Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Ever since the Southern Sea God Realm’s destruction and the devils’ invasion of the Southern Divine Region, the normally peaceful Seven Star Realm had been slowly becoming more lawless and violent.

Even though the skies were merely shrouded in darkness and a true calamity had yet to strike, panic had caused the ugly side of human nature to rear its head once more.

People who had fallen into madness and evil were slowly dismantling law and order in the realm. As a result, panic and crime began to spread through the world like a pandemic, causing society to degrade even more quickly… It would eventually collapse if this continued.

During this grim period, seven criminals had been using their strength to slaughter all the weak profound practitioners in this area. They had hunted them down like seven flesh-starved wolves. Perhaps they were trying to accumulate enough resources to flee to the distant Western Divine Region, or perhaps they were simply taking advantage of the chaos to give vent to all the unspeakable desires that had festered in their dark hearts.

After all, even king realms had bent the knee to these devils, so why did they have to continue maintaining this facade of justice and righteousness.

However, this band of villains had chosen the wrong “target” today.

During an evening that seemed much more desolate and quiet than most evenings, a woman slowly walked out of the gloom.

She was dressed in a simple light cyan robe and its sleeves were made of a silky translucent material which seemed to teasingly reveal tantalizing glimpses of her fair and translucent arms. The aqua-colored cloth belt around her waist rustled seductively as she moved gracefully forward.

Her face was so beautiful that even the bright moon and stars paled in comparison to it. Her skin was as white as snow, her features seemed to be carved from the finest jade, and her beautiful eyes were as clear as pools of pure water.

Her simple clothes, unthreatening and unassuming appearance, and the traces of both sorrow and fragility in her beautiful eyes made her seem like a perfect target. However, there was an ineffable nobility faintly radiating from her in spite of all of these things… a nobility that a tiny star realm like this couldn’t possibly produce.

She was currently carrying a little girl that looked to be about eight or nine years old in her slender arms. The little girl looked similar to her and her powdery jade-like face was extremely adorable. She tightly clung to the older girl and it was almost as if she was snuggled up in her own world.

The seven wicked wolves who had been quietly waiting for their prey fell into a long period of dazed silence as this unearthly celestial maiden, a beauty the likes of which had only ever appeared in their dreams, suddenly descended to earth in front of them. By the time they had come to their senses and rushed out to surround her, all thoughts of profound crystals had been banished from their minds. Only their wild and wicked desires remained, and they looked as if they couldn’t wait to ravish and soil the ephemeral beauty in front of them.

The young girl was neither flustered nor panicked , she merely flicked her jade-like fingers gently in the air. The seven villains cried out softly as all of them slumped to the ground, but none of them had died. The beautiful maiden was not willing to take any lives in front of her little sister.

Even though she only used the briefest hint of her strength in that exceedingly short instant, what had surged out of her fingers was the power of a Divine Master!

“Big Sister, why have there been so many bad guys appearing lately?” asked the little girl. There wasn’t a single trace of fear in her eyes and it was obvious that this wasn’t the first time she had been in such a situation.

The cyan-robed girl shook her head and replied in a gentle voice, “There have always been many bad people in this universe. However, there’s no need for Wei’er to worry, there’s no one who can harm us here.”

“Yeah!” The little girl nodded her head vigorously as she turned to show her sister the brightest smile. “No matter how many bad guys there are, they won’t be able to beat Big Sister! I’m not afraid!”

“That’s right, yesterday I saw Grandfather preparing the profound ark and I even heard Father say that we were going to take a vacation in the lower realms for a while. Is that true?”

“Oh, it looks like you already found out,” the cyan-robed girl said in a gentle voice. “Wei’er, don’t worry. No matter where we go, I’ll always…”

Everything suddenly went dark.

The expression on the cyan-robed girl’s face dramatically changed as a huge amount of terror surged into her widening eyes. She gave the Wei’er, whom she had been holding onto, a forceful shove as she shouted in fear, “Wei’er, hurry up and run… Hurry up and run!”

The little girl was pushed very far away and she tumbled along the ground until she finally came to a stop. She had turned to stare at her ashen-faced sister in dazed puzzlement when a man radiating a cold and dark aura suddenly appeared in front of them. A black-robed girl had also appeared right beside him.

As the light continued to fade, the entire world seemed to shrink away and curl up in fear of this man’s stiflingly dreadful aura.

“Young… Master… Yun…” The girl in cyan robes gasped out his name as if she was stuck in a dream… Perhaps it was half a nightmare as well.

“Jin Yue,” Yun Che said the cyan-robed girl’s name in a cold and dry voice. The most dangerous smile in the entire universe slowly appeared on his face, “To think that I would meet you in such a place, and in good health as well. This truly is a rather pleasant surprise.”

Those chilling words brought her back to cold, cruel reality… The man in front of her had long since ceased to be the Young Master Yun of the past, whose gentle eyes caused her heart to secretly race. He was now the Devil Master of the North, the man who had destroyed the entire Moon God Realm and scattered her family to the winds. The man who had killed the Moon God Emperor and plunged the entire God Realm into terror and darkness.

Both her eyes and her body trembled uncontrollably as she rushed in front of the dazed girl who was staring blankly at them. She wrapped her ice-cold arms tightly around the little girl as she begged Yun Che in a heart-rending voice. “Devil Master, she’s only a child. Please… Please let her leave. You won’t even have to trouble yourself with me… because I’ll kill myself once she leaves.”

The edge of Yun Che’s lips curled up into a cruel and sinister smile. He raised his right hand and a cluster of black mist swirled into life in the palm of his hand. After that, he said one soul-piercingly cold word. “Die.”

Jin Yue, Lian Yue, and Yao Yue had been the three personal maidservants of the Moon God Emperor Xia Qingyue. Among the three of them, Jin Yue was the one who had been closest to her.

He had personally witnessed the destruction of the entire Moon God Realm. The power that had ripped it apart was something that only a Moon God might be able to flee from, so how had Jin Yue, a mid-stage Divine Master, managed to survive that?

Unless she had not been in the Moon God Realm at the time!

Whatever it was, the reason is no longer important! Now that I’ve met her, I just need to kill her!

His hatred toward Xia Qingyue and the Moon God Realm knew no bounds, so how could he spare Jin Yue, the person who had received most of Xia Qingyue’s love?

Even if this girl had left the best of impressions on him before his fateful transformation.

“No! Don’t!” Jin Yue hugged her sister even tighter in fear as she sank to her knees and knelt before Yun Che. A hazy mist filled her eyes as she said, “The Devil Master can do whatever her wishes to Jin Yue… but I beg that you let off my little sister. She’s only an innocent child who doesn’t know anything. I beg the Devil Master…”

“Innocent?”

Jin Yue’s sorrowful pleading didn’t lessen Yun Che’s malice by a single iota. On the contrary, it actually caused his face to warp in hatred and anger. When he spoke again, his voice had turned even darker and colder. “How dare you use that word in front of me? Your family is innocent… but my family… deserved to die!?”

Jin Yue was left completely speechless by those words.

At this time, the little girl in her arms suddenly showed an alarming amount of strength as she struggled free from Jin Yue’s embrace and leapt in front of her. After that, she spread her arms wide and blocked Yun Che’s way as she yelled, “Bad guy… Don’t hurt my sister… Don’t hurt my sister!!”

The little girl’s body was shaking violently in fear, but her tear-filled eyes were filled with a stubborn determination.

Emotion throbbed in Yun Che’s heart for a fraction of a second… but it only lasted for that tiny instant.

Bang!

A deft blow landed on the back of the girl’s neck, causing her vision to go completely black. After that, she collapsed silently back into Jin Yue’s arms.

As she quietly and carefully infused all of her power into the little girl’s body, Jin Yue made one final plea. “Devil Master, as long as you’re willing to spare Wei’er, Jin Yue is willing… to be your slave for all of my lifetimes…”

Yun Che was no longer willing to listen to these words. Instead, he stretched his hand wide as darkness began to howl around him.

Jin Yue was a mid-level Divine Master after all, so Yun Che would have to expend a bit of energy to kill her.

“Big Brother Yun Che!”

The hand which had started to glow with black profound light was suddenly seized by Shui Meiyin. Yun Che glanced to the side and looked into Shui Meiyin’s shimmery eyes.

“Can you spare them? Please?” she asked in a soft and gentle voice.

“...” Yun Che hesitated for a brief moment before saying, “You know that you have to pull trouble up by the roots to prevent it from coming back to haunt you in the future. What’s more, she’s no ordinary survivor of the Moon God Realm.”

Jin Yue was stunned by this turn of events, she could scarcely believe what she was witnessing right now. There was no reason for Shui Meiyin to intervene on her behalf… Her father Shui Qianheng had been personally crippled by the Moon God Emperor and she herself had been imprisoned at the bottom of the Moon God Realm’s Moon Prison for many years.

She should also be someone who deeply hated the Moon God Emperor and the Moon God Realm.

“I know.” The light in Shui Meiyin’s liquid eyes wavered for an instant, and they rippled like water that was being stirred up by strong winds. “But in truth, Big Sister Jin Yue is no longer a member of the Moon God Realm. The reason she is completely safe and sound in spite of the Moon God Realm’s destruction is because she was banished from the Moon God Realm by the Moon God Emperor.”

“She was not only banished from Xia Qingyue’s side, even her entire clan was expelled from the Moon God Realm.”

“...” Jin Yue turned to stare at Shui Meiyin, a dumbfounded expression on her face.

Why did she… know about this?

“Hmmm? Such a thing actually happened?” Yun Che’s eyebrows twitched as he shot a sidelong glance toward Jin Yue. He smirked and said, “Didn’t the Moon God Emperor value you the most out of all of her subjects? She would actually banish your entire clan from the Moon God Realm? Tell me. What sort of delightful thing did you do to her to make her respond in such a way?”

Yun Che’s words instantly stirred up those most painful memories in her heart… The Moon God Emperor’s cold and apathetic eyes, her cold and cutting words, and that slap which pierced her to her very soul...

Being Xia Qingyue’s personal maidservant had been the pride and glory of her life. During those years, her respect and reverence for Xia Qingyue even exceeded all the other convictions in her heart. She was willing to serve under her for her entire life and she wouldn’t even hesitate to sacrifice her life at any given moment for her.

But...

As she shook her head in pain, Jin Yue whispered, “It was a misunderstanding… I didn’t do anything that would let Master down… I never have.”

Even now that it had come to this, her heart simply wouldn’t allow her to do anything that would hurt the Moon God Emperor.

“A misunderstanding? That really sounds like such a pity,” Yun Che said with a cold laugh. The dark light in his hand started to gather again. “Since that’s the case, then you should go down to hell to find her and clear your name!”

“Ah! Don’t!”

Shui Meiyin grabbed his hand once again and shook her head very forcefully. A hint of pleading had crept into her starry eyes.

To the current Yun Che, Shui Meiyin’s heartfelt plea was undoubtedly the one thing in the world that he couldn’t reject.

Yun Che replied in a rather puzzled voice, “Meiyin, your father was crippled by Xia Qingyue and you were imprisoned in the Moon God Realm’s Moon Prison for so many years. Why are you trying so hard to protect her?”

Shui Meiyin definitely wasn’t someone who was naive and unversed in the ways of the world. She also wasn’t some kind of saint who overflowed with mercy. On the contrary, she was far too cunning and clever… which was why her current actions had absolutely stunned Yun Che.”

Shui Meiyin gently bit down on her bottom lip before she looked at him with those watery eyes and said, “During the time I was imprisoned in the Moon God Realm, Big Sister Jin Yue was always very good to me. So, I… really like her.”

“...” Yun Che shot her an incredulous look.

Just because of that!?

However, what Yun Che was unaware of was that the shock in Jin Yue’s heart far exceeded his own right now.

When Shui Meiyin came to the Moon God Realm, she had been imprisoned in the lowest layer of the Moon Prison and on the very first day she had arrived, Xia Qingyue had given the stern command that no one was to approach Shui Meiyin without her express permission.

As the person closest to Xia Qingyue, Jin Yue had only gone to the bottom of the Moon Prison twice during those years and both times had been on Xia Qingyue’s command. Furthermore, she had always been slavishly obedient to Xia Qingyue’s commands, so she wouldn’t do anything other than what was explicitly ordered of her. As such, she had not even spoken to Shui Meiyin once during either of those visits.

Therefore, the words “been very good to her” had no basis in reality whatsoever.

She could only quietly and fervently thank Shui Meiyin’s kind compassion in her heart.

“Furthermore, have you forgotten one thing, Big Brother Yun Che? My Divine Stainless Soul can look into a person’s soul to a certain extent and determine whether they are good or wicked. I can guarantee that all of her thoughts are directed towards her family right now. She definitely won’t become a problem that Big Brother Yun Che will need to worry about in the future.”

Shui Meiyin’s starry eyes curved slightly as she laughed. “A person who can throw away her life to protect her sister’s at a moment’s notice will value peace and tranquility above all else. How could she possibly become some kind of future ‘plague’? Moreover…”

She tightly grasped Yun Che’s hand before she looked at Jin Yue and said, “Big Sister Jin Yue is a very kind and wonderful person. I believe that Big Brother Yun Che knows this better than most, right?”

Even though the black profound light in his hand had not dissipated, the killing intent in his eyes had.

He was no longer the soft-hearted and compassionate person he had once been. In fact, he bore incredible hatred and resentment toward his previous kindness and compassion.

This was purely the result of Shui Meiyin’s earnest pleading.

“Fine.” His killing intent had completely dissipated, but he continued to stretch out the hand that was glowing with black profound light. “I won’t kill you today. I’ll only cripple your profound strength. You should be grateful for that!”

“Stop! Stop! STOP!!!”

Shui Meiyin grabbed his arm once more. She shook that arm vigorously as she said in a coquettish voice, “Since you’ve decided to spare her, then you should do it all the way! Big Sister Jin Yue is so pretty! If you cripple her profound strength, she’s gonna… be bullied everywhere she goes!”

To become the personal attendant of the Moon God Emperor, a person needed to not only have exceedingly high strength and talent, they also needed to be good-looking enough to topple a city. As such, Jin Yue was definitely beautiful enough to drive most realm kings crazy.

If she was stripped of the power that allowed her to reign over most of creation, her unearthly beauty would definitely become a nightmare for her in the future.

“Sigh.” Yun Che gave a deliberately heavy and helpless sigh. The dark light in his eyes had completely vanished and he suddenly raised a hand to gently pinch Shui Meiyin’s tender and adorable face. “Why are you being so wilful today? Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Then… can Big Brother Yunn Che allow me to be wilful just one more time?” Shui Meiyin said as she raised his other hand to her face. Her fairy-like voice trembled as her eyes misted over.

“What else can I do?” Yun Che said with a helpless laugh. “If I wreck my precious Meiyin’s mood just because of some wretches who were expelled from the Moon God Realm, wouldn’t I be simply shooting myself in the foot?”

“Heehee.” Shui Meiyin’s eyes narrowed in delight as a musical laugh escaped from her throat. Her smile was cloyingly sweet and satisfied and there were even tears shimmering in her eyes.

He had been so cold and malicious to Jin Yue, but he was always so kind and tender to her… Just this moment alone made her wish that she could melt into him forever and ever.

The shock and fear in Jin Yue’s eyes had yet to dissipate, but the tension had already started to bleed out of her delicate body. She could scarcely bring herself to believe that she would actually be able to leave safe and sound with Wei’er.

“But!” Yun Che’s voice suddenly turned cold and dark as he turned to look at Jin Yue. “No matter what her current status is, no matter what circumstances she had, no matter what she’s thinking today, she used to be someone who stood by Xia Qingyue’s side, so there is no way I’m just going to let her off like this.”

“She still… has to pay!”

As he finished speaking, Yun Che’s hand suddenly arched into a claw as he thrust it forward. A gale wind shot toward Jin Yue.

“Aaaah…”

Jin Yue gave a frightened cry, but she did not dare to resist. She only managed to push away her little sister in time before her body was caught up in the wind and dragged toward Yun Che.

Yun Che’s fingers curled up slightly as he cruelly grasped Jin Yue’s snowy neck. Once he had a firm grasp of her smooth flesh, power surged from his hand...

Rip!

Jin Yue’s outer and inner garments instantly disintegrated into dust

Her flawless and satiny skin, which was as white as snow, was bared for all the world to see.