” immediately became one of the biggest taboos of his life. No one dared to call him that since.

No one… except her.

It wasn’t for the lack of trying. When the girl had tried to call him “big brother Jiuzhi” after he obtained his new name, he had been struck by a profound sense of disappointment. After that, he told her to address him as “big brother Bighead” even when outsiders were present.

It was because he was strong now. The nickname “Bighead” had changed from an unforgettable shame to a memento of the day they first met; the best day of his life. (T/N: Is that you, Long Bai Junior?)