novel against the - Chapter 2095

Chapter 2095: The Eternal Night of Gloom

“She won’t find it.” The Dragon Monarch’s aged voice carried absolute certainty. “I once overheard that a Divine Officer¹ of the Pure Land², due to a certain ailment³, dispatched their Abyss Knights⁴ to search for Primordial Flame Crystals⁵ for tens of thousands of years without success, and was forced to seek other methods.”

“Such ephemeral things should have long since vanished. Even a Divine Officer couldn’t obtain them, let alone Long…” He thought of the Lin Bone Orchid⁶ that Long Xi had recently found, and how she had miraculously found four of the so-called Five Spiritual Treasures⁷. He still cautioned, “We must guard against any unforeseen circumstances. Chi Xin, keep a close watch on her. If a Primordial Flame Crystal truly appears…”

“Rest assured, Dragon Monarch, I understand.”

*Hong!*

Suddenly, air currents surged above the Ancestral Dragon Mountain Range, and space trembled slightly.

The Dragon Monarch and Long Chi Xin looked up simultaneously. Long Chi Xin said with surprise, “This is… a breakthrough to the Demisupreme-ruler Realm⁸! Wait… this aura…”

“It’s Long Xi.” The Dragon Monarch stared into the distance, his expression a mixture of complex emotions.

The surprise on Long Chi Xin’s face vanished, replaced by the same complexity as the Dragon Monarch.

The Dragon Monarch asked in a daze, “Wang Chu, throughout the history of the Ancestral Dragon lineage, has there ever been anyone who reached the Divine Extinction Realm⁹ before the age of one hundred?”

“Never.” Long Chi Xin shook his head without hesitation.

No matter the plane, the cultivation of the Dragon race was far more difficult than that of the human race. Yet, with their bodies, souls, and lifespans far exceeding other races, they became the most revered of all.

However, in this world of the abyss, the existence of the Abyssal Dust¹⁰ made them, as the only remaining beast race, far weaker than the human race, who were led by the Pure Land and the Six Divine Kingdoms¹¹.

The Dragon Monarch sighed deeply and murmured, “Long Xi has been isolated and lonely since childhood, always alone, never willing to accept even the slightest resource. And for the past few decades, she has had to sacrifice her essence blood every month for Wang Chu, and most of her energy has been spent searching for the ‘Five Spiritual Treasures’ I fabricated.”

“Even so… even so… she was still able to achieve a breakthrough to the Divine Extinction Realm at the age of only half a Jia Zi¹²…”

This was a miracle that their Ancestral Dragon lineage wouldn’t even dare to dream of… yet this Dragon Girl was of unknown, foreign origin.

He couldn’t help but marvel, couldn’t help but feel melancholic, and couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.

Long Chi Xin knew what he was lamenting. Over the years, the Dragon Monarch’s most frequent sighs were nothing more than, “If only Long Xi were my descendant, I would die without regrets,” and “If Wang Chu could be even a tenth of what Long Xi is, I would gladly give my life…”

Long Chi Xin said, “Dragon Monarch, no matter what, this is a great thing. Now that Long Xi has achieved a breakthrough in her realm, her dragon blood will naturally mutate as well. The help she can give to Wang Chu will definitely be much greater than before.”

The Dragon Monarch remained silent for a long time, then nodded slightly. “You are right. For Wang Chu, for the future of our Ancestral Dragon lineage, we must use all means necessary to keep Long Xi here longer, at least until Wang Chu becomes a Demisupreme-ruler Dragon.”

*Rumble…*

The profound energy storm raged intensely, like countless exploding thunderclaps.

The breakthrough had just begun, yet its momentum was already so immense. Even in the Dragon Monarch’s incredibly long memory, no Ancestral Dragon’s breakthrough had ever compared.

A great unease suddenly arose in his heart.

Such a terrifying, almost heretical half-human, half-dragon body… who exactly were her parents…?

This unease, as soon as it appeared, was quickly suppressed by him.

If she truly had powerful parents to rely on, why would she sacrifice her own essence blood just to gain a place of peace?

“Perhaps, there is another option.” Sensing the increasingly exaggerated anomaly in the distance, the Dragon Monarch spoke slowly.

“The Pure Land觐见¹³ three years from now will definitely be a very special one.”

A hopeful glint flickered in his aged dragon eyes. “The Abyssal Emperor has found a spatial passage to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’¹⁴. Fifty years from now, when the power of the Four Divine Officers and the Seven Divine Sovereigns¹⁵ is fully restored, they will be able to activate the Divine Mirror once more and reopen the passage to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’.”

“The number of people the Divine Mirror can transport each time is extremely limited, and the Pure Land觐见 three years from now will likely determine the first batch of people eligible to go to the Eternal Pure Land.”

“Although my Dragon race is small, we will definitely have a place. If we can send Wang Chu to the ‘Eternal Pure Land’… a world without Abyssal Dust, the growth of my Dragon race will no longer face such cruel obstacles. Perhaps, in that world called ‘Eternal Pure Land’, with generations of reproduction and the changing of times, my Ancestral Dragon lineage will once again reign supreme over all races, and once again stand at the pinnacle of all living beings.”

Long Chi Xin nodded heavily. “The Dragon Monarch’s hopes will surely be realized.”

“Go to Wang Chu,” the Dragon Monarch said. “Long Xi’s breakthrough will definitely stimulate him greatly.”

His words were weak. He knew better than anyone what kind of character his descendant was… yet, he was the only direct descendant of the Ancestral Dragon lineage.

“Especially… warn him again, no matter what, he must not reveal the matter of Long Xi’s essence blood, alas.”

Even without the lies, he knew how vile this act was. Furthermore, Long Xi was giving true essence blood, while he was binding her with fabricated lies… Even if his initial intention was for the future of the Ancestral Dragon lineage, he knew clearly what a huge blow it would be to his Dragon race’s reputation if this matter were exposed.

“I understand,” Long Chi Xin acknowledged the order.

Deep within the Sea of Mist.

Darkness pervaded, without a single ray of light.

The Mist Emperor¹⁶ grabbed with his palm, and the darkness dispersed like a tangible curtain.

With the Heavenly Tribulation of the Demonic Disaster lifted, the dark flow around Pan Buwang slowed, and the erosion and suppression of the Abyssal Dust surged forth, causing him, already exhausted, to half-kneel on the ground, gasping for breath.

“Master…”

He barely managed to call out, but a suction force pulled him abruptly towards the Mist Emperor.

Pan Buwang dared not resist, watching helplessly as a hand wreathed in thick Abyssal Dust grabbed his head.

*Weng—*

Darkness exploded before his eyes and within his soul sea, as if his entire being had suddenly sunk into an endless abyss of darkness.

He fell and sank into the extreme darkness… until a sharp pain came, and he was flung far away by the Mist Emperor.

“Ah…” He shook his head, struggling to stand, then suddenly froze, staring blankly at his hands.

His perception of the power of darkness had clearly become sharper. Especially the dark profound light entwined around his ten fingers, so docile that he couldn’t believe his own spiritual sense for a moment.

The “abyss of darkness” he had just fallen into had once again transformed him.

He knelt back down, his voice hoarse. “Thank you, Master, for your grace.”

“You thank me too early.”

An Abyssal Beast exuding the aura of the Divine Extinction Realm arrived beside the Mist Emperor.

A rather large Abyssal Crystal was thrown in front of Pan Buwang, and the Mist Emperor’s cold voice followed. “You have half an hour to recover. After half an hour, this Abyssal Beast of the same realm as you will launch an unending attack on you. At this depth in the Sea of Mist, you are at an absolute disadvantage in your battle with it.”

The Mist Emperor turned and walked away mercilessly. “By this time tomorrow, if you are dead, then you are nothing but a useless waste. If you are still alive, I will begin to transform your dark profound art, so that in this world of the abyss, no dark profound practitioner of the same realm will be your match.”

“Don’t disappoint me!”

Staring at the Mist Emperor’s receding gray shadow, Pan Buwang gritted his teeth and whispered, “Ten days ago, I would rather have died. But now… no one can stop my path of revenge!”

Despair will extinguish the will to live, while hope will awaken the beast within the soul… The Mist Emperor knew this well.

The Weaving Dream Divine Kingdom, Divine Son’s Hall.

As soon as Yun Che stepped out of the cultivation space, Liu Zhanyi hurried forward. “Young Master, the Xi Divine Son is visiting… oh no, the Xi Divine Son said ‘requests an audience’, and has been waiting for three hours.”

“Understood, I’ll go over now.”

Upon seeing Yun Che, Meng Jian Xi immediately stood up, his face clearly showing some discomfort.

“Yuan Divine Son…”

“Eh?” Yun Che raised his hand. “The only Divine Son of the Weaving Dream Divine Kingdom is you, Meng Jian Xi. Others call me Yuan Divine Son out of courtesy, you don’t have to.”

Meng Jian Xi didn’t insist. “Alright, in that case, I’ll still call you Yuan Di¹⁷, how about that?”

“At least it’s more pleasant than Yuan Divine Son.” Yun Che didn’t force him to address him as Yun Che, and sat down opposite him casually. “What brings you here today?”

Meng Jian Xi calmed himself slightly and said, “The matter of the Heavenly Revelation Divine Jade has been completely settled. The blame has been shifted to Jian Ze as much as possible, and I have also publicly apologized for my failure to control my subordinates. However…”

He closed his eyes, as if he didn’t dare to look at Yun Che’s expression. “My mother… she is still my…”

“Was the incident of Meng Jian Yuan’s misfortune a hundred years ago related to your mother?” Yun Che suddenly asked.

In fact, he knew better than anyone that it was Meng Jingzhe and Meng Jian Zhou who had killed Meng Jian Yuan. Even if Meng Xuan Jue was involved, it was at most instigation from behind the scenes… such as inducement or handing them the knife.

“Yes.” To Yun Che’s slight surprise, Meng Jian Xi admitted it directly, almost without hesitation.

It seemed that before he came here, he had already made his choice and prepared himself.

“However, my mother only provided assistance in secret. The one who actually did it was my younger brother Jian Zhou’s guardian, Meng Jingzhe. And Meng Jingzhe and Jian Zhou perished in the Sea of Mist half a year ago, which can be considered a just punishment. Although my mother is guilty… she didn’t directly do it, and Yuan Di has also returned safely… at least it shouldn’t be a capital offense.”

Yun Che pondered for a moment and said, “Have you said these words to your Divine Sovereign father?”

“No.” Meng Jian Xi shook his head.

Yun Che narrowed his eyes, his gaze scrutinizing. “Regarding the events of that year, let alone evidence, even traces have long since disappeared. Even if suspicion falls on her, as long as she refuses to admit it, no one can convict your mother.”

“I believe the Divine Sovereign has long suspected your mother. But the Divine Sovereign never speaks of suspicions without solid evidence, let alone acts on them. Since that’s the case, why would you personally admit this matter in front of me?”

Meng Jian Xi raised his eyes, meeting Yun Che’s gaze directly. “Because I believe that the value I can bring you is enough to offset… surpass the crime my mother committed against you!”

Yun Che laughed. “A good answer. No wonder you were able to bring six of the nine Dream Halls under your control in just a hundred years.”

Meng Jian Xi’s heart relaxed slightly. “So, Yuan Di is willing to let my mother go?”

“That depends on you, not me.” Yun Che hadn’t realized before that Meng Jian Xi would be so protective of his mother.

Yun Che’s ambiguous answer didn’t make Meng Jian Xi dissatisfied, but instead, he showed a hint of emotion. “As expected of… Yuan Di. To be honest, whether Yuan Di answered to let her go or not, I would be more or less disappointed. It seems that I was not wronged at all for being beaten down so quickly in such a short time.”

“Hmm?” Yun Che glanced at him sideways and chuckled. “There’s no need for such nonsense. That day, I asked you to organize your intelligence network, you haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Meng Jian Xi said seriously, “The Xuanji Hall, which is the Seventh Dream Hall managed by my uncle Meng Xuanji, is in charge of intelligence. All intelligence from the Xuanji Hall will be synchronized with me immediately, and from now on, it will naturally be synchronized with the Divine Son’s Hall immediately.”

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

He knew something about the Divine Sons and Daughters of other Divine Kingdoms. Only the current Divine Daughter of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, apart from knowing her name was Shen Wu Yi, he knew almost nothing else.

Hua Cai Li had mentioned other Divine Kingdoms in great detail, but she had never been to the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, nor had she ever met the Eternal Night Divine Daughter, Shen Wu Yi.

“Very little,” Meng Jian Xi gave a meager answer.

“How little?” Yun Che frowned.

Meng Jian Xi thought for a moment and said, “The Eternal Night Divine Kingdom abolished Shen Wu Qing and established Shen Wu Yi as the Eternal Night Divine Daughter more than ten years ago. But so far, it seems that no one outside the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom has ever seen Shen Wu Yi.”

Yun Che’s face showed surprise. “Hidden so deeply?”

“Yes,” Meng Jian Xi nodded. “However, it’s not that the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom deliberately wants to hide this new Divine Daughter, but rather that the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom has been in a state of ‘self-isolation’ these years.”

He organized his words and slowly said, “The previous era of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom was not named Eternal Night, and it had very good relations with all the other Divine Kingdoms. But since Shen Wu Yan Ye became the Divine Sovereign, the atmosphere of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom has changed drastically, as if it has truly fallen into a depressing ‘eternal night’.”

“Leaving aside other things, in terms of intelligence alone, it’s not difficult to plant spies in other Divine Kingdoms. But the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom… even if we manage to plant spies, they will never be able to get close to its core.”

“Because…” Meng Jian Xi paused, as if momentarily apprehensive. “The Wu Ming Divine Sovereign¹⁸ never trusts anyone. All core profound practitioners of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom will be planted with the ‘Extreme Night Death Seal’¹⁹.”

As soon as the words “Death Seal” came out, Yun Che’s heart and soul trembled uncontrollably.

The Brahma Soul Death Seal that Qianye Ying’er had planted on him back then was too terrifying. Even now, he hadn’t completely escaped the shadow of that time.

And this “Extreme Night Death Seal” was obviously something of the same nature.

“The ‘Extreme Night Death Seal’ is an extremely cruel blood and bone seal. When activated, it will cause unbearable pain and make one unable to seek death.” Meng Jian Xi’s voice involuntarily lowered. “The Wu Ming Divine Sovereign doesn’t believe that loyalty exists in this world, so she uses absolute control and fear to exchange for ‘loyalty’.”

A blood and bone seal? Not a soul seal like the Brahma Soul Death Seal.

—

**Translation Notes:**

1. Divine Officer (神官 – shén guān): High-ranking officials in the heavenly court or supreme realms.
2. Pure Land (净土 – jìng tǔ): A pure and unsullied land, often associated with Buddhist or Taoist paradises.
3. Ailment (神躯抱恙 – shén qū bào yàng): A respectful way of saying a supreme being is ill. Literally, “supreme body slightly unwell.”
4. Abyss Knights (深渊骑士 – shēn yuān qí shì): Knights associated with the abyss.
5. Primordial Flame Crystals (原始炎晶 – yuán shǐ yán jīng): A rare and powerful fictional crystal imbued with primordial flame energy.
6. Lin Bone Orchid (麟骨灵兰 – lín gǔ líng lán): A fictional, rare, and precious medicinal herb.
7. Five Spiritual Treasures (五灵至宝 – wǔ líng zhì bǎo): Five fictional, extremely rare and powerful treasures.
8. Demisupreme-ruler Realm (半神境界 – bàn shén jìng jiè): The realm of cultivation just below the Divine Sovereign Realm.
9. Divine Extinction Realm (神灭境 – shén miè jìng): A high-level cultivation realm.
10. Abyssal Dust (渊尘 – yuān chén): A harmful substance unique to this fictional world that hinders cultivation, especially for beast races.
11. Six Divine Kingdoms (六神国 – liù shén guó): Six powerful kingdoms ruled by Divine Sovereigns.
12. Half a Jia Zi (半甲子 – bàn jiǎ zǐ): A Jia Zi is a 60-year cycle in the Chinese sexagenary cycle. Half a Jia Zi is 30 years.
13. 觐见 (jìn jiàn): An audience with a superior, often a ruler or supreme-ruler. Left in Pinyin as there isn’t a perfect English equivalent that captures the nuance of formality and respect.
14. Eternal Pure Land (永恒净土 – yǒng héng jìng tǔ): A utopian realm free from the Abyssal Dust.
15. Seven Divine Sovereigns (七大神尊 – qī dà shén zūn): Seven powerful rulers of the supreme kingdoms.
16. Mist Emperor (雾皇 – wù huáng): The ruler of the Sea of Mist.
17. Di (弟 – dì): Younger brother. Used as a term of endearment or respect for a male younger than oneself.
18. Wu Ming Divine Sovereign (无明神尊 – wú míng shén zūn): The Divine Sovereign of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom. “Wu Ming” translates to “Ignorance” or “Unenlightenment.”
19. Extreme Night Death Seal (极夜求死印 – jí yè qiú sǐ yìn): A cruel seal that inflicts immense pain but prevents death.