Against the Gods

Chapter 2091 - Fog Monarch’s Gift

“Ha... haha...” Pan Buwang laughed as if he just heard the funniest joke of the century. He was laughing at both the so-called Fog Monarch and most of all, himself. “You think I don’t want that...? I have dreamed it all... but I\'m just a discarded pawn, a useless piece of trash! I\'m so useless even my furious roars are just a source of amusement to others, so useless that I can only fulfill my desires in a dream...”

“You are a piece of trash.” The Fog Monarch gave his cold, indifferent evaluation. “But in my hands, even the most worthless piece of trash can become a king that overlooks all!”

As the terrifying voice descended, the Fog Monarch abruptly approached and stepped on Pan Buwang’s back where his heart was located with a right leg covered in thick abyssal dust.

“Ugh!” Pan Buwang groaned, but he couldn’t resist at all since his body and his profound energy were completely suppressed by the Abyssal Qilin God. Not that he wanted to. His initial struggle was just instinct, and he relaxed immediately after he realized—or at least he thought he realized—what was going to happen. His expression was painful, but there was no fear of death whatsoever.

It was at this moment a ball of absolute darkness erupted from the Fog Monarch. It surged through his right leg and into Pan Buwang.

Pan Buwang’s eyes immediately bulged like they would fall out of his eye sockets and turned pitch black. He felt as if a billion devilish blades were cutting him from the inside and subjecting him to death by a thousand cuts.

A painful, hoarse scream escaped his throat—but it only lasted for an instant. He immediately suppressed it until only the sound of his gritted, cracking teeth could be heard.

The Fog Monarch sneered. “Looks like this crippled soul is hiding some pretty tough bones.”

Pitch black profound light flashed from his person once more, and—

Bang!

Pan Buwang’s body abruptly cracked open, and several thick jets of blood shot out of his back.

Pain surpassing the limits of his soul caused Pan Buwang to crush all of his teeth to dust. At the same time, a ghastly, painful howl that sounded like it came from the most despairing ghoul escaped his throat.

Then, the Fog Monarch kicked him and sent him flying through the air.

The pressure on his back lessened considerably, and Pan Buwang struggled to his feet despite his tattered back and mouthful of blood. When he lifted his head to stare at the Fog Monarch though, he wasn’t wearing an expression of hatred or fear, but astonishment. Deep, unthinking astonishment. He stammered with clear disbelief, “Y-you... what did you do to me...?”

“I just forced a divine essence into your body, that’s all.” The silhouette hidden behind the gray fog casually said the most ludicrous and unbelievable thing in the world. “I also improved your compatibility with dark profound energy. You can feel it, can’t you?”

Pan Buwang wobbled and nearly fell back to the ground. He just barely caught himself before shaking his head in disbelief. “No... no... I really am dreaming... this can only be a dream...”

“As expected of a useless piece of trash. You can’t even believe what your body\'s telling you.” The Fog Monarch sneered before firing three dark spikes into the confused Pan Buwang.

Shred!

Pan Buwang turned white as a sheet as the dark spikes pierced his body and inflicted unimaginable pain upon his person. It also awakened his distorted, chaotic soul.

“Do you think a pitiful dream can hurt so bad?” The Fog Monarch stepped closer to Pan Buwang, and every time he took a step, the former Divine Son felt like his soul was heavier. “Tell me right now, Pan Buwang. Will you continue being a worthless piece of trash that even you are unwilling to rescue, or... will you take back everything you lost and take revenge for yourself, your mother, and your Wuqing!”

Pan Buwang looked up. The look in his eyes was so fiery, so savage, so maddened... and it was exactly what the Fog Monarch expected to see.

After all, he understood Pan Buwang’s feelings all too well.

Utter helplessness and hopelessness that burned his heart so that all that was left was ash.

If given even a ray of hope—much less a miracle like nothing the Abyss had ever seen—then he would rise from the ashes like a phoenix. No, a vengeful devil who would do anything to grasp it.

“Who are you? Who are you?!” He glared at the grayish fog in front of him, but try as he might, his spiritual perception could not touch the unknown figure behind the gray fog even a little.

He really had gained a new portion of divine essence. He now had ninety percent divine essence just like Pan Buzhuo.

His darkness profound energy really was much tamer than what it used to be.

As far as he knew, either boon should have been absolutely impossible. However, the impossible pain ravaging his soul even now told him that it wasn’t a dream.

“Fog Monarch.” The silhouette behind the grayish fog uttered like a true abyssal devil. “I have already told you. I am the Fog Monarch who rules the Endless Fog! I am also... the one true monarch of this world!”

Pan Buwang wiped away the bloodstains on his mouth and replied, “Who deserves to call themselves monarch when the Pure Land exists above? Who would dare?... Who are you? Why are you helping me? What is your goal?”

More than that, he wanted to know how this so-called “Fog Monarch” was able to forcefully awaken his divine essence and improve his compatibility with dark profound energy.

If news of this were to spread, he could not even imagine what kind of shockwaves would erupt from the six Kingdoms of God.

The Fog Monarch did not respond. He simply floated into the air and opened his arms.

The surrounding abyssal dust immediately thinned like the fog under the morning sun.

Pan Buwang stiffened immediately. His bloodshot eyes kept widening and widening until not a shred of white could be seen anywhere.

It was because he just saw the most horrifying scene of his life.

The first thing he saw after the abyssal dust dispersed was the legendary Ancestral Qilin God. It was standing obediently behind the Endless Fog like a pet dog. There was no mistaking what it was, however. It was gigantic like a mountain, and its eyes were flashing with terrifyingly dark light.

Behind the Ancestral Qilin God were several thousand pitch black silhouettes. They were all abyssal beasts. Their shadowy, glimmering coats were all he needed to see to know that they were alive and intact, but not a single one of them was succumbing to their natural destructive instincts. They were standing or sitting quietly behind the Fog Monarch, perfectly quiet and uniform.

“Lie down,” the Fog Monarch commanded.

Boom!

Several thousand booms overlapped one another until it sounded like the collapse of heaven and earth itself. However, it still didn’t amount to even one-ten-thousandth of the shock in Pan Buwang’s heart.

Every abyssal beast including the legendary Ancestral Qilin God had crouched at the Fog Monarch’s command. Their movements were perfectly uniform and unhesitating. Even their heads were touching the ground like humble subjects paying their respects to an absolute monarch.

“Ah... ah...” Pan Buwang’s eyeballs bulged, and his mouth widened into an O-shape. The incoherent sounds coming out of his mouth were raspy and trembling.

“Pan Buwang.”

The Fog Monarch spoke again, though this time, it felt like it came from a place far, far beyond the sky.

“Tell me. Who am I?”

“You...” Pan Buwang’s mouth opened instinctively. “You are... the Fog Monarch.”

The visual impact he just received was so absolute, so potent, that the words tumbled out of his mouth before he knew it.

He, a man who revered the Abyssal Monarch like no other, had addressed another person... as a monarch.

“Good.” The Fog Monarch gave him a short, succinct praise. “You are my chosen one. Now kneel and accept me as your master. Do this, and I shall grant you the power to claim vengeance.”

Pan Buwang’s face froze for only half an instant. Then, he dropped to his knees and shouted:

“The discarded son of Owl Butterfly, Pan Buwang, accepts the Fog Monarch as his master! Thank you for this gift, Fog Monarch... master!”

The Fog Monarch hummed. “Why didn’t you ask why you were chosen by me? Why didn’t you ask what kind of price you have to pay?”

Pan Buwang’s head hit the ground hard. When he looked up, the light of madness and violence in his eyes was practically blinding. “As long as you are willing to grant me the power to take revenge, Fog Monarch... no, master, then this body... this heart... this will... you may have everything!”

“Good. Remember what you said today!”

The Fog Monarch raised his hand and executed Calamity and Misfortune. In an instant, infinite darkness flooded in from every direction and devoured the last ray of light in this space. In just the span of a few breaths, this corner of the world had transformed into a devilish abyss of infinite dark.

“This is where you will be staying for the next three years!” The Fog Monarch’s voice came from the darkness. “I will improve your body’s compatibility with darkness and transform you into the most perfect son of darkness of them all. I will increase your talent with darkness to a level where even your father may never hope to reach!”

“Fuel yourself with obsession, desire, resistance, hatred... and push through the cultivation levels with all your might!”

“Three years from now, during the Pure Land meet, you must defeat Pan Buzhuo with your own two hands! You must return the humiliation he dealt you a thousand times over! You must show the world how stupid your father is and make him regret abandoning you from the bottom of his heart!”

“You must be strong so that your mother may rest in peace! You must be the most powerful version of yourself so that Shen Wuqing can witness an impossibly powerful Pan Buwang be it in life or death, not a worthless piece of trash even you couldn’t stand!”

“Do you understand!?”

Every word the Fog Monarch spoke struck the deepest parts of Pan Buwang’s heart and soul.

His hands were clenched so tightly that blood was bleeding through his fingers, and yet Pan Buwang couldn’t feel the slightest pain. There was only renewed spirit and faith as he shouted, “I will do it... I will!”

“If I am still alive, then I will take her away from her prison! If she is dead... then I will kill Shenwu Yanye and Shen Wuyi!”

The Fog Monarch lifted his hand and said, “Now, show me all of the profound arts you have practiced. Show me what kind of crude darkness energy the Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God wields!”

......

It was ten days later by the time Yun Che stepped out of his cultivation space.

“Do you really believe in Pan Buwang that much?” Li Suo asked worriedly. “If in the future, he becomes strong enough to retake his old position and even become the Owl Butterfly Divine Regent... there’s no way he would listen to you anymore, would he?”

Yun Che was wearing an enigmatic smile. “Before I came to the Abyss, Qi Tianli once told the Devil Queen that a single Mo Beichen was almost enough to bury the entire God Realm. If the Abyss were to descend in earnest, any struggle or resistance could only be futile.”

“He learned from Mo Beichen that the Abyssal Monarch was really a gentle and peace-loving man. He even advised the Devil Queen to give up without a struggle and welcome the Abyss, seeking co-existence.”

“The Devil Queen then gave him a reply that moved me greatly,” Yun Che whispered. “She said... that one must never surrender the initiative to another person.”

“So...” Li Suo seemed to understand what he was trying to say. “You’re saying that Pan Buwang has surrendered the initiative to you?”

The corners of Yun Che’s lips turned up slightly. “My gift is very expensive, you know? It is so expensive... that he may have to pay it back with the entire Owl Butterfly Kingdom of God!”

It was at this moment Liu Zhanyi sensed his presence and rushed over. She reported, “Young master, Prince Meng Jianze is requesting you to meet him at his residence. He said it’s to apologize to you and make up for the offense you received on the day of the conferral ceremony.”

“Is this a joke?” Yun Che scoffed. “He seeks to apologize to me, but he wants me to go to him instead of the other way around? Tell him to fuck off.”

Liu Zhanyi hurriedly explained, “It is not that he is unaware of the discourtesy, but because the Divine Regent has grounded him in his residence for half a year. That is why he has no choice but to invite you to him instead. He has been dispatching his servants to offer you this invitation every day, and each time his servants wait four whole hours before taking their leave.”

Liu Zhanyi then looked outside and said, “In fact, the servant Prince Jianze dispatched this time arrived just two hours ago. He is still waiting outside the palace.”

Yun Che waved his hand impatiently and said, “Tell him to—”

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and changed his tone, “Tell him that I will be paying his master a visit in two hours.”

Having said that, Yun Che went to the kitchen and produced a handful of passable-looking but delicious snacks. He then delivered it to the Dreamless Pavilion in person and earned a ton of affection points with Meng Kongchan.

After he was done “maintaining” their relationship, Yun Che finally made his way to Meng Jianze’s residence.

So, why was he doing this?

It was because Yun Che felt like the idiot was about to bring him a great gift.

Meng Jianze had received the news two hours ago and so had been waiting for him. As soon as Yun Che stepped inside, he immediately walked up to him with an obsequious smile on his face. “Jianze humbly welcomes Divine Son Yuan to his abode. I am most honored to receive Divine Son Yuan. This tiny residence is practically glittering because of your arrival.”

He looked completely different from the scornful arrogance he had a while ago. He even bent down a little to show obsequiousness as he greeted Yun Che.

Yun Che shot him a look and replied with a smile that did not reach his face, “On the day of the conferral ceremony, I openly rejected the title of Divine Son. To this day, Divine Son Jianxi remains the only Divine Son of the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God. You are Divine Son Jianxi’s most loyal dog, but you are addressing me, a man who even refused the surname Meng, as Divine Son? Aren\'t you worried that a rift would grow between you and your master?”

Although he was mentally prepared for this to happen, the corners of his eyes still twitched a little at the insult. Still, his smile did not fade as he said, “You may have rejected the title, Divine Son Yuan, but is there anyone in the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God, no, the entire Abyss who doesn’t know you as Divine Son Yuan?”

He wasn’t exaggerating. In just a matter of ten days, the news that a Godbearer with perfect divine essence had spread throughout the six Kingdoms of God once more. The Pure Land must have learned of the news immediately as well.

Compared to Yun Che, the current Dreamweaver Divine Son Meng Jianxi was so, so much less “worthy” it wasn’t even funny.

As soon as he finished, Meng Jianze saluted Yun Che as deeply and obsequiously as he could. “I had eyes, but couldn’t see that day. I have verbally offended you many times and even came close to injuring you during a moment of insanity. Although I have already received my rightful punishment from Father, I wasn’t able to apologize to you in person. As a result, I have been plagued by fear and anxiety all this time.”

Instead of lifting him up, Yun Che put on an innocent, harmless smile and asked, “Since you’re acting like this, I’m sure your apology isn’t only verbal. Have you prepared an apology gift as well?”

Meng Jianze was visibly surprised that Yun Che would ask such a question. Then, he hurriedly answered, “But of course! I am willing to do anything and pay any price to earn your forgiveness, Divine Son Yuan.”

He then turned sideways and made a welcoming gesture. “This way please, Divine Son Yuan. I promise to give you a pleasant surprise that will satisfy you.”