Against the Gods

Chapter 1953 - Maximum God Ash

The eighteen Southern Sea divine origins—each one a priceless treasure that could’ve been used to nurture powerful Sea Gods and Sea Kings—shone like eighteen supernovas before entering Yun Che’s body.

Chi Wuyao and the others had evacuated the battlefield at top speed, but they weren’t so far away that they couldn’t see the battle.

Her pupils contracted into the points of needles as eighteen golden stars became reflected in her eyes.

“Eighteen…” She whispered to herself. Even for a mind like hers, she couldn’t help but fall into a daze.

Just sixteen days ago, he could only control four Southern Sea divine origins at most. How in the…?

Shui Meiyin helpfully supplied the answer, “He spent a month training in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm with the hopes of controlling at least ten divine origins by the end of the month. However, he himself had underestimated the latent changes in his body the past few years."

“By the time we left the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, he was able to control all eighteen Southern Sea divine origins simultaneously.”

“According to him, he should be able to maintain his power for over thirty breaths now.”

“Thirty breaths…” The revelation did not soothe Chi Wuyao in the slightest, however. “So what? Even if he could maintain that form for ten times longer, there’s still…”

Chi Wuyao’s worry was spot on. Even if Yun Che could sustain God Ash for a hundred times longer than the expected thirty breaths, he still wouldn't be able to finish off a Half-God in that time.

“Big brother Yun Che knows what he’s doing.” Shui Meiyin’s voice flowed through everyone’s minds like the purest spring as she stared at that distant back. “I’m sure he will create a miracle just like all the other times.”

“And on the off chance he doesn’t… then it is our duty to witness his final light.”

Sixteen days ago, Mo Beichen had perceived Yun Che’s Half-God aura from a distance.

If he hadn’t figured out what the divine origins did for Yun Che before, he was definitely going to find out now.

That was why Yun Che gave Mo Beichen no chance to react and activated all available Heretic God gates at the same time.

Evil Soul—Burning Heart—Purgatory—Rumbling Heaven—Hell Monarch—

God Ash!!

RUMBLE—

When God Ash came online, the power rampaging throughout Yun Che’s body was, without exaggeration, a power that the universe itself could not withstand.

The expansion of aura was so explosive that all space within five thousand kilometers of him cracked like broken glass. The space closest to him was literally splintered layer by layer.

“UWAH!!”

The bloodcurdling scream came from Qi Tianli.

He was the closest Divine Master to Yun Che, so the terrifying blast had slammed into the front part of his body with the full force of a meteor. It contorted his face, his torso and his limbs in an instant and sent him flying far, far away into the distant sky.

On the ground, the profound practitioners who failed to get out of the way in time also suffered the same treatment.

Countless screams filled the air as these powerful Divine Sovereigns and Divine Masters were sent ten, a hundred, a thousand kilometers away from ground zero…

They were as powerless as yellow leaves against a tornado.

In just the blink of an eye, Yun Che and Mo Beichen were the only ones left in the area.

The energy blast had left a fine mist of blood in the air, but even that was annihilated in the next moment.

“...” Mo Beichen slowly looked up. His eyes were now shining with a light unlike anything he had ever displayed up until this point.

“Uu… ublurgh…”

“Cough cough cough cough…”

Countless bodies were still rolling unceremoniously across ground or air. Painful groans resounded from every direction.

Cang Shitian rolled for a long time before he was able to catch himself and climb back to his feet. He spat out a wad of rock, soil and blood before setting his eyes on the distant Yun Che once more. He paid no attention to anyone else.

The terrifying aura emanating from Yun Che neither shocked nor frightened him, but for some reason, his facial features were contorting as if a dozen of invisible hands were pulling violently at the muscles.

As for his eyes, they were shining a manic gleam that was even scarier than a berserk, mindless beast.

“Is… Is…”

“Is that… Emperor Yun?”

Nearly everyone had sustained varying degrees of injuries. The Divine Sovereigns especially had suffered broken limbs, crushed bones, and even ruptured internal organs. However, not one person bothered to look after their own injuries. Half-kneeling or lying on the ground, they all stared blankly at the sky while their eyeballs, hearts, hands, and even their souls shook like a drum.

Without exaggeration, the shock they felt was powerful enough to crush minds and shatter souls.

Emperor Yun was the man who conquered all four Divine Regions and ruled the entire cosmos. There wasn’t a single person who doubted that he was powerful beyond their imagination.

During the war against the Western Divine Region, Emperor Yun had showcased exactly how unimaginable he was to the entire world. He was so powerful that he had crushed the Dragon Monarch, the former champion whose power had gone unchallenged for hundreds of thousands of years, like he was nothing.

But this? They could dream a thousand dreams, and they still wouldn’t believe that Yun Che was capable of this level of power.

“Ugh…” Qi Tianli groaned as he sat limply on the ground. The aura hit him the hardest of all the people, but he was the Qilin Emperor. Naturally, his injuries weren’t too severe.

He looked like he had dropped his soul somewhere during the tumble though. For a long, long time, he just stared blankly at the distance in this undignified posture.

Meanwhile, Huo Poyun hurried toward Yan Wancang, Yan Juehai, and Huo Rulie and drew them to himself. Then, he aided them in suppressing their injuries and quelling the turmoil within their bodies.

“Are you… okay, Poyun?” Huo Rulie groaned out the question while clutching his chest. His eyes were fully focused on the sky.

“Mm. Don’t worry, master. I’m completely fine,” Huo Poyun answered.

He was perfectly unharmed.

When Yun Che had activated God Ash, Mo Beichen had conjured a protective shield around him and pushed him away.

After confirming that the sect masters were okay, Huo Poyun looked up and stared at Yun Che as well. But unlike the others, his expression could only be described as unnaturally calm.

Zzt~~

Zzzzt~~

Sshred!

Twisted spatial rifts littered the sky like unending, pitch black lightning bolts.

The earth looked like it had been sliced clean through by a sharp blade.

The gray sky was falling. From time to time, it would emit dull grumblings that sounded like furious roars or terrified groans.

Mo Beichen’s long hair was whipped up by the wind. His eyes had narrowed into two long, narrow slits, and his lips had curled into a smile of astonishment and amusement. The one emotion missing from his expression… was fear.

So this is the power derived from the dual inheritance of the Creation God of Elements and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor…

Splendid! Truly splendid!

This has to be His Majesty’s greatest opportunity to achieve grandness, and… the gift and compensation for everything I have suffered until now.

The Abyssal Knight extended an arm and made a grabbing motion toward Yun Che’s neck. He was reminding Yun Che of the time he had held him by the neck. “You are the bearer of many ancient inheritances, but clearly that isn’t enough to change your humble roots. You will never understand just how ignorant and foolish you truly are.”

“You don’t actually think that you can defeat me just because you—”

Devilish energy filled the sky before he could finish.

The next moment, a blade wreathed in the darkest black, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword obliterated all light and descended toward Mo Beichen’s head.

Assuming the best case scenario, Yun Che could only maintain this form for thirty or so breaths. Moreover, he would not be able to reproduce this power after the Southern Sea divine origins had disintegrated.

Of course he wasn’t going to waste even a second on it.

There was zero chance he could defeat Mo Beichen. A stalemate was the last thing he had in mind. His goal was to plunge the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword into his body before he ran out of power!

One time was enough!

No cost was unacceptable!

The only reason Mo Beichen even got in one and a half sentences before was because Yun Che needed some time to adjust and concentrate the raging power within him.

As for his opening move… he went all out from the get go!

The two times he had activated God Ash—the first time was to obliterate Fen Daojun at the Northern Divine Region, and the second time was to slaughter Nan Zhaoguang and Nan Zhaoming half a month ago—he had not gone all out. It was because the amount of power he used was proportional to the load and rebound he suffered. The duration of the divine origins would shorten as well.

This meant that this was the first time he went all out while in God Ash form. Even as the Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity blazed the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword, he could feel hundreds of cracks splitting across his body with sickening clarity.

He did not scream or convulse in pain, however. There was only the promise of boiling, and exploding brutality.

Mo Beichen leisurely raised a hand as Yun Che surged toward him. He was clearly planning to stop the attack in the most casual way he knew. However, his slightly slanted eyebrows twitched when the flame-wreathed blade got close to him.

When Yun Che activated God Ash half a month ago, Mo Beichen had picked up his aura all the way from the Western Divine Region. He continued to sense it up until the point he had the young man by the throat.

He would not deny that he was beyond surprised when he sensed Yun Che’s power. But that was it.

It was the power of a Half-God, but it wasn’t on par with his. Ergo, it was of no threat to him whatsoever. However, Yun Che’s power had never once conformed to common sense or natural laws.

It was the same even in a completely different world such as the Abyss.

Although Yun Che possessed both the strength and domain of a Half-God, it wasn’t because he was in the Divine Extinction Realm, not even close. Somehow, the young man had achieved the impossible with just a cultivation level of the Divine Sovereign Realm; a realm that was ten thousand heavenly chasms away from Divine Extinction Realm!

Sometimes, Yun Che himself did not know where his true limits lay.

That wasn’t all. The Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity was created from the Eternal Calamity of Darkness and the Crimson Flame. It was a power that was unique to Yun Che and completely beyond the recognition of the world!

Mo Beichen’s frown deepened when he realized that the pressure flying toward him far exceeded his initial expectation. When the devilish flame closed in, a burning sensation worse than anything he ever felt in his life pierced through flesh and blood and sank into his marrow.

It even caused his nerves to convulse uncontrollably.

So, the Abyssal Knight withdrew his arm at the last instant and pushed out with both hands. His power immediately transformed the space in front of him into a massive, terrifying void.

RUMBLE—

A million years since the godless era began, the world finally witnessed the clash between two Half-Gods.

Thousands of pupils contracted into the points of needles as the world was compressed far beyond its ability to withstand. The next moment, an explosion big enough to crush any star realm to smithereens consumed everyone’s senses.

At the center of the destructive explosion, Yun Che and Mo Beichen were inches away from each other.

Mo Beichen had paid for his arrogance. Not only did his hasty defense fail to knock Yun Che’s slash out of the way, his own domain was swiftly devoured by the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword. As a result, his arm made direct contact with the burning blade.

Mo Beichen’s arms shook, and he was forced to bend backward to absorb the force pressing down on him. This was not a problem for him—it was a little unsightly, but that was all—or at least that would have been the case, if not for the excruciating pain that instantly plunged him into the depths of purgatory.

His face warped into an unspeakable visage, and he managed to stop himself from screaming out in pain only because his willpower was that strong. Even so, there was no reason to endure the pain for any longer than was absolutely necessary, so he abruptly pulled back and dashed away from Yun Che, leaving a trail of shattered space in his wake.

Once he was a suitable distance away, he looked down at his arm and stared at the inch-long sear mark on it.

He could hardly believe that it was such a tiny wound that had inflicted so much pain that he nearly lost his mind.

A pair of cold flames lit up in Mo Beichen’s eyes as his gaze turned murderous. However, he didn’t even get the time to convey his knightly rage through his gaze before Yun Che’s blood-stained pupils were reflected in his soul.

The emperor gave Mo Beichen and himself no time to catch even a fraction of a breath as he brought down his sword a second time. The Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity seared Mo Beichen’s soul before it even got close to his body.

Sometimes an instant was all it took to inflict trauma upon someone, even if that someone was an Abyssal Knight.

Instead of facing the Devil Flame of Eternal Calamity head on, Mo Beichen plunged downward at the same time he unleashed a blast of energy at the incoming blade. The clash resulted in a twisting domain of destruction that greatly distorted the trajectory of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword.

That wasn’t all. His palms turned a shade of bronze as he gathered his profound energy. He then thrust his hands straight at Yun Che’s chest.

Yun Che did not pause for even an instant. He did not attempt to evade or block the blast that warped the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword’s trajectory for an instant. He ignored the Half-God attack that was flying toward his chest. He didn’t even bother to encase his body with any protective energy.

The only thing he wanted was to kill Mo Beichen at any cost!

This time, his blade wasn’t just wreathed in black flames. A pitch black wolf with a pair of abysses for eyes had appeared behind it.

Mo Beichen’s heart convulsed at the sight of it. It was because the second strike was somehow far stronger than the first strike.

In fact, it was a tad greater than his maximum output!

This was definitely going to hurt if he took it head on!

He was a proud and strong Abyssal Knight who was bestowed the title “Guardian”.

The people of this world do not deserve to wound him!

Once again, he canceled his attack midway and crossed his arms before his own chest. A strange, dark yellow barrier appeared in front of him.

BOOM—

The devilish flame that could devour heaven itself and the wolf howl loud enough to reach the edge of the cosmos dyed every man and woman’s eyes a stunning dark red.

For a moment, it felt as if the world had ended. Then, Mo Beichen plunged from the sky and hit a slope at impossible speed, digging a gorge five hundred kilometers long before he bounced back into the sky. He didn’t stop until he had flown at least dozens of kilometers.

His hair was messy, his silver armor was covered in dust, an indescribable rage burned within his eyes.

A trail of blood trickled down his lips.

The Abyssal Knight… was hurt!

Chiang!

A Southern Sea divine origin ceased shining forever and ever.

The blowback from the strike was so powerful that Yun Che himself temporarily lost his balance and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Before the blood in his throat was even dry though, he sped toward Mo Beichen again and executed a Destroying Sky Decimating Earth that encompassed everything within fifty kilometers.

RUMBLE!

The impact sounded like ten thousand thunders, and the sky became completely covered in dust. Once again, Mo Beichen was sent flying backward.

Far, far away, the profound practitioners of the entire God Realm felt as if they had plunged into the most ridiculous dream.

It was a level of power they could neither understand nor grasp…

But everyone with eyes could see…

That Mo Beichen, the Abyssal Knight who had plunged them into absolute despair, was being completely suppressed by Emperor Yun right now!