Against the Gods

Chapter 2115 - Right And Wrong

There weren’t many things about the universe that the Creation Gods didn’t know. The reason the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations were named like this was one of them.

Creation God or Devil Emperor, no one could possibly know this since the Ancestral God was long dead, and yet Mo E was claiming that...

“You... know?” Ni Xuan croaked.

Once upon a time, both Mo E and Ni Xuan believed that they were the person who understood the other Creation God the most.

Ni Xuan once told Mo Su this, “I know exactly what kind of Creation God fart your stubborn old coot is going to eject every time he flaps his mouth... that’s right, Creation God needs to fart as well. By the way, did you know that your old fart farts six times every one hundred thousand years on average?”

“Hmm... Hmm!? Li Suo? Screw you! Like an immortal among gods like Li Suo could be compared to the likes of us! Another word, and I will throw you into the Divine Palace of Life this instant!” However, he had never heard even half a word about this since the first day he met Mo E.

Mo E revealed a truth only he in this entire universe knew in his dead, unflappable voice. “Born from nothingness, the great Ancestral God created profound energy, rules, the shape of the universe, the first appearance of all living beings, and more during her long existence. She did not stop until she had created every aspect of the universe.”

“Unfortunately, the universe could not be created until she destroyed herself. On top of that, as she was an existence who was born from nothingness, she did not have anything she could refer to when she created the universe, much less predict which direction it was headed in and what its future would be. If the universe was destined for distortion, collapse, and annihilation... then she, someone who was already dead, could not interfere and fix it.”

“That was why the great Ancestral God left behind two... corrective artifacts before she returned to nothingness.”

Corrective...

It was a perfectly mundane word, and yet the fact that it involved the Ancestral God and the beginning of the universe was enough to inflict unease in anyone.

“The first corrective artifact was bestowed with the power of absolute yang and an old and wise spirit. It was called the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.”

“The second corrective artifact was bestowed with the power of absolute yin and the purest, most childish spirit. It was called the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulation.”

By now, the storm ravaging the God Realm of Absolute Beginning had subsided. Even the surrounding space had stopped shaking. The disastrous phenomenon and noise had all disappeared.

All that was left... was the sound of a heart thumping as loud as thunder.

“The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword’s mission is to monitor the stability and balance of the rules of the universe. It is what people knew as the ‘Heavenly Law’. If the Heavenly Law is in disorder, the laws of the universe will collapse, and the worlds will plunge into infinite disasters until they are ultimately destroyed.”

“Everyone believes that the ‘Heaven Punishing’ in the name refers to ‘power great enough to punish heaven and earth’, when in reality it was the opposite. It is the ‘power to punish the Heavenly Law’... to destroy it.”

“If one day the Heavenly Law falls into disorder, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword will unleash its ultimate power and annihilate the Heavenly Law. This is so that the universe can reform a new Heavenly Law, create new laws, and naturally stop the universe from sliding toward inevitable and utter destruction.”

“But Ni Xuan... you should know what kind of tragedy would occur should the Heavenly Law be destroyed. You and I would not lose even a hair on our persons, but the myriad beings who live in the myriad worlds cannot say the same thing. By the time the Heavenly Law and the natural laws are reformed, the new universe would surely be completely different from the old.”

“Right now, the two biggest races holding the Heavenly Law together, supporting it, and maintaining the balance... are the God Race and the Devil Race.”

“......”

Ni Xuan could not say anything for a long time. His heart kept beating faster and louder.

Mo E continued, “Today, the universe has become infinitely more prosperous than what it was in the beginning. The Ancestral Sword Spirit has long since become attached to this universe as well. However, no amount of attachment can supersede the mission the great Ancestral God engraved into its very existence.”

He was looking down on his bronze sword as he spoke. His gaze and face were calm and gentle like he was facing a close, old friend.

“The Ancestral Sword Spirit is like a friend and a teacher to me. One day, he finally told me about the reason it existed and the mission it bore. It told me that even the omnipotent Ancestral God could not predict how the universe would develop. If the great Ancestral God’s consciousness was still present, she would not have wanted to reform this wonderful world even if the Heavenly Law were to plunge into disorder.”

“The Ancestral Sword Spirit was full of fear when it said this. If one day the Heavenly Law really does fall into disorder, its mission would surely overtake its consciousness. It would surely unleash the power that destroys the Heavenly Law.”

“That is why... it chose to kill itself... after telling me everything.”

His sword was both his mentor and his old friend... but he could speak to it no longer. No one knew except Mo E that the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword had long since lost its sword spirit. All that was left within was its final Ancestral Sword power.

“Once, I asked if there was a possibility for the God Race and the Devil Race to coexist in harmony.”

“It told me that the God Race and the Devil Race are like two sides of a scale, rejecting, controlling, and balancing each other out. Despite having witnessed countless eras, it was always thanks to their rejection and opposition of one another that the two titanic races never fell into internal strife. It is why they were able to stand united indefinitely within their own race.”

“But if the two races were to combine, then both sides... would lose the one thing that kept them in check.”

“It's impossible to predict what may arise from this union, but there is no denying that there is a chance that the Heavenly Law may plunge into disorder if the balance were to be broken. An exceedingly huge chance.”

“It's such a chance that the Ancestral Sword Spirit was unable to accept it. So, before it extinguished its own consciousness, it made me promise it one thing... It wanted me to swear that I would never break the balance between the God Race and the Devil Race until the day I die. So long as this foundation is still secure, then the Heavenly Law will never fall into disorder.”

Bang!

Ni Xuan’s half-lifted knee hit the ground heavily.

“How can I not agree to its one and only request of me? How can I not fulfill my promise?”

Mo E murmured, “After all, ‘Heaven Punishing’ is both its name... and my title.”

“From the very moment I was created, my mission was engraved into my soul, my blood, and my bones.”

A bleak wind blew, and this time, it kicked up every strand of the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor’s hair.

“But why did it have to be my only friend? Why did it have to be the son I loved the most?”

His voice still did not carry even a hint of sorrow. It was because he was so hurt that he could produce no sorrow; so sorrowful that he could produce no tears.

“And why did it have to be me... the one and only person in this universe that cannot be stopped by you or my son?”

His voice softened into a murmur, “Rebellion is engraved into your soul. Stopping you by force would only incite you to rebel harder. That is why I had no choice but to exile the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and sever your bond permanently.”

“Mo Su seemed soft and timid on the outside, but he was terrifyingly stubborn on the inside. Once he has made his mind up about something, he would throw everything he had at it, damn the consequences. That is why I had no choice but to execute him by my own hands.”

He hated himself and Ni Xuan. “Back then, I sent him to your side partially to train him in the Heaven Breaking Swords, but really to change his obsessive ways with your laid-back personality. To think... that would be the biggest mistake of my life.”

Ni Xuan’s fingers dug deep into the blood-stained soil. He was covered in wounds, but he could not feel even a hint of pain from it. The eyes that were always smiling and full of freedom were now overflowing with sorrow and loss instead.

The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations’ mission was without a doubt the most terrifying truth of this universe, and Mo E was the only one who knew about it. For countless years, he had borne the burden alone without telling everyone... because not even a Creation God could learn about this truth without feeling bound and burdened by it for eternity, unable to even breathe.

No wonder. No wonder he, the greatest Creation God of this universe, had stubbornly clung to his rules and never overstepped his boundaries. It was to the point where one could say that he was excessively cautious.

Finally, Ni Xuan asked in a voice that was countless times drier and raspier than before, “Tell me, if the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword’s mission is to reform the Heavenly Law, then what is the mission of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations?”

Mo E replied simply yet succinctly, “The purification of all life.”

“...”

Ni Xuan’s blood came to a complete standstill.

“On the spectrum of good and evil, ‘Evil Infant’’s spirit exists in the middle. An infant is the beginning of all living beings and the ultimate symbol of purity, which is why she could directly perceive and accept all the good or evil of the universe.”

“If the love and goodness she receives from the universe outweighs the bad, then she would fall in love with the universe and protect it with her life. She would become the wheel that protects the universe.”

“On the other hand, if the hatred and evil she received from the universe outweighs the good, then she would view it as tainted and evil and enact ‘Myriad Tribulations’ to cleanse it all.”

Mo E continued woodenly, “Unfortunately, by the time I learned everything from the Ancestral Sword Spirit, the Devil Race had already committed the biggest, most foolish mistake of their existence.”

“‘Evil Infant’ cannot quite control her childish temper, and her power is so terrifying that she has unwittingly committed many disasters. Still, if the Devil Race could afford her prolonged tolerance, guidance, and love, then it is only a matter of time before she identifies herself as a member of the Devil Race and becomes the wheel that protects them.”

“Unfortunately, she is an uncontrollable power that surpasses even the Devil Emperors, and the Devil Race could not help but feel deeply wary and afraid of her. In the end, they chose to exploit her childish nature, lure her into a formation, and lull her into sleep. Then, they gathered all the powers of the Devil Emperors and the Devil Gods to seal her for eternity.”

“It better be an eternal seal, because even I cannot imagine what kind of ‘Myriad Tribulations’ she is going to enact upon the world when she breaks out, overflowing with violence and hatred.”

Mo E slowly lowered the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword until it touched the ground with a soft thud. As he turned around and revealed a back as forlorn as the gray sky of Absolute Beginning, he said, “Ni Xuan, you and I fought today to decide the fate of your daughter, a heretic born from the union between a Creation God and a Devil Emperor. That is why I must win even if I must resort to despicable tactics.”

As he slowly walked away, the heavy blade of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword cut a long wound on the ground of Absolute Beginning. His voice heavily resounded throughout this colorless world of Absolute Beginning as well.

“After all that has happened, I can no longer witness what kind of fruit my labors would bear. However, the union between God and Devil will not happen while I still draw breath.”

“I, Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor Mo E, am a disappointment to Mo Su, myself, and you.”

“At the very least, I did not bring shame to the title ‘Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor’, did not disobey my promise to the Ancestral Sword Spirit, did not let down the mission the great Ancestral God bestowed on me.”

“Wait.”

Ni Xuan called out to Mo E’s distant back. “You still... owe me a bet!”

Mo E froze in his tracks, and it was as if the entire world had frozen as well. Finally, the frozen world moved, and Mo E lifted his hand. Space broke, and a golden barrier flew out from within and landed beside Ni Xuan. The barrier was circulating with the divine power of a Creation God. Inside the barrier, the silhouette of a young girl could barely be seen.

“She may live, but her devilish part must be removed... this is my final compromise.”

Ni Xuan’s hands shook like a leaf as he touched the barrier. Tears fell like spring from his grayish, despondent eyes.

Suddenly, he realized something and growled, “You said... you can no longer witness what kind of fruit your labor would bear... what do you mean by that?”

Mo E did not stop walking this time. His voice grew as faint as smoke as he answered, “This isn’t the second time I unleashed the power of the Ancestral Sword.”

“It is the third.”

Ni Xuan: “!?”

“The time I exiled the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and her Devil Clan was in fact, the second time.”

“The first time...”

His emotions should have turned into stone and death, and yet his voice still hitched for an instant. “Was when I executed Mo Su.”

“Pan Ming’s daughter had teleported into the God Realm of Absolute Beginning next to Mo Su using the Original Nether Void Breaching Mirror, and I was prepared for this. What I wasn’t prepared for was the Nirvana Devil Wheel Reversing Pearl.”

“Even I am unable to break out of the power of two ultimate Devil Artifacts by force; a prison created from both the power of space and time. Seeing that she was on the verge of saving Mo Su, I had no choice but to employ the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.”

Ni Xuan’s arms hung limply by his sides as he slowly closed his eyes. To use the Ancestral Sword three times... was to use up ninety percent of a Creation God’s lifespan.

“We are all living beings created by the great Ancestral God herself, but I have personally ruined the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor and destroyed her clan. My sin cannot be forgiven, and I will make up for it by paying with my own life. The Heaven Punishing bloodline will forever end here as well.”

“For my obsession, I killed my son by my own hands. I do not deserve to be a father, do not deserve to be a god, do not deserve to be a person, do not deserve to continue living in this world.”

He turned around and cast Ni Xuan one last look. “This is our last goodbye. Take care, my only friend.”

A cold wind blew as his footsteps resumed, lifting his long hair into the air and revealing the patches of white within. Soon, the only one left in this grayish world was Ni Xuan.

Lover... friend... brother... belief... right and wrong...

He lifted his hands and clutched his face with all his might. He was using so much strength that his finger bones snapped and broke into pieces. Still, he could not suppress the sobs leaking out of his throat.

......

The Divine Palace of Life.

He once promised Jie Yuan that he would never meet the Creation Goddess of Life Li Suo nor approach the Divine Palace of Life ever again. He broke his promise. Strangely, the Li Suo in Ni Xuan’s memory fragment was a blurry, indistinct silhouette. It was impossible to see the divine countenance that was said to have caused both Gods and Devils to swoon on their feet.

Maybe it was because Ni Xuan was purposely obscuring his vision of Li Suo. It was to keep his oath to the best degree possible.

“Ni... Xuan?”

If it wasn’t for the unique aura of the Creation God of Elements, Li Suo could never believe that this dirty, ragged-looking, disheveled hair man was Ni Xuan. This was a man who cared about his appearance so much that he would control even where a single strand of hair was floating, but now...

Ni Xuan did not answer her. He slowly walked forward with stiff, heavy footsteps. Then, he placed the “ice coffin” in his arms on the floor. Inside the coffin was a sleeping girl who looked as exquisite and beautiful as a doll. Yun Che immediately recognized her as Hong’er.

“The Coffin of Eternity...” Li Suo whispered. “Who’s she?”

“She is... my daughter...”

It looked like it took an unbelievable amount of effort for Ni Xuan to open his mouth, and his voice was so raspy that it sounded like the screech of metals. Li Suo could not say another word for a very long time.

“I have... reforged the missing portion of her soul, but I cannot make it perfectly compatible... especially... the sword soul that must exist...”

It was because her mother, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, possessed a sword soul. Therefore, the foundation of Hong’er’s soul must have a sword soul as well.

“You’re the only one, who can do it, Li Suo.”

“... I understand.”

Li Suo did not ask too many questions. She simply nodded.

“Thank... you...”

He murmured the two words and stared blankly at the girl in the Coffin of Eternity for a moment. Then, he turned around and woodenly walked toward the exit, dragging his feet the whole way.

“Ni Xuan!”

Li Suo called out to him, “What... happened to you?”

Ni Xuan responded in a voice that did not belong to the Creation God of Elements, “I committed... a grave mistake...”

“So what if you did?”

Li Suo replied softly, “You once declared that there exists no living being who can do no wrong. So long as your intention isn’t malicious, there is no need to be bound by it. Instead, one should seek to correct their mistake, remind themselves that they shouldn’t make it again, and make up for that mistake.”

Ni Xuan murmured, “That’s because... some mistakes can be forgiven... and some... never can be.”

Li Suo was caught off guard for a moment. She tried to console him, “You have always been, and will always be, the most revered Creation God in the God Realm or the lower realm. The number of races who owe you favors are innumerable. Such is your karma that they are willing to sing your praise for eternity.”

“Creation... God...”

He whispered the title he was most familiar with but without any color in his eyes whatsoever, “I no longer deserve to be a Creation God... there will never be a Creation God of Elements from now on...”

Li Suo: “...”

Ni Xuan looked ahead with empty eyes. “The grave error I committed is such that I no longer deserve to be orthodox. However, I have never... fallen into evil. If I still deserve a title, then let it be...”

“The Heretic... God...”

The Creation Goddess of Life felt extreme despair and despondency coming from Ni Xuan. She also sensed extreme regret and extreme hatred... hatred toward himself.

Suddenly, Ni Xuan’s footsteps came to a stop.

“Li Suo...”

He asked, “Do you know... a place that is suitable for sleep? A place... that won’t be disturbed?”

Every word he spoke was beyond raspy and fatigued. Even through the ages, Yun Che could clearly sense Ni Xuan’s pain and decision to escape from reality and fate. Li Suo’s perception of his feelings could only be a thousand times, ten thousand times clearer than his.

She did not try to stop him. She simply said, “The southern region, beneath the Sky Sea Tower... How long do you plan to sleep?”

Ni Xuan answered, “I don’t know. Maybe a million years. Maybe ten million years... Maybe until I’m willing to wake up... or maybe I’ll never wake up again.”

Li Suo: “...”

“I entrust my daughter to you. Please find her a suitable identity and home. Don’t tell her about her origin. I just want her to enjoy life without worry forever.”

“I’m sorry. I may never be able to repay this favor.”

He turned around and faced Li Suo, the corners of his lips tugging a little... He was doing his best to smile and express his gratitude. He wanted to give Li Suo a proper goodbye. And yet, the man who had smiled his whole life... could no longer do so.

It was as if he had forgotten how to smile.