Against the Gods

Chapter 2095 - The Cold of Eternal Night

“Mythical items like this are mythical for a reason. It might have existed once or twice in the past, but now, it is probably extinct. If even High Priest Ling Xian could not find the crystal, how could Long Xi hope to...”

It was then he recalled that Long Xi had just retrieved an equally mythical Qilin Bone Spirit Orchid. In fact, she had already found four of the so-called Five Spirit Treasures. So, he amended himself and said, “Still, it is better to be safe than sorry. Keep a close eye on her, Chixin. If she actually finds the Primal Flame Crystal...”

“Do not worry, Dragon Lord. I understand.”

Rumble!

The air above the Ancestral Dragon Mountain Range suddenly churned, and space reverberated slightly.

The Dragon Lord and Long Chixin lifted their heads at once. Long Chixin exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “That’s... someone entered the Half God Realm! Wait... this presence is...”

“It’s Long Xi.” The Dragon Lord looked at the distant sky with an indescribably complicated look on her face.

Long Chixin’s pleasant surprise also faded into equal complexity.

The Dragon Lord asked a little distantly, “Has there been any dragon in the history of the Ancestral Dragons to enter the Divine Extinction Realm before a hundred years old, Chixin?”

“Never.” Long Chixin shook his head without hesitation.

It was far harder for a dragon to improve their cultivation than a human, but at the same time, their body, soul, and lifespan were much, much greater than any other race. That was why they were once the greatest of all races.

In the Abyss though, they were the only Beasts left due to abyssal dust. They were almost not much weaker than the Pure Land and the six Kingdoms of God, who were dominated by the humans.

The Dragon Lord let out a long sigh and muttered, “Long Xi has been reclusive and aloof since she was child. She is always alone, and she was never willing to accept even the smallest amount of resources. In the past few decades, she had to provide blood essence to Wangchu every month, and she spent most of her energy on finding the ‘Five Spirit Treasures’ I made up.”

“Despite this... despite it all... she still managed to enter the Divine Extinction Realm in less than a hundred years...”

She was a miracle daughter of dragons that even the Ancestral Dragons dared not dream possible. The only problem was that her background and origin were both unknown.

The Dragon Lord could not help but be impressed by this. However, his worry and panic outweighed the positive emotions.

Long Chixin knew what he was lamenting about. For the past few years, the Dragon Lord’s favorite sighs were, “If Long Xi is my descendant, I could die a million deaths and feel no regrets,” and “I would trade my life away to make Wangchu even a-tenth as good as Long Xi”...

Long Chixin said, “Regardless, this is a good outcome, Dragon Lord. Her dragon blood has surely undergone a drastic evolution now that she has entered the Divine Extinction Realm. The boost she can provide Wangchu will be much greater than before.”

The Dragon Lord was silent for a long time before he finally nodded. “You are correct. For the sake of Wangchu and the future of my Ancestral Dragons, we must do whatever we can to keep Long Xi with us for as long as possible. At the very least, she must stay until Wanghcu becomes a Half God.”

Rumble rumble rumble...

The storm of profound energy was unbelievably strong. It sounded like a million thunderclaps.

This was just the beginning of the breakthrough, and the commotion was already this strong. The Dragon Lord could not remember a single Ancestral Dragon’s breakthrough that could compare to Long Xi’s despite his long memory.

He suddenly felt a deep sense of unease.

What kind of parents could give birth to such a terrible, practically heretical half-human, half-dragon?

He quickly suppressed the emotion though.

If she really could rely on her parents, if her parents really were as powerful as he thought they were, she would not have to sacrifice her own blood essence just to exchange a place of peace.

“Maybe there is another option,” The Dragon Lord said slowly while perceiving the increasingly ridiculous phenomenon.

“The Pure Land Meet that will happen in three years is going to be a special one.”

His wizened eyes flickered with the light of hope. “The Abyssal Monarch has already located the spatial passage that will lead to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’. Fifty years later, when the four High Priests and the seven Divine Regents regain their strength, they will be able to activate the divine mirror and forge the passage to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’ once more.”

“The number of people the divine mirror can teleport each time is limited. The Pure Land Meet that will happen in three years may decide the first batch of people allowed to travel to the Eternal Pure Land.”

“Although the dragon race is humble, we will surely occupy at least one seat. If we can deliver Wangchu to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’, his growth would most likely not be stunted by the cruel obstacles of the Abyss. Perhaps in that world called the Eternal Pure Land, given enough time and generations, the Ancestral Dragons can once again rise above all the races and become the sovereigns of all.”

Long Chixin nodded heavily. “Your ambitions will come true, Dragon Lord.”

“Go to Wangchu,” the Dragon Lord commanded. “Long Xi’s breakthrough will surely be a huge blow to his psyche.”

He felt powerless even as he said these words. He knew better than anyone just how unworthy this descendant of his was, and yet... he was the only young direct descendant they had left.

“You must remind him again that he is not to reveal the matter regarding Long Xi’s blood essence. Sigh.”

He knew how ugly his actions were even without the lie. The fact that Long Xi traded her actual blood essence for a completely fabricated lie... even if it was for the future of the Ancestral Dragon, he knew just how bad the dragons’ reputation would suffer if the incident were to be exposed.

“I understand.” Long Chixin received his order.

......

Deep within the Endless Fog where not a ray of light could be found.

The Fog Monarch made a grabbing motion and dispelled a curtain of darkness so thick it might as well be tangible.

After Calamity and Misfortune was canceled, the circulation of darkness throughout Pan Buwang’s body immediately slowed. At the same time, the erosion and suppression of abyssal dust surged forward and drove an already exhausted Pan Buwang to one knee. He panted heavily.

“Mas... ter...”

He barely cried out just in time for an attraction force to pull him toward the Fog Monarch.

Pan Buwang did not dare to resist. He could only watch as a hand covered in abyssal dust gripped his skull.

BUZZ——

Black explosion erupted before his eyes and inside his soul sea. He felt as if he was plummeting into a devilish, dark abyss with no bottom.

He kept falling and drowning in absolute darkness until a terrible pain washed over his body, and he found himself before tossed away like a piece of garbage.

“Ah...”

He shook his head and struggled to stand. Then, he froze and stared dumbly at his hands.

His perception of dark energy had grown clearer. The dark profound light running around his fingers especially was so tame he almost couldn’t believe his spiritual perception.

Whatever that plummet just now was, it had transformed him completely yet again.

Pan Buwang was struggling to stand, but he dropped back to his knees and said raspily, “Thank you, master.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

An abyssal beast emitting the aura of a Divine Extinction Realm arrived next to the Fog Monarch.

He tossed a large abyssal crystal to Pan Buwang before rasping coldly, “You have an hour to recover. One hour from now, this abyssal beast will attack you with the intention to kill. It\'s at the same level as you, but at this depth, the one at an absolute disadvantage is you.”

As the Fog Monarch turned and walked away, he said mercilessly, “If you are dead by this time tomorrow, then you are a worthless piece of garbage. But if you are still alive, then I will mutate your dark profound arts so that no other dark profound practitioner in this Abyss, at your cultivation level, is your match.”

“Do not disappoint me!”

As the Fog Monarch’s back grew blurrier, Pan Buwang ground out, “Ten days ago, I was ready to die. Today... no one can stop my vengeance! No one!”

Despair could extinguish one’s will to live, but hope could awaken the beast in one’s soul... the Fog Monarch knew this well.”

.......

Dreamweaver Kingdom of God, Divine Son Palace.

Yun Che had just stepped out of his cultivation space when Liu Zhanyi hurried over to his side. “Young master, Divine Son Xi is visi... excuse me, I mean Divine Son Xi is requesting a meeting with you. He has been waiting for six hours.”

“Understood. I will meet him right now.”

As soon as Meng Jianxi saw Yun Che, he immediately shot to his feet with a bit of discomfort and awkwardness on his face.

“Divine Son Yuan...”

“Hmm?” Yun Che raised a hand. “There is only one Divine Son in this kingdom, and that’s you. Another person may call me Divine Son Yuan because they’re trying to flatter me, but you don’t need to do this.”

Meng Jianxi did not insist. “Very well. I will address you as Brother Yuan then. Is that fine?”

“It sounds better than Divine Son Yuan, that’s for sure.” Yun Che did not force him to address him as Yun Che. After sitting opposite him, he asked casually, “So, why have you come today?”

Meng Jianxi took a second to calm himself before starting, “The incident regarding the Divine Jade of Revelation has subsided completely, the blame has been pinned to Jianze as much as possible, and I have publicly confessed my failure to control my subordinate. However...”

He closed his eyes as if he didn’t dare to see Yun Che’s face. “My Mother... she is my Mother... I...”

“Tell me, did Meng Jianyuan’s tragedy a century ago have anything to do with your Mother?” Yun Che asked suddenly.

Of course, Yun Che knew better than anyone that the ones who truly killed Meng Jianyuan were Meng Jingzhe and Meng Jinzhou. Even if Meng Xuanjue was involved, she was at best the seductress who whispered black words into her sons’ ears, or the devil who lent them the blade.

“Yes.” To Yun Che’s slight surprise, Meng Jianxi admitted to this directly and almost without any hesitation whatsoever.

He must have made up his mind and resolved himself before showing up today.

“Mother is at best a hidden supporter. The ones who took action were my brother Jianzhou and his protector, Meng Jingzhe. Meng Jingzhe and Jianzhou encountered their deaths in the Endless Fog half a year ago, so one might say that they have received the justice and punishment they deserve. Of course, that doesn’t absolve my Mother of her crimes, but... she ultimately didn’t take action herself, and you did return safely, so... it is not deserving of the death penalty, I think.”

Yun Che thought for a brief moment before asking, “Have you spoken about this with your Father?”

“No.” Meng Jianxi shook his head.

Yun Che narrowed his eyes slightly. “The incident happened so far ago that forget any evidence, any traces of it have long faded into nothing. No one can punish your Mother as long as she denies all accusations.”

“In fact, I’m certain that the Divine Regent has suspected your Mother since a long time ago, but he is not in the habit of accusing anyone without concrete evidence, much less taking action. So why are you admitting this to me?”

Meng Jianxi looked up and met Yun Che’s eyes directly. “Because I am certain that I can bring you enough value... to wipe out my Mother’s transgressions against you!”

Yun Che smiled. “A great answer. No wonder you were able to recruit six of the nine Dream Halls into your clique in just a hundred years.”

Meng Jianxi relaxed considerably. “So, you promise to let my Mother go, Brother Yuan?”

“That depends on you, not me.” Yun Che had no idea that Meng Jianxi would be so protective of his mother until now.

Yun Che’s ambiguous answer did not disappoint Meng Jianxi. In fact, he looked almost impressed. “As expected of you, Brother Yuan... To be honest, had you answered yes or no, I would have been disappointed with you. It looks like it wasn’t just a stroke of bad luck that my spirit was completely crushed for the past couple days after all.”

“Hmm?” Yun Che side-eyed him for an instant before snorting. “Save that kind of nonsense for another person. I asked you to sort out your intelligence network some time ago. Have you done so?”

Meng Jianxi replied seriously, “The Xuanji Hall, the seventh Dream Hall managed by my uncle Meng Xuanji, is the hall mainly responsible for intelligence. They usually synchronize whatever intelligence they collected with me at first notice. From now on, that privilege will extend to you as well.”

“What do you know about the current Divine Daughter of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God?” Yun Che asked.

At this point, he knew a little about all Divine Children of every Kingdom of God except the Eternal Night Kingdom of God. In fact, the only thing he knew about her was her name, Shen Wuyi.

Hua Caili had described to him in great detail regarding every other Kingdom of God except the Eternal Night Kingdom of God. It was because she had never gone there in person or seen Shen Wuyi before.

“Almost nothing.” Meng Jianxi gave him a succinct and undesirable answer.

“Describe,” Yun Che ordered with a deep frown.

Meng Jianxi thought for a moment before answering, “It had been over a decade since the Eternal Night Kingdom of God abolished Shen Wuqing and made Shen Wuyi the Eternal Night Divine Daughter. However, no one outside of those living in the Eternal Night Kingdom of God has seen her.”

Yun Che was surprised. “She’s that well hidden?”

“That’s right.” Meng Jianxi nodded. “It’s not because the Eternal Night Kingdom of God is intentionally hiding their newly appointed Divine Daughter though. It’s the fact that the Eternal Night Kingdom of God has been in isolation all these years.”

He took another moment to compose his words before continuing, “The previous generation of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God wasn’t called Eternal Night. In fact, it shared a good relationship with every other Kingdom of God. But after Shenwu Yanye became the Divine Regent, the entire kingdom was turned upside down. It is as if the entire kingdom has fallen into a gloomy ‘eternal night.’”

“Let’s talk about intelligence first. It\'s not difficult to plant spies in any other Kingdom of God, but the Eternal Night Kingdom of God... even if we somehow succeeded, they would never be able to get any important information or approach the heart of their system.”

“It’s because...” Meng Jianxi paused as if he needed a moment to process the fear he was feeling. “The Lightless Divine Regent does not trust anyone. All core profound practitioners of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God are planted with the ‘Eternal Night Death Wishing Mark’.”

On the inside, Yun Che shuddered uncontrollably the second he heard the term “Death Wishing Mark”.

The trauma inflicted by Qianye Ying’er’s Brahma Soul Death Wishing Mark was that bad. To this day, he wasn’t able to break free from its shadow completely.

It was obvious that this “Eternal Night Death Wishing Mark” was something similar.

“The ‘Eternal Night Death Wishing Mark’ is an exceedingly cruel flesh-and-bone mark that will subject someone to such immense pain that they would rather die, except they can not.” Meng Jianxi lowered his voice unconsciously. “The Dreamless Divine Regent does not believe in loyalty, so she used absolute control and fear to obtain her ‘loyalty’ instead.”

Wait, a flesh-and-blood mark? That’s not a soul mark like the Brahma Soul Death Wishing Mark.