Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1143 - Grievous News from the Sky

As the first preliminary round of the Profound God Convention began, the atmosphere of the whole Eastern Divine Region thoroughly changed. Every corner of the Eastern Divine Region was buzzing with discussions related to the Profound God Convention.

Outside the Eastern Divine Region, the Western Divine Region and the Southern Divine Region were, openly or secretly, paying attention to the Profound God Convention as well.

As for the ”forsaken” and “cursed” distant Northern Divine Region, which was called the “Northern Devil Realm” by a large number of people, no one was aware of what it was doing.

The ranking on the very first day had already displayed the splendor of the “Four God Children of the Eastern Region” to the masses in a tremendously striking manner. Compared to their great fame which only existed in rumors, their battle gains and rankings were well ahead of all the other participants, and gave an even greater shock to the souls of the audience.

But, in the end, the ranking achieved on the first day, was nothing more than the ranking of the first day. There were even a lot of people who were of the opinion that the ranking during the early stage of the competition didn’t mean much and could be ignored completely.

As the preliminary battle progressed, one day, two days, three days… five days… ten days… changes could be seen in the ranks with every passing day.

On the tenth day, the bitter fight of all the young geniuses of the Divine Eastern Region began for real.

Now that the participants had collected enough soul orbs by killing profound beasts, it was finally the time to start robbing each other… To the strong, the weak looked like fattened lambs at this time. As for the weak, they must hide so as to not be hunted by the strong, and then, do their utmost to find opportunities to hunt other weak people.

Everyone was the deadly enemy of another, and every second could determine their lives and deaths… A successful hunt and plunder of soul orbs would increase their ranks dramatically, and dying even once, would cause them the loss of thirty percent of their soul orbs, which would result in falling steeply down the rankings.

It was also from this day onwards that the preliminary battlefield turned into a cruel purgatory of slaughter. The pleasure of every successful hunt, and the fury and humiliation of every death, was strongly stimulating their blood and the brutality hidden within it, making the profound practitioners act more and more like wild beasts. The competition sites of the preliminaries had become cruel battlefields filled with predators.

The preliminary ranking was also not as calm as in the very beginning. There were world-shaking changes happening to it every moment.

The fifteenth day… The twentieth day… The twenty-fifth day… When the preliminary competition reached the last stage, the battlefields became more horrifying by the second.

The rankings of those followed on the star tablets made the hearts of countless profound practitioners roll about between paradise and hell. Many stayed before the star tablets almost all day and night, not daring to leave for even an instant…

For instance, Huo Rulie would search the rankings several times a day in the beginning, but when there were only last few days left, he would personally search the star tablet once every fifteen to thirty minutes to be up to date with the changes in rankings. Although Poyun’s rank never disappointed him, his heart still didn’t calm down for even a second, as if it was tied with a string to an immeasurably high mountain.

But the thing that stayed the steadiest throughout this session of the Profound God Convention, was none other than the first four places in the overall rankings.

Luo Changsheng, Shui Yingyue, Jun Xilei, Lu Lengchuan… from the start until now, it had always been these four people occupying the first four places. Other geniuses of the profound way of the Eastern Divine Region, who totaled over fifty million, were not even once able to throw them out of their places.

In addition, although there was constant changes in the names of the ones holding the second to fourth places, it was solely Luo Changsheng who had dominated the topmost rank all this time, and remained unshakeable during the entire competition.

Besides Luo Changsheng, there were two more people whose ranks didn’t change in the slightest.

Not only was their ranking extremely steady, even the quantity of soul orbs to their names remained f*cking unchanged, showing no signs of altering under any circumstances.

They were naturally Yun Che and Xiao Mo.

These two oddities were also luckily assigned to Battle Zone 9.

With the passage of time, the month long fierce battle drew closer to its end.

“This is the last day, huh?”

Xiao Mo was lazily leaning on a corner of the wall, as he chewed on a stalk of grass that had found his way in his mouth at some point in time.

“Right, I think only a few more hours are left before the conclusion to this round.” Yun Che nodded his head. His expression was calm, but his emotions were greatly fluctuating in his heart… Finally, after a few more hours, he would be able to leave the battlefield, and step into the place he had longed for so desperately over the past three years.

“Pheeew!” Xiao Mo let out a light sign in relaxation. “It’s good that you’re here with me, otherwise, I’d have died of boredom if I had to wait alone for a month. If I knew it was going to be like this, I’d have brought my portable console along with me.”

Yun Che, “…??”

Even though he had never stepped into the battlefield, and had no idea about the situation outside, Yun Che could still tell that battle between the participants should have become fiercer by the day. Because more and more white lights, which were actually the disintegrated forms of the participating profound practitioners, were being sent back to the main city to be revived. Especially, on this last day, when the final ranking was to be determined, white lights would twinkle in the sky above the main city at every moment. All kinds of hoarse roars and screams could also be heard almost continuously.

“Hey, we’re going to be eliminated soon, and then, we’ll be able to roam around in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. Hahaha, that’s a king realm, man! Earlier, I’d only heard of it in legends, and it seemed like a celestial palace that was absolutely out of my reach. I never thought that I’d one day get the opportunity to personally step into it. Guess it wasn’t a waste of time to remain in the God Realm for so many years,” Xiao Mo said with a yearning look.

“As over fifty million people were eliminated, all those profound practitioners will be entering the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm in an extremely large number. Therefore, there will definitely be some restrictions in place. I’m afraid there will be very few places where we will be allowed to move around,” Yun Che said in response.

“That doesn’t really matter. It’s already good to be able to breathe in the immortal aura of the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. I can then brag about it to my wife when I go back,” Xiao Mo said while narrowing his smiling eyes. “Oh right! Brother Yun, I’ve yet to ask you something. Are you married? Or are you… still a virgin?”

“…I got married at the age of sixteen.” As the silhouette of Xian Qingyue flashed through his mind, great waves surfaced in Yun Che’s heart.

It had been eight whole years since he last heard of her. He had no idea about her whereabouts now.

“Oh, so young!” Xiao Mo widened his eyes, before muttering in a low voice. “In that place of ours, sixteen is far from the legal age of marriage.”

“So, how many wives do you have?”

“…Three.” Yun Che once again replied calmly. Xia Qingyue, Cangyue, Huan Caiyi… Three was the number of women he had gotten married to.

There were also those he hadn’t married yet…

“What the f*ck?! You’re such a beast, man!” Xiao Mo’s butt sprang up immediately. He shouted in envy and jealousy, “This is precisely the thing that makes me the most envious of you people of the God Realm! Polygamy is actually allowed in this place! Why on earth are we only allowed to have monogamous relationships!? Aaaaaaaaaah… Though you look like an indifferent person, you are, in fact, a carnivorous beast!”

Yun Che, “…??”

“Hah? No! You’re clearly not from the God Realm, right? Why is there such a huge difference if we’re both from planets?!” Xiao Mo became even more unstable in his heart, as he crazily shouted without stopping.

“With your cultivation in the profound way, you’ll be completely considered an otherworldly god on the planet you come from. Those worldly rules should not be able to bind you,” Yun Che said in disapproval.

“No, no, no! You don’t get it. In the place where we live, there exists something that is far more fearsome than any worldly rules.” Xiao Mo’s tone suddenly became low. He looked carefully around him, before moving close to Yun Che and speaking into his ear in a voice that was trembling with fear. “You don’t know the fearsomeness of the women on our planet. Especially that wife of mine, let alone something as wishful as polygamy, so long as I glance at a beauty, she… Sss!”

Speaking to this point, Xiao Mo’s body trembled fiercely.

“Oh~~I get it, I really get it.” Yun Che at once nodded his head. He said inwardly: So you’re a henpecked husband. Like hell that has anything to do with where you come from!

“I should return to Earth after strolling around in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. Judging from the attitude of my wife, she will most likely not let me leave again once I go back.” Xiao Mo laid his head in his hands, then said all of a sudden. “Brother Yun, although you didn’t speak much, the two of us hit it off quite well. I have felt this whole time that your heart is very heavily burdened with some matter. Why don’t you tell me about it? Perhaps, I might be able to help you a bit.”

Yun Che shook his head, as he said with a faint smile, “No need for that. There’s no one who would be able to help me, but I thank you for the kind offer.”

“All right.” Xiao Mo didn’t ask any further. He calculated the time before saying, “Let’s take a look at the ranking. Now that the competition is about to end, no major change will possibly happen in the little time left. The current ranking should be the final ranking.”

Xiao Mo waved his hands, and the familiar screen of light appeared before their eyes.

【Luo Changsheng】 Origin: Holy Eaves Realm, Soul Orb: 11948053, Rank in Battle Zone: 1, Overall Rank: 1.

Xiao Mo opened his eyes wide as he fell in a daze for a good long while. Afterwards, he let out a roar, “Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh… What the fuck?! Over ten million! That’s over ten million soul orbs, duuude!”

“This Young Master Changsheng is simply a god… Oh no, no. He’s simply a freak, a monster!”

Not only was Luo Changsheng the first in the overall ranking list, he was also the sole person who had more than ten million soul orbs. That imposing figure, which was at the top of all other people, was like a supreme sovereign looking down from the heavens, and showing disdain to all living creatures from the celestial palace.

There was no doubt that even if there were ignorant and ill-informed people in the Eastern Divine Region, who had never heard of the “Four God Children of the Eastern Region,” no one would not know of the name “Luo Changsheng” from today onwards.

To an existence of Luo Changsheng’s level, every person on the battlefield he stood upon, was just prey that he could slaughter whenever he wished. Those ten million odd soul orbs had piled up at the cost of innumerable deaths of his prey.

If not for the fact that although the same person could be killed several times, their soul orbs could only be robbed once, this figure would have definitely been even more astonishing.

Below Luo Changsheng, Shui Yingyue, Jun Xilei, and Lu Lengchuan had still firmly occupied the second to fourth places. Compared to the performance of Luo Changsheng who had far surpassed the rest, there was not much difference in the quantity of the soul orbs of the other three—they all had over nine million soul orbs.

“It seems like the one who will finish at the top of this session of Profound God Convention, should be none other than Luo Changsheng,” Yun Che said.

“That ‘should’ is unnecessary, as it’s a certainty!” Xiao Mo said in a heavy voice.

Yun Che suddenly thought of the girl in the black skirt who was so bewitching in all respects… and had cultivated up to the Divine Spirit Realm by the age of fifteen, which had truly dumbfounded Huo Poyun. If she wasn’t too young, and instead was of the same age as Luo Changsheng, she would have certainly even ranked above him.

I wonder what rank she has achieved in the preliminary round.

But, she is too young, after all. With a profound strength in the early stages of Divine Spirit Realm… it should be impossible to pass the first round of preliminaries.

“Oh, by the way, can you help me search the ranking of someone,” Yun Che said all of sudden. “Flame God Realm, Huo Poyun.”

“Oh! I’ve heard of the Flame God Realm,” Xiao Mo said curiously. “However, I haven’t heard of Huo Poyun. Is it someone you know?”

“He’s a friend of mine.” Yun Che nodded his head. “The Snow Song Realm where I live right now is a neighbor to the Flame God Realm. That is why I got acquainted with him.”

“I see. Let me take a look.”

Xiao Mo stirred his thoughts, making Huo Poyun’s name immediately appear on the screen of light.

【Huo Poyun】 Origin: Flame God Realm, Soul Orb: 4994033, Rank in Battle Zone: 1, Overall Rank: 71.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh… What the hell?! Seven… Seventy-first rank?” Xiao Mo was shocked, and remained so for a long while, before saying in surprise and doubt. “He’s actually such a powerful person? No… that shouldn’t be the case! I remember that the Flame God Realm is a middle star realm. How could such a powerful person be from there?”

“You really know him? He’s really your friend?”

It was not only Xiao Mo who was surprised. Yun Che was even more taken aback at Huo Poyun’s rank. He sighed as he talked to himself: “Seventy-first rank… I think even the people of Flame God Realm never expected such a high rank. Looks like we completely underestimated Huo Poyun. His entering the top thousand is already no surprise.”

He could imagine the unimaginably pleasant surprise and excitement of the Flame God Realm upon seeing Huo Poyun getting such a rank… Huo Rulie, in particular, told him earlier that he didn’t have absolute confidence in Huo Poyun making his way into the top thousand. Right now, he was perhaps laughing so hard that all his teeth could fall onto the ground at any moment.

“Congratulations, Brother Poyun.” Not replying to Xiao Mo, Yun Che raised his head as he said sincerely.

Your wish has been fulfilled, and I’ll also… meet Jasmine for sure.

Seeing the happy look on Yun Che’s face, Xiao Mo knew that he and Huo Poyun must be very close. He at once said in jealousy, “Despite your shitty profound strength, you’ve still got a connection with such an influential person! Tsk, tsk… Moreover, you’ve got three wives! Man, you make me so damn jealous!”

Yun Che just responded with a smile, and didn’t make any comment.

Connection? His truly big connection was actually his master! She was far stronger than Huo Poyun.

Hmm… as strong as around one hundred eight billion Huo Poyun.

Huo Poyun’s astonishing battle achievement made Yun Che’s emotions ease a lot. After all, it was only Huo Poyun whom he could truly call a friend in the God Realm.

“Ahhh, let’s forget it. He’s a man who has got deeply hidden means, a real winner in life. It’s useless comparing myself to him.” Xiao Mo mumbled to himself for a brief time. Then, he waved his hand grandly, “While we’re at it, let’s look at the ranking list of our battlefield. The one ranked first will certainly be that Wu Guike, without a doubt… Hmm… What the fuck!?

Yun Che glanced sideways when he heard Xiao Mo crying out once again.

Wu Guike- Origin: Divine Martial Realm, Soul Orb: 6489672, Rank in Battle Zone: 1, Overall Rank: 16.

Wu Guike, with over six million soul orbs, was sixteenth in the overall rank of the preliminary round!

The actual strength of this Wu Guike surpassed Yun Che’s expectations time and again.

“It seems that the Divine Martial Realm will leave once again feeling proud and elated,” Xiao Mo said.

The moment he finished his words, the sky above became turbulent all of a sudden. Soon after, the Voice of Eternal Heaven shook the sky as it resounded throughout the entire battlefield.

“Young experts, there are still two hours before the end of the first round of preliminaries!”

“Ha! It’s finally going to end.” Xiao Mo smiled. Thinking that he was about to enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, he grew excited immediately.

“Only the top ten people from every battlefield can enter the second round of preliminaries. Other profound practitioners will all be eliminated, and their projections will leave the Eternal Heaven Battlefield. Furthermore, their true bodies will also be directly expelled from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, and won’t be able to step inside again… Do not hold back in the least, and use up your all profound strength and will. In this last remaining time, decide your final rank and fate by yourselves.”

“Ha? Expelled from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm?” Xiao Mo was stupefied. Afterwards, he said angrily, “How the f*ck could they do this!? I can ignore not being able to enter the Eternal Heaven Pearl, but to think that they would even stop us from entering the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm! Why the hell did they not tell us so beforehand? I’d have not come if I knew about it! Who would’ve thought that such a big Eternal Heaven Divine Realm could be so stingy? Brother Yun, don’t you agree with… Brother Yun?”

As Xiao Mo was spouting curses in anger, he suddenly noticed that Yun Che hadn’t budged an inch, nor did he make a sound… Surprisingly, his back was shivering, only becoming more and more intense with each moment that ticked by. His hands were clenched so tightly that the area around their joints had turned deathly pale.