Trials of the Abyss
Chapter 662: Attaining Godhood Again

Chapter 662: Attaining Godhood Again

A Divine Persona took shape within Pang Jian's sea of consciousness.

Unlike the radiant, multicolored splendor of his Immortal Divine Soul, this newly formed Divine Persona was emerald-green, like flawless jade, and existed in the form of a prismatic crystal.

It was solid, unyielding, and brilliantly translucent, with the Source of Divinity flowing within.

Every soul-related technique he had mastered on his own or learned from You Kui's memories was etched into this Divine Persona.

A Divine Persona was a crystallization of the soul and lacked the presence of various energies, making it vastly different from an Immortal Divine Soul.

When Pang Jian forged his Immortal Divine Soul, it had naturally drawn upon and fused with many energies—the five elements, cold energy, lightning, stellar energy, lunar energy, and solar energy—allowing it to possess everything his physical body commanded.

As a result, his Immortal Divine Soul could freely traverse the starry skies, independent of his physical body.

This Divine Persona, on the other hand, was fundamentally different.

While his Divine Persona could mobilize the energies within his dantian, the Divine Persona itself contained only Pang Jian's insights into the Dao of Soul.

If it were to separate from his physical body and leave his sea of consciousness, it would likely lack the vitality of his Immortal Divine Soul and could not absorb surrounding energies to sustain itself.

The Divine Persona could only display its full potential while inside his physical body.

Strange... Pang Jian's brows knitted in contemplation.

When he formed his Immortal Divine Soul, fusing his divine soul with Fortune, many new imprints and insights awakened, granting him an innate understanding of its mystical properties.

However, when merging his second soul with Corruption to forge his Divine Persona, no such revelations regarding its nature or the strength of his cultivation realm emerged.

Is it because information about the Divine Persona is already common knowledge among the Outer Gods? Pang Jian wondered.

Meanwhile, Li Yuqing scrutinized Pang Jian, sensing his new aura.

"To think that using a human body to refine Corruption and ascending to godhood actually worked," she muttered. Eyes narrowing, she asked, "But why do you seem so ordinary? Pang Jian, do you feel like something is off?"

"Not really."

Pang Jian flexed his limbs and attempted to draw on the power of the seven fragmented lands of crystalline murky energy. Dense, chaotic energy immediately surged through his entire body.

A dark, unfathomable domain unfolded around him with a mere thought.

The radiance of the sun, moon, and stars mingled with an overwhelming aura of ferocity, destruction, and annihilation.

The five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth all manifested within this domain. Lightning storms erupted and icy hail descended in torrents.

It was not merely a starry domain but a dynamic world of its own.

Pang Jian's divine power could reach every corner of this domain, rendering him omniscient and omnipotent within its boundaries.

If he so chose, a single command could cause the boundless energy of this domain to surge into Li Yuqing's body, devastating her sea of consciousness and extinguishing her vitality, completely erasing her existence.

He could perceive everything about her, from her aura, her subtle movements, the energy within her dantian, and even her connection with her Heaven-Splitting Sword.

This domain of absolute dominion was known as a divine domain among the Gods.

When his Divine Persona formed, a divine domain had also manifested—one that belonged solely to him.

Pang Jian was the sole and absolute authority within his divine domain.

When Outer Gods clashed, they would unfold their divine domains, pitting divine power and Heavenly Daos against one another in battle.

That Pang Jian had obtained a divine domain indicated that he had stepped onto an entirely new path.

"What is this?" Li Yuqing asked in bewilderment.

Pang Jian chuckled. "A divine domain."

"This feels far more intricate than that Flame Race warrior's Fire World," Li Yuqing murmured.

"If this were the starry skies, she would barely qualify as a low-ranking God," Pang Jian said, arching a brow. "By the standards of Outer Gods, I am above her, a true mid-ranking God."

Li Yuqing gasped in astonishment. "What?!"

"I'll take care of the Flame Race powerhouse first." The Black Dragon King lowered his human head, reached into the darkness, and dragged Qi Xu out in a single motion.

With her Fire World destroyed and her divine artifact, the Flame Star, confiscated, Qi Xu could do nothing but float helplessly in the darkness. An inky substance ensnared her tall, imposing figure as she was brought before Pang Jian.

She stared blankly at Pang Jian.

The blazing fire in her eyes had dimmed to lifelessness.

The corruptive forces of darkness and the Black Dragon King's bloodline had eroded and suppressed her in the endless darkness. She barely clung to life, her divine power struggling to keep her existence from fading away.

Li Yuqing's Sword of Fate had gravely wounded her, leaving her unable to resist the Black Dragon King's suppression.

Even after emerging back into the light, she remained in a daze, her mind lost to the torment she had endured.

"If she dies, the Corruption fused within her heart will likely return to the darkness below," the Black Dragon King said, clenching his fist in preparation to finish her off.

Strands of darkness coiled around his clenched fist, causing it to gradually transform into a black sun, a sphere of seething darkness that radiated a destructive, all-consuming force.

Qi Xu closed her eyes, fully aware that there was no escaping this blow. Her death was inevitable.

"Wait." Pang Jian's firm voice cut through the air.

A radiant spatial rift opened in the bizarre mist behind Pang Jian, and a chest shot toward him.

As the chest swung open, Pang Jian casually grabbed Qi Xu and tossed her inside.

"The Primordial Demon was once sealed in the same way, but it escaped in the end. I want to see whether the problem lies with the chest or the Primordial Demon itself," Pang Jian explained. Turning to Li Yuqing, he added, "Wait here. I'm sending a bee to the outer reaches of the Eastern Land."

"What are you planning to do?" Li Yuqing asked, puzzled.

"I need to confirm if there are any issues with the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest. Using Qi Xu as a test subject, I want to see if I can catch a glimpse of the darkness below the Fifth World."

"The Abyss does indeed have a Sixth World...and even a Seventh," the Black Dragon King interjected, having regained his lost memories after becoming a Fey God.

Li Yuqing gasped. "A Seventh World?"

"Yes, but that's the extent of my knowledge. The possible existence of an Eighth or even a Ninth World beneath the Seventh is beyond me.

"The Corruption that facilitated my ascension did not originate from the Sixth World.

"In the Sixth World, darkness is interwoven with a denser concentration of murky energy than the Fifth World. There is no continent or living beings there.

"The Seventh World, on the other hand, doesn't even have murky energy. Only pure darkness.

"Desolate darkness, frigid cold, and unending silence. These are the unchanging characteristics of the Seventh World. There is no life there. Even divine sense struggles to extend within it, and any living being that enters eventually loses their mind," the Black Dragon King explained with a heavy expression.

Li Yuqing was stunned. She had not expected this reborn Black Dragon King to have knowledge of the Sixth and Seventh Worlds.

Her father, Li Yuanli, and the many human race True Gods knew nothing of the darkness that lay beneath the Fifth World.

"The human race remains ignorant of this because they have never truly resided in the Fifth World," the Black Dragon King added, his eyes flickering with a complex emotion. "Their goal has always been to break through the barrier and escape the Abyss from above.

"It's only natural that they turn their gaze away from the darkness below. Even the foreign race powerhouses and the Fey Gods struggle to venture into those lower two worlds.

"Only I have the ability to do so." The Black Dragon King placed a hand on his chest with a steely expression. "Only those ascended through the Dao of Darkness can perceive what lies within the darkness under specific conditions.

"Throughout the history of the Abyss, only three beings have ever attained godhood through the Dao of Darkness. I am the last of these beings.

"But even I have never dared to truly descend into the darkness below. Sensing them was enough for me to know that I never wanted to go deeper.

"The human race has it easy. After ascending to godhood, they can effortlessly step into the starry skies. There's no reason for them to waste energy on the worlds below.

The Black Dragon King let out a tired sigh.

"Those who ascend through Corruption can never break through the barrier and escape from the Abyss. This world holds nothing but hostility for Fey Gods like us."

Only True Gods and Fey Gods who ascended through Fortune could break through the barrier of the Abyss.

There was no path through the barrier for him or foreign race powerhouses like Lie Yang.

The only passage for those with Corruption in their hearts lay within the darkness below, but the viability of this path was yet to be proven.

Pang Jian's physical body retracted his expansive divine domain before streaking toward the boundary wall like a comet through the bizarre mist.

His body slammed hard into the boundary wall and was violently repelled.

He could feel it—an invisible seal.

Unlike before, the Gate of the Abyss did not activate. It failed to let him pass through the boundary wall and into the endless bizarre mist beyond.

Pang Jian's expression darkened.

The only difference between this ascension and the last was that this one involved absorbing the condensed essence of murky energy, allowing him to complete his breakthrough in a manner akin to the foreign races.

However, this seemed to have caused the Gate of the Abyss to fail.

Pang Jian established a connection with his Immortal Divine Soul and activated the Gate of the Abyss once more.

A narrow spatial rift split open before him.

The Black Dragon King and Li Yuqing could see a storm of lightning through the spatial rift. Amid the tempest stood a towering Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree, its branches heavy with an abundance of Dao Fruits.

Nearby, a foreign race woman stared in shock, her expression frozen in disbelief.

Another Pang Jian could also be seen with a Thunder Pool floating before him.

When Pang Jian's physical body tried to approach the stabilized spatial rift, it abruptly distorted.

Streaks of light flickered chaotically.

The other Pang Jian vanished. The Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree and the foreign woman also disappeared.

The spatial rift sealed itself long before Pang Jian's physical body could close in.

The boundary wall he once passed through freely using the Gate of the Abyss now repelled him, and his spatial rifts rejected his physical body.

Pang Jian's physical body could no longer step beyond the Abyss.

It was as if this rejection was an inherent law of the Abyss itself. Even the Gate of the Abyss, for all its wonderful abilities, could not override this law.

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