Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Flame God Realm, God Burying Inferno Prison.

Waves of fire surged continuously as flames burned the air all over. It was as if this place was truly a boundless purgatory.

This was a dangerous place, where ordinary people were prohibited from getting near. Then at this time, a profound light flashed as two human figures appeared at the side of this fire prison at the same time.

“Thank you, Sect Master Huo.”

Yun Che sincerely thanked Huo Rulie, before his gaze shifted to the vast inferno prison ahead of him. He might be able to find the means to defeat Jun Xilei in this fire prison… It was basically the only think he could think of to make it possible for him to win against her.

Yun Che walked over to the edge of the inferno prison. Just as he was about to jump down, Huo Rulie’s voice came from behind all of a sudden, “Wait a minute!”

Yun Che turned around, “Does Sect Master Huo have any instructions for me?”

“Young Yun,” Huo Rulie exhaled heavily, as he found it difficult to relax his gaze. “Back then, you said that you were able to discover that there were two ancient horned dragons because you had reached the bottom of this inferno prison. Is that… true?”

“Mn.” Yun Che nodded his head. “I also requested Sect Master Huo to keep it a secret.”

Huo Rulie’s expression changed as he looked at him, but he didn’t say a word for a long while.

“Although I don’t know whether I’ll be able to reap any profit this time, I definitely need to return before my fight with Jun Xilei. I will have to trouble Sect Master Huo to wait for me.”

Having finished his words, Yun Che jumped forward and his figure was quickly swallowed by the vast sea of fire. There was not even a trace of his aura left.

Huo Rulie didn’t leave. He stood at the edge of the inferno prison while blankly staring forward, as he talked to himself absentmindedly, “This boy… How exactly did he…”

Yun Che was falling straight down inside the sea of fire. The fire element in his surroundings grew increasingly violent and terrifying, but it was unable to hurt Yun Che in the least. There was a deep frown on his face as he tried to recall that bizarre soul reaction.

Back then, when Mu Xuanyin and the ancient horned dragon were in a fierce fight, and he had dived into the God Burying Inferno Prison for the first time, he had sensed a soul reaction from far away at the bottom. As he had drawn closer and closer to the flame vein, the soul reaction had also become more and more distinct, as if it was calling him over while showing him the way.

However, when he was getting closer, he had discovered the truth that there were two ancient horned dragons. He was so terrified that he had immediately rushed out of the God Burying Inferno Prison in a panic. Afterwards, he didn’t bother about that soul reaction at all, when he escaped to the distant Darkya Realm.

But now that he was unable to think of any way to win against Jun Xilei, he had remembered about it all of a sudden.

Existing under the God Burying Inferno Prison, and causing his soul to react to it from a great distance… What could it be? Yun Che had already had a rough guess back then. Thinking about it in this moment, he was becoming increasingly certain about his guess.

A divine spirit that still existed by relying on the God Burying Inferno Prison!

An existence that could exist and depend on such an environment was most likely the divine spirit of the Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, or Golden Crow. Since the Golden Crow Divine Spirit had died away, was it the remnant divine spirit of Vermilion Bird or Phoenix?

Although the people of the Flame God Realm believed that no divine spirit existed in their realm now, they thought so because no one had ever succeeded in reaching the bottom of the God Burying Inferno Prison. The remnant spirit of the Ice Phoenix True God at the bottom of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake was also able to somehow maintain its existence by relying on the cold vein. The flame vein of the Flame God Realm was undoubtedly more powerful than the cold vein of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, so it would be only normal if the remnant soul of a divine spirit was able to exist until now by relying on it.

Falling straight down for over fifteen thousand meters into the inferno prison, Yun Che arrived at the bottom as fast as possible. This place was such a terrifying purgatory that no ordinary person would be able to imagine it. The fire elements in this place were so violent in nature that it would be far beyond the understanding of even someone as great as a Divine Master. Just a small mass of flames from this place was enough to evaporate all the oceans of an ordinary world.

The spirit aura of flames rushed into his body like a storm as they transformed into his profound strength. His cultivation had only been at the Divine Origin Realm when he had arrived at the God Burying Inferno Prison for the first time, and as his cultivation had currently increased to the Divine Tribulation Realm, the speed at which the spirit energy of the flames was gushing into him had amplified by several times. Even if he didn’t do anything in this world made of extremely pure and high level flames, his profound strength would increase at a far greater rate than others cultivating with great effort. However, it was absolutely impossible for his strength to reach the same level as Jun Xilei in a short period of time.

Yun Che’s gaze locked onto the extremely distant but clearly visible arc of red light.

Over there was the location of the primordial flame vein.

Yun Che rushed towards the primordial flame vein at an extremely fast speed. His cultivation was much better than earlier, and as such, his speed was also much faster than the first time he had come here. The arc of red light seemed to be coming closer and closer in his field of vision, though at a very slow rate. It was at this time that Yun Che’s heart jumped all of a sudden, and his figure came to a stop too.

This is…

Yun Che subconsciously placed his palm on his chest. He felt a mysterious and vague sensation as if his soul was lightly poked by a formless thing.

It was… quite similar to the one from back then!

This sensation… It is certainly calling me over!

Yun Che’s mind shook upon discovering that his soul was still reacting the same way as the last time, and he increased his speed even more. Passing through layer after layer of the divine flames, he made his way straight to the flame vein, as his heartbeat also gradually intensified … What exactly was over there? Was it the Phoenix Divine Spirit, Vermilion Divine Spirit, or…

The God Burying Inferno Prison spanned over five hundred thousand kilometers. If the arc of red light wasn’t acting as his guide, it would have been extremely difficult to identify the correct direction. As Yun Che went forward, he could feel the soul reaction even more clearly.

He travelled as much as fifty thousand kilometers without resting for even a moment… as he slowly neared his destination.

Yun Che finally stopped in his tracks. Before his eyes was an arc of red light that looked like a coiling dragon in the midst of this world of flames. It meandered as far as he could see, and appeared to have no end. Observing the shining arc of red light, Yun Che stared blankly at it, as a bizarre feeling of emptiness surfaced in his spirit sense… At this moment, he was suddenly unable to sense the existence of any flame element, as his perceptive power seemed to have been swallowed by an invisible hole. He constantly felt this strange and fearsome feeling for a long time, and it only slowly disappeared when his gaze shifted away from the arc of red light.

There was no doubt that the primordial flame vein was an existence on the same level as the primordial cold vein of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake. Both of these energies were left behind from the primordial Era of Gods.

However, the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake only had a short cold vein, but the flame vein before his eyes seemed to be endless. Possibly, the energy contained within it was too terrifying and of such an extremely high level that Yun Che could not even perceive it.

“Perhaps, no one could think… that such absolutely terrifying energy was hidden in a middle star realm such as the Flame God Realm.” Yun Che couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “If the energy here were to be poured down, it should be enough to easily destroy an upper star realm, or maybe even a king realm, right?”

Yun Che slowly lifted his leg as he wanted to continue walking ahead, when two crimson flames suddenly shone from in front of him.

“Yun Che, you are finally here. This noble one has long awaited you.”

A weak and indistinct but clearly audible voice resounded in Yun Che’s mind, causing him to immediately raise his head. Far above him, two long, narrow, and golden eyes opened little by little… Then light of the flames around him immediately dimmed, and the pair of eyes seemed to be the sole existence in this vast purgatory.

“You are… the Phoenix Divine Spirit?”

At the same time, the golden eyes were far more long and narrow than Golden Crow Divine Spirit’s. Seeing this pair of eyes, Yun Che instantly thought back to the moment when he had come into contact with a divine spirit for the first time in his life ten-odd years ago.

The eyes of the phoenix in the trial grounds of the Phoenix Clan, in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain range of the Blue Wind Empire!

The instant this pair of eyes appeared, the divine aura of a phoenix flame also descended from above.

“This noble one is not a divine spirit, but a soul fragment of the phoenix that has been left behind in this world. I perceived your arrival three years ago, but you left before reaching here. However, you have finally arrived here as I expected. This too seems to be the guidance of fate.”

It really was a Phoenix Divine Spirit!

After meeting the first Phoenix Divine Spirit back in the Phoenix Clan, this was the second Phoenix Divine Spirit that he had come across! Moreover, it was the Phoenix Divine Spirit of the God Realm.

“You called me over? Why did you call to me back then? Also, why do you know my name?” Yun Che voiced his doubts, before he thought of something, “Could it be the other Phoenix Divine Spirit that told you about it?”

“Correct,” the Phoenix Divine Spirit replied in a calm voice. “Although we exist in different planes, we are both remnant soul fragments of the Phoenix, and thus, could communicate with each other through soul voice and memory transfer. This noble one not only knows about you, but I also know that there existed two soul fragments in the continent where you were born. One of them was tainted by worldly affairs and abandoned the will of the Phoenix. But, it repented in the end, and bestowed everything it had to a human upon perceiving the arrival of the ‘Great Calamity.’ The other one still exists in the world, but it is also on the verge of disappearing.”

“Other than that, this noble one is the last remaining strand of Phoenix soul in this world. However, I can only maintain my existence by relying on the God Burying Inferno Prison. Once I leave this place, I will die away very quickly.”

“Great… Calamity?” Yun Che repeated the words. “Are you by chance talking about that… ‘crimson crack?’”

He had heard some information related to the “crimson crack” from Mu Bingyun over these few days. Mu Bingyun might not have explained the matter to him in detail, but Yun Che had a general understanding of it. At the same time, the two words “crimson crack” had also begun to correspond to what the he had heard from the Golden Crow Divine Spirit and the Ice Phoenix girl in his mind.

“Correct.” Even though he only spoke a single word in response, the soul voice of the Phoenix sounded like a sigh coming from the ancient times.

“What… exactly is it? Could it possibly be an enormous calamity just as they have speculated?” Yun Che hurriedly asked.

“No one can answer that,” the Phoenix’s soul voice replied. “Even if we are remnant soul fragments of a True God, and possess the perception ability of a True God, it is still impossible to find out what is hidden behind that ‘crimson crack,’ or the reason for its appearance.”

“But, there is one point that this noble one is incomparably sure of. What is behind that ‘crimson crack’ is not a ‘possible calamity,’ but a ‘calamity bound to happen’.” Once this ‘calamity’ truly breaks out, it will be far, far more fearsome than you could ever imagine… Let alone the Eastern Divine Region, even the combined power of the entire God Realm might prove to be insufficient to resist it.”

“What?” Yun Che’s pupils shrank all of a sudden. “Even the combined power of the whole God Realm couldn’t stop it? How could it be such a dreadful calamity? Why do you think so?”

“It is because this noble one feels endless fear every time I perceive the aura of that crimson crack.”

Yun Che, “…”

Although it was only a soul fragment, it was still a soul of True God level, after all.

To make a soul of True God level feel “endless fear” just by perceiving it from a great distance… What kind of calamity could it be?

No! There was someone who might know the answer… The Ice Phoenix girl under the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake! She was the first to tell him about the future “calamity,” as well as also seeming to clearly know the reason behind its occurrence. She was the sole existence in the Primal Chaos who was truly aware of the cause and actuality of the calamity.

However, she had also said that she was unable to tell him about it right now.

Just what exactly was it…? What was going on with that crimson crack?

“Although we are all are but soul fragments, we also have the extremely high dignity of a god. Normally, we absolutely wouldn’t do anything for the sake of a human that would cost us our existence. But, in the world you lived before, a Phoenix fragment gave its all to a human girl. Again in this Flame God Realm, the last remnant soul of Golden Crow also bestowed its entire existence to a human boy called Huo Poyun.”

“The sole reason for that is none other than that ‘calamity bound to happen’ in the future.”

“This noble one guided you over here for the same purpose!”