Against the Gods Chapter 1703 - Eternal Gift

Countless dark projections were still displaying what was happening in the Soul Stealing Sacred Region. Every profound practitioner in the Northern Divine Region was staring at the churning black clouds, the kneeling devils, and the one and only Devil Master who reigned above them and the ground beneath their feet.
It was just a projection, but their energy was raging and their souls were trembling. Everyone was overflowing with the impulse to kneel on the ground and worship Yun Che.
RUMBLE
The seemingly infinite dark clouds were still converging in one place. Soon, the entire Soul Stealing Realm was covered in dark clouds.
Yun Che looked up at the dark clouds that churned like giant waves. A savage, ridiculing smile slowly appeared on his face.
The heavenly way? Heh!
What did I get when I obeyed my fate and saved the entire God Realm?
What could the heavenly way do now that I am the Devil Master who swore to defy all of its rules?
Crack!
The dark clouds continued to run into each other, and the rumblings alone were terrible enough to quake one’s soul. But it never tried to strike down Yun Che, the absolute heretic that exceeded the laws of the heavenly way itself.
Back when Yun Che was about to enter the Divine Spirit Realm, the heavenly way had tried to wipe him from the surface of the earth using tribulation lightning.
But it wasn’t able to hurt Yun Che in the slightest even though it poured everything it had into the punishment. Yun Che had even absorbed the energy of the lightning strike and converted it into his own power.
Now that Yun Che had grown into a true calamity of the world, the heavenly way could do nothing but quake in terror and helplessness.
Yun Che’s gaze slowly traveled back to the ground. No one was standing be it inside or outside the Sacred Region. Most of them were bowing deeply and shaking visibly.
For the first time, the Divine Kings, Divine Sovereigns, and even Divine Masters felt that they were as insignificant as a speck of dust.
They were inferior in terms of bloodline, aura, power… and the gap between them could fill up entire worlds.
The living beings weren’t the only ones who were trembling in submission. Even the devil artifacts some of them were carrying were vibrating in fear and submission.
The complete release of Eternal Calamity of Darkness stunned not just the entire Northern Divine Region, but also the three king realms who had already sworn loyalty to him.
Yun Che lowered his arm. The devilish patterns faded away, and the dark light was withdrawn back into his body.
The all-encompassing power vanished into nothing, and light returned to the world once more.
The people looked up as if they had just woken up from a dream. Although the power was gone, their profound veins and souls were still shaking in fear. They couldn’t control their reaction no matter how hard they tried to calm themselves down.
Yun Che—the man who looked like the shadow of a primordial True Devil—was engraved into every Northern Divine Region profound practitioner’s soul today. It was a dark mark they would never forget.
“Rise.”
Unlike his earlier display of power, the indifferent command sounded perfectly normal. However, as if the mark that was just engraved into the soul had flared into life, the Northern Divine Region profound practitioners felt a deep reverence taking control of their bodies from the inside out. They rose to their feet almost unconsciously. In fact, some of them only just realized that they had dropped to their knees earlier.
They finally understood why the three king realms had chosen submission.
They had witnessed, no, felt with their own bodies the Devil Master’s right to command all of them.
At the front, the realm kings of the Imperial Heaven Realm, the Desolate Calamity Realm, and the Divine Python Realm were all covered in cold sweat. The fear and respect that was suffocating their souls was many times greater than when they were facing a God Emperor.
Bang!
Tian Muyi had just gotten to his feet due to Yun Che’s command, but he immediately dropped to one knee again and said, “The Devil Master’s truly mighty and powerful like never before. It is as if you are the incarnation of the Devil Emperor herself. The Imperial Heaven Realm… vows to obey the Devil Master and pledges their loyalty to you.”
After what they had all experienced earlier, no one was surprised that he would make such a declaration.
Huo Tianxing and the Great Viper Sage hurriedly followed in Tianmu Yi’s footsteps and tried to swear loyalty to Yun Che, but an indifferent chuckle cut off their movement before they could even bend their waists.
“Heh. Why? Why do you obey, and why do you pledge your loyalty to me?”
Huo Tianxing and Great Viper Sage froze in their tracks. Tian Muyi looked puzzled and confused as well. He didn’t understand why the Devil Master would ask such a thing.
Wasn’t it natural for the weak to obey the strong? Wasn’t that reason enough?
“You are only submitting now because you are forced to; because you are afraid of my power. As I mentioned earlier, I was only displaying my right to rule over this land. Why should I have loyalty when I haven’t done anything for you?”
“...” Tian Muyi and all the Imperial Heaven Realm profound practitioners were stunned by his words. They weren’t able to say anything for a time.
“Heh.” Yun Che let out another chuckle and glanced at them. “Well, since you are the first to submit to me, I shall grant you a reason to be loyal to me.”
He held up a palm facing toward the Imperial Heaven Realm profound practitioners. Then, a devilish light appeared from it and started moving toward them.
All thirty representatives of the Imperial Heaven Realm shuddered when they saw the incoming light. They subconsciously wanted to defend themselves until they heard Tian Guhu’s voice beside their ears. “Royal father, seniors, do not resist!”
They immediately restrained themselves and allowed the devilish light to invade their bodies. A few breaths later, the light was gone.
For a time, Tian Muyi and his people looked dumbstruck by something. Then, they moved in eerie unison and started examining their palms, their hands, their torsos, their feet… it was almost as if they were trying to confirm that their bodies were still theirs.
Thump!
Suddenly, Tian Muyi dropped to both knees and bent his body all the way to ground level. Earlier when he swore his loyalty to Yun Che, he had kept his back straight even after dropping to one knee. But now, his face was millimeters away from kissing the icy ground. He shouted loudly, “Tian Muyi thanks the Devil Master for his unparalleled gift! Tian Muyi and the Imperial Heaven Realm are willing to serve the Devil Master as his eternal servants! If we ever break our oath, may we drop into the devil’s abyss forever!”
Huo Tianxing and Great Viper Sage looked stunned. All the other realm kings looked stunned as well.
Not only was Tian Muyi’s declaration several times louder than before, his voice was reverberating with incomprehensible agitation. He looked like he might dig out his own heart and show the Devil Master the depths of his loyalty and determination.
Behind him, all the Imperial Heaven Realm representatives had dropped to both their knees as well. Just like Tian Muyi, they were on the ground and shouting loudly, “Thank you for your gift, Devil Master! We are willing to serve you as your eternal servants! If we ever break our oaths, may we drop into the devil’s abyss forever!”
Everyone in the Northern Divine Region was stunned by their display.
Tian Muyi was the strongest realm king behind the king realms, so he was expected to be the first to stand up and declare his stance. However, he hadn’t bent his back or dialed down his pride even though he feared and respected the Devil Master.
But after Yun Che had enveloped him and his people in that black light for several breaths, their attitude suddenly changed drastically. The agitation in their voices, the shiver in their throats, their submissive posture and the ruthless oath that damned them to an eternity in the abyss if they ever broke it...
Knowing how proud Tian Muyi was, he shouldn’t act like this even if his ancestors suddenly came back to life and jumped out of their coffins to greet him.
“What… what’s going on?” Huo Tianxing was the first person to voice his confusion.
In the sky, Yan Tianxiao answered his question imperiously, “That, is the perfect compatibility to darkness the Devil Master grants using the Eternal Calamity of Darkness, the most supreme darkness art of them all.”
“His power transformed their imperfect bodies into true devil bodies. The power of darkness will never backfire on them any longer. Their lifespans will increase greatly as a result. Their control over darkness profound energy and their cultivation speed has become many times greater than before. Some bottlenecks one may encounter when cultivating a high level devil art may no longer exist as well.”
“Besides that, they no longer have to rely on their surroundings to use the power of darkness. They can leave the Northern Divine Region, and the effects it has on their control, power, and recovery speed will almost be almost non-existent!”
Every time Yan Tianxiao spoke, the Northern Region profound practitioners felt like a thunderbolt had struck right beside their ears. Everything he said sounded like a dream straight out of a fantasy.
His next words shattered their common sense even more..
“Finally, this blessing is permanent, and it can be passed down to future generations.”
In other words, the blessing of the Eternal Calamity of Darkness was a gift that could theoretically be passed to the next generation forever.
Yan Tianxiao himself was hiding the turmoil in his heart even though he was the one who was explaining things to everyone.
Just a month ago, when Yun Che had given the gift of perfect compatibility to the Yama Devils and Yama Ghosts, he had been rather careful and methodical. He rarely blessed more than one person at a time, and he always had a cautious expression on his face.
But today, he had leisurely blessed thirty or so people at once with a casual wave of his hand and completed the transformation in just two breaths.
In the ancient records, Eternal Calamity of Darkness was supposed to be a devil art that only the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor could cultivate. So it was incredible how quickly Yun Che was progressing through the art!
A thought that shocked Yan Tianxiao himself crossed his mind: Even the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor herself couldn’t have learned her own art this quickly, could she?
It had only been three years since Yun Che started cultivating the Eternal Calamity of Darkness, but he had already mastered the middle stage of the art.
If Jie Yuan hadn’t left the Primal Chaos, she would’ve been shocked by Yun Che’s progress as well.
There were two reasons behind his terrifying cultivation speed. One, he was special in a way not even he himself could understand completely. Two, he had the perfect incubator, Qianye Ying’er.
When Yan Tianxiao was finished, he was greeted with dead silence.
Not only did this “gift” sound too good to be true, it completely transcended everything they knew about their very existence. If even half of what he said was true, it would be heresy to call it something as common as a “gift”.
“I… i… i… is it true?” The Great Viper Sage and Huo Tianxing affixed their stares on Tian Muyi. They just couldn’t bring themselves to believe what they had heard even though a god emperor himself had declared it to them.
Tianmu Yi raised his hand and summoned a flash of black light. The unique aura that belonged to the Imperial Heaven Realm profound practitioners enveloped everyone within fifty kilometers for an instant before vanishing completely.
“!!” The pupils of Huo Tianxing, the Great Viper Sage, and every other Divine Master realm king contracted like needles. They lost control of even their souls for a time.
“I am the Devil Master. It is my duty to bless all the devils who serve me,” Yun Che said indifferently. “Since the Imperial Heaven Realm is willing to serve me, I promise to bless all your profound practitioners who are above Divine Spirit Realm. Besides that, you may also select ten thousand talented profound practitioners below six hundred years old to accept my blessing as well.”
Countless eyeballs stretched to the tearing point, and countless jaws hit the floor almost in unison. Everyone who was watching the projection in the Imperial Heaven Realm dropped to their knees immediately.
Tianmu Yi felt his blood surge to his brain again. He finally understood why Tiangu Hu respected Yun Che to the extent he did. Kowtowing to Yun Che again, he declared, “The Devil Master’s gift is as almost great as that of the parents who brought me into this world. A gift that stretches ten thousand generations can only be repaid by ten thousand lifetimes.”
“From this day onward, every living being in the Imperial Heaven Realm swears to serve the Devil Master to their dying breaths. Your orders are absolute, your words are the Mandate of Heaven, and your enemies are our sworn enemies!”
Some time ago, he couldn’t understand why the supreme king realms had revered Yun Che to the extent they did… now, both his attitude and his oath were countless times more exaggerated than the king realms’.
There was absolutely no reason to hesitate. Behind the Imperial Heaven Realm, all the profound practitioners of the Desolate Calamity Realm and the Divine Python Realm followed their realm kings’ initiative and dropped to their knees. Everyone was doing their utmost to display their reverence, excitement, desire, and sincerity.
Their oaths were even more exaggerated than the Imperial Heaven Realm’s.
“Very good.”
Yun Che praised them and extended his palm again. This time, his light enveloped a total of fifty four powerful darkness profound practitioners; the core forces of two major star realms. Again, he completed the transformation in just two breaths’ time.
Some of the onlookers were still confused by the transformed’s exaggerated reactions. After all, all they saw was Yun Che showering them with a bit of dark profound light. Even if everything the Yama Emperor claimed was true, how could something that took so little effort and time to cast have possibly wrought enough change to induce this much reaction?
Only those who had experienced the Devil Masters’ blessing themselves could understand what kind of miracle he pulled in just two short breaths.
Their shock and excitement quickly turned into a million times the respect and reverence.
A power rivaled by no one, a miracle that took no effort to cast, and a gift… that lasted for eternity.
All their doubts and puzzlement vanished in a puff of smoke.