Trials of the Abyss
Chapter 667: Escaping the Sixth World with the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest

Chapter 667: Escaping the Sixth World with the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest

Zhu Ji had remained mostly silent throughout the journey.

It was a stark contrast to Li Wang's bombardment of Pang Jian with questions.

Nothing seemed to pique his interest, whether it was the movements of the foreign races, the whereabouts of the mysterious Sovereign, or even the traces of the Primordial Demon.

Only after Pang Jian shared his experiences beyond the Abyss did Zhu Ji let out a sudden sigh of realization.

"I should have left long ago," Zhu Ji said, glancing meaningfully at Pang Jian, as if gazing upon the boundless starry skies.

A look of longing flickered in his eyes.

He did not fear leaving the Abyss, nor did he see the outside world as a place of overwhelming danger. He had been too slow to act.

Li Wang's expression morphed into one of guilt. "It's my fault. I kept you in the Abyss."

"It has nothing to do with you," Zhu Ji said with a shake of his head. "There were still people and things I couldn't bring myself to leave behind in this world. I once thought that I simply had little interest in exploring the world beyond, but it turns out, I do."

A faint smile of genuine delight curled at Zhu Ji's lips. It was the joy of discovering a renewed sense of purpose.

Pang Jian was silently moved.

If Zhu Ji had truly set his mind on breaking through the barrier, he could have done so long ago.

The Outer Gods had set up hidden arrays in the starry skies above the Abyss that would alert them when a True God attempted to breach the barrier.

A party of Outer Gods would then gather outside the Abyss, ready to intercept and kill the emerging True God.

After the ancient True Gods of the human race joined forces to destroy the Hall of Gods, the Outer Gods started actively hunting down any True God attempting to escape the Abyss. Many perished the moment they broke free. Only an exceptional few managed to withstand the onslaught of Outer Gods and escape alive.

Despite this, Zhu Ji appeared confident that he could survive the Outer Gods' ambush.

What kind of unshakable confidence is this? Pang Jian could not help but cast a few more probing glances at Zhu Ji.

Pang Jian immediately noticed a clear difference between Zhu Ji, Gui Mu, and Li Wang.

Though all three had manifested their Dharma Idol, Li Wang's was hollow and ethereal, its foundation already teetering on the brink of collapse. He no longer had the power to sustain his Dharma Idol.

Gui Mu was in a slightly better state. The outer layer of her Dharma Idol was formed from crystalline divine power, with a vast sea of souls at its center, and her physical body nestled in its core.

Zhu Ji, on the other hand, was different.

His Dharma Idol was exceptionally solid. The crystalline divine power forming its structure showed no signs of crumbling, as if capable of enduring for an exceptionally long time.

A Dharma Idol was fundamentally distinct from Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul was endlessly mutable. It could expand to the size of a divine mountain or shrink to a mere speck of dust. It could even transform into the vast starry skies or become a furnace to refine Outer Gods.

An Immortal Divine Soul was the materialized essence of the divine soul, capable of existing independently from the physical body.

For all other True Gods, their Dharma Idols were essentially manifestations of their internal power, solidified into a form that encased their physical bodies in a layer of crystalline divine power.

It was similar to the fragmented land of crystalline spiritual power in Pang Jian's dantian.

True Gods externalized their vast reserves of divine power and condensed it into a tangible form, creating their Dharma Idol. This securely concealed their physical body and divine soul.

A Dharma Idol could expand to towering heights and was etched with the wielder's insights into the Heavenly Dao, with divine techniques and mystical arts making up its meridians.

This was one of the primary methods used to battle colossal divine beings.

Even if a Dharma Idol was severely damaged, recovery was relatively easy, as long as one's physical body and divine soul remained intact.

Li Wang's Dharma Idol was now little more than a cracking shell, his reserves nearly depleted, making him the weakest among them.

Gui Mu's Dharma Idol had filled its hollow interior with souls, but even then, it was still noticeably weakened.

Zhu Ji's Dharma Idol, however, remained as solid as ever.

After closely observing the three, Pang Jian quickly grasped their level of strength.

Li Wang was on the verge of collapse, Gui Mu could still hold on for a while, and Zhu Ji remained battle-ready.

Pang Jian did not know what Heavenly Dao Zhu Ji pursued, but his power was surprising regardless.

No wonder Zhu Ji was recognized as the strongest among the True Gods.

"Pang Jian, how do you plan to take us out of here?" Li Wang asked.

"Above the Sixth World lies a seal similar to the barrier," Gui Mu said. "That seal contains the aura of destruction, decay, and corrosion. It's woven together with sinister murky energy beyond our comprehension."

"We've all tried already, but we couldn't break through," Li Wang added.

Zhu Ji, meanwhile, remained silent.

Pang Jian nodded lightly in acknowledgement as he reached out to the Black Dragon King, Pang Ling, the black turtle, and the Bee Sovereign.

Although he could still establish a connection with the four, when he attempted to harness the power of the Gate of the Abyss, the void of the Sixth World remained completely still.

The Gate of the Abyss failed to create even the slightest ripple.

This meant that even he could not use it to teleport, let alone open a spatial rift to take the three True Gods out.

"I won't last much longer," Li Wang said with a bitter smile.

Pang Jian decisively shifted his approach. With a single thought, he took out the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest.

"This chest can hold people. It is the second artifact that the previous World God left behind." Opening the chest, Pang Jian instructed, "All of you, dismiss your Dharma Idol and enter the chest. I'll try carrying it out of the Sixth World.

"When I close the chest, you will enter a dark, cold, and empty world. That world is designed to simulate the unique environment of the Seventh World beneath us."

Qi Xu listened in silence from the sidelines.

A look of fear and dread filled her eyes when she recalled her own experience inside the chest.

"Will this even work?" Li Wang questioned skeptically.

"I'm not sure," Pang Jian admitted. "But it's worth trying. If it doesn't work, we can find another way."

"I'll go first." Zhu Ji withdrew his Dharma Idol and flashed into the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest. He even curled up to take up less space.

Gui Mu gave Pang Jian a slight nod. "I leave it to you."

With that, she slipped inside, her body shrinking to become even smaller than Zhu Ji's.

"Let's hope this works," Li Wang said, transforming into a streak of starlight that shot into the chest.

When the lid closed, the three True Gods were plunged into endless darkness, as if cast into the Seventh World.

The weight of responsibility settled on Pang Jian as he held the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest in his hands. The lives of three True Gods depended on him.

"As for you..." He glanced at Qi Xu. "Stay right where you are."

Pang Jian then shot toward the sky of the Sixth World.

It did not take long before he sensed the seal.

When his body touched the seal, the seven fragmented lands in his dantian trembled, and the darkness beneath them seemed to stir faintly.

His dantian roared like thunder.

But that was all.

The Gate of the Abyss remained completely unresponsive, offering no assistance in breaking through the seal.

Pang Jian effortlessly passed through the seal of the Sixth World with the bronze chest in hand, successfully returning to the Fifth World.

No one in the history of the Abyss had ever returned after descending into the Sixth World!

It's my dantian! he realized. It's the unique structure of my dantian!

The seven fragmented lands of murky energy infused with my insights into the Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Cold, and Lightning worked together with the darkness beneath them to allow me to escape!

The Rank Ten powerhouses standing on the Forbidden Land of the Fire God all wore expressions of shock and disbelief.

"A human!"

"It's Pang Jian!"

They had witnessed firsthand as Pang Jian returned from the darkness below, clutching a bronze chest.

He just returned from the Sixth World!

Jing Sha immediately transmitted a message.

Lord Yan Lie!

Fire God Yan Lie stood above the endless darkness, thousands of li away, where Qi Xu had been thrown into the Sixth World.

His vast divine consciousness had already sensed Pang Jian's emergence from the Sixth World, even without Jing Sha's message.

A blazing streak of fire tore through the dark sky of the Fifth World, drawing the attention of countless powerful beings.

Pang Jian glanced down at the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest in his hands.

If he willed it, he could use the Gate of the Abyss to teleport to the Black Dragon King in the bizarre mist, Pang Ling in the Fourth World, the black turtle in the Second World, or even the Bee Sovereign in Absolute Heaven.

Even if he did not teleport, he could still manually carry the bronze chest out of the Fifth World.

However, when he took in the spectating Lie Yang, Sha Jia, Jing Sha, and Ah Man, and sensed the rapidly approaching Fire God Yan Lie, he found he had no intention of leaving.

A radiant spatial rift tore open.

Ghostflare and Five Thunder Annihilation shot out from within.

With that, the spatial rift snapped shut.

***

At Thunder God Mountain, Li Yuqing and Lei Ying watched as a blazing fragmented land appeared in the spatial rift before them, with Lie Yang, Sha Jia, Jing Sha, and Ah Man standing on top.

"Pang Jian, what did you do? How did you end up exposing yourself to those people?" Li Yuqing asked urgently.

"It's fine," Pang Jian replied through his Immortal Divine Soul, the Thunder Pool still hovering freely in his palm. "I intend to test myself against them in the Fifth World of the Abyss. After this battle, the crisis the human race faces could be resolved once and for all."

A proud smile crossed his face.

"I will make those foreign race powerhouses taste despair. The only ones capable of stopping me in the Abyss are Luo Hongyan or the Primordial Demon."

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